Home P-Nats hold off late Lynchburg rally, win 8-6
Sports

P-Nats hold off late Lynchburg rally, win 8-6

Contributors

lynchburg hillcatsLynchburg scored four runs in the final two innings, but a late comeback attempt by the Hillcats was spoiled when Connor Marabell doubled off the wall and Sicnarf Loopstok was thrown out after rounding third base too far to end the game, 8-6 at City Stadium Saturday night.

The Hillcats fell behind early after Luis Lugo allowed three runs in the first inning. Lynchburg responded with one run in the bottom of the frame after Francisco Mejia doubled in Mark Mathias, who walked to lead off the frame. Potomac took a commanding 8-1 lead after scoring in each of the third, fourth and fifth stanzas. The Nationals capped their scoring barrage with a three-run fifth.

The ‘Cats began to mount their comeback in the home half of the fifth. Mark Mathias briefly took the Carolina League double lead after a leadoff two-bagger. Anthony Santander drove in Mathias with a double of his own to tie Mathias with 39 doubles this season. The first two runners of the eighth inning came around to score for Lynchburg. Tyler Krieger tripled to center field, and an errant throw in the stands allowed him to stroll home. Dorssys Paulino proceeded to hit a solo home run for the second consecutive night to make the count 8-4.

With one out in the ninth, Yu-Cheng Chang, Krieger, and Paulino singled to load the bases. Sicnarf Loopstok grounded into a fielder’s choice to drive in one run and put runners on the corners with two outs. With two strikes, Connor Marabell doubled over the left fielder’s head to score one run and make the score 8-6. However, Loopstok rounded third base too far and was thrown out when trying to dive back to end the game.

The Hillcats were 6-20 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base in the contest. The Nats were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and were outhit 15-8, but still came out victorious.

Luis Lugo allowed six earned runs in his 4 1/3 innings while striking out six batters. The lefty surrendered six hits, including a home run to Kelvin Gutierrez in the third frame. Mitch Brown allowed one run on one hit and two walks out of the bullpen.Trevor Frank pitched a perfect seventh inning to keep the Hillcats within reach. David Speer closed out the contest with a scoreless two innings, which included two strikeouts. Mario Sanchez improved to 5-0 for the Nationals after being the first man out of the bullpen. Hectore Silvestre only went four innings in his second start with Potomac.

Lynchburg hit its Carolina League leading 127th home run to put them on pace for a team record 134…Despite six errors 13 of the 14 runs in the contest were earned…Earlier Saturday, Bobby Bradley earned Carolina League MVP and Mark Budzinskiwas named Carolina League Manager of the Year. Additionally, Yu-Cheng Chang, Greg Allen, Anthony Santander, Mark Mathias and Francisco Mejia were named to the Carolina League Postseason All-Star Team.

Lynchburg concludes the series against Potomac Sunday at Calvin Falwell Field at 2 p.m. Sean Brady (15-5, 4.70) will be on the mound for the ‘Cats. Fans can listen to the action on 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com, beginning with the Hillcats On-Deck Show at 1:45 p.m.

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.