Wilmington shuts down Hillcats, 9-0

A.J. Puckett held Lynchburg to two hits in 6 1/3 innings to set the table for a 9-0 Wilmington victory at City Stadium Wednesday night. Lynchburg only managed four hits for the game, two of which came off the bat of Willi Castro.

Wilmington tallied nine runs on 15 hits, all against starter Shao-Ching Chiang (7-4). The right-hander struck out five and walked none in 6 2/3 innings. Paul Hendrix worked 2 1/3 perfect frames out of the bullpen. Puckett (6-5) struck out nine while walking just one. Walker Shellerwent 1 2/3 innings, and Franco Terrero tossed the ninth to complete the shutout.

The Blue Rocks plated four runs on four extra-base hits in the third inning, capped off by a Chris DeVito two-run homer. Wilmington added a run in the sixth thanks in part to doubles by Anderson Miller and DeVito. Wilmington stretched the margin to 9-0 with four runs on six hits in the seventh, highlighted by a pair of doubles from Chase Vallot and Roman Collins.

Lynchburg travels to Frederick for its final series before the All-Star Break, beginning Thursday at 7 p.m. Brock Hartson (2-2, 3.41) will start for the Hillcats against lefty Keegan Akin (4-4, 5.01). The game can be heard live at www.lynchburg-hillcats.com with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:50 p.m.