‘Cats Fall in Ten in 2021 Penultimate Game

Carolina 1 @ Fayetteville 2 (10)

September 18, 2021 | Venue : SEGRA Stadium | First pitch : 5:07 PM | Att : 4,221 | T : 3:11 (:34 delay)

CAR: 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 0
FAY: 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 0

WP: Ronny Garcia (1 - 1) LP: James Meeker (1 - 2)

FAYETTEVILLE – Fayetteville’s Will Wagner used his third hit of the night to drive in the game-winning run in the tenth while giving Fayetteville a 2-1 victory over the Mudcats on Saturday night at SEGRA Stadium. Wagner’s walk-off single came off Carolina’s James Meeker and with two outs in the final inning.

The game was tied 1-1 through the ninth before Wagner came through with the game winning hit to score Kobe Kato from third. Fayetteville (55-64) led first after getting a home run from Quincy Hamilton in the second. The Mudcats (67-52) later tied it at 1-1 in the seventh when Alex Binelas doubled and scored on a RBI single from Tyler Black.

Zach Mort started for Carolina and allowed just one Fayetteville run over five solid innings pitched. He gave up Hamilton’s home run in the second, but would hold the Woodpeckers scoreless through the rest of his outing. In all, Mort struck out nine, walked one, and allowed the one run on four hits. He also worked through a :34 minute rain delay in the second inning.

Reliever Junior Montero followed Mort in the sixth and would go on to blank the Woodpeckers over the two and 2/3 innings. Montero totaled three strikeouts, walked two and allowed two hits. Meeker (1-2, 0.50) followed and would work through two scoreless after entering in the eighth, but later allowed the winning run in the tenth.

Rhett Kouba started for Fayetteville and worked through three scoreless innings with one hit allowed and three strikeouts. The Woodpeckers then turned to relievers Alex Palmer, Jacob DeLabio and Ronny Garcia. Palmer allowed Carolina’s tying run in the seventh, but also struck out eight and allowed just two hits over five innings. DeLabio pitched around three walks while working a scoreless ninth and Garcia (1-1, 3.24) pitched a scoreless tenth.

HOME RUNS:

Fayetteville HR : Hamilton (2, 2nd inning off Mort, 0 on, 0 out).

TOP PERFORMERS - BATTERS:

Binelas, 1B (Carolina): 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI

Black, DH (Carolina): 1-for-4, 0 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI

Perez, CF (Carolina): 1-for-4, 0 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI

Wagner, 2B (Fayetteville): 3-for-5, 0 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI

Hamilton, CF (Fayetteville): 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Kato, 3B (Fayetteville): 1-for-3, 1 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI

TOP PERFORMERS - PITCHERS:

Mort (Carolina): 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO

Montero (Carolina): 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO

Meeker (L, 1-2) (Carolina): 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO

Kouba (Fayetteville): 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

Palmer (Fayetteville): 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO

DeLabio (Fayetteville): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO

Garcia, R (W, 1-1) (Fayetteville): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO

SCORING:

Woodpeckers 2nd (Woodpeckers 1, Mudcats 0) -- Quincy Hamilton hits a home run to right field on a 3-1 pitch. Victor Mascai grounds out, Zack Raabe to Alex Binelas. Nathan Perry strikes out swinging. Chad Stevens strikes out swinging.

(1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB)

Mudcats 7th (Mudcats 1, Woodpeckers 1) -- Eduardo Garcia strikes out swinging. Alex Binelas doubles to left-center field. Tyler Black singles to shallow right field, Alex Binelas scores. Micah Bello strikes out swinging. Hedbert Perez strikes out swinging.

(1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB)

Woodpeckers 10th (Woodpeckers 2, Mudcats 1) -- Defensive switch from right field to center field for Micah Bello. Noah Campbell remains in the game as the left fielder. Defensive switch from left field to right field for Andre Nnebe. Kobe Kato starts inning at 2nd base. Michael Sandle grounds out, Ethan Murray to Alex Binelas, Kobe Kato to 3rd. Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Justin Williams replaces Joey Loperfido. Justin Williams strikes out swinging. Will Wagner singles to deep second base, Kobe Kato scores.

(1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB)