Augusta Downs Lynchburg; Issues Devastating Blow to Playoff Hopes

The Lynchburg Hillcats dropped the final game of the series to the Augusta GreenJackets 7-6 on Sunday afternoon.

The game shared an eerily similar vibe to the Tuesday evening game between the two squads. It was a 2-1 score before Augusta blew it open with a big inning in the seventh. Lynchburg would use the little time left to scratch their way back into the game, but it was too little too late.

The GreenJackets struck first in the first inning as Isaiah Drake would score after a leadoff triple on a single from Luis Sanchez. They would double up in the second inning on an extra base hit from Joe Olsavsky that would plate Harry Owen.

The Hillcats would get a run back in the bottom of the third inning after a triple from Esteban Gonzalez would drive home Jaison Chourio.

Similar to Tuesday, the GreenJackets would explode in the seventh inning for five runs. A pair of wild pitches would bring two runs home. A double from Olsavsky and a triple from Sanchez would finish the deal to make it a 7-1 score line.

Lynchburg would get a run back in the bottom of the seventh inning as Ralphy Velazquez would drive home Jose Pastrano with an RBI single. Leaving the seventh, the Hillcats tailed 7-2.

In the eighth, the Hillcats would storm their way back. All with two outs, Fran Alduey would pick up an RBI before Christian Knapczyk would match him to cut the deficit to three. One batter later, Velazquez would deliver again with a two-run single to right field to make it a one run game.

However, that would be as close as the Hillcats would get. With the loss, Lynchburg falls four games out of first place in the Carolina League North Division. The Carolina Mudcats now sit with a magic number of one from clinching their spot in the playoffs.

Lynchburg will hit the road for two weeks to take on Charleston and Carolina before returning home against Salem on July 1st. Tickets for the upcoming two-week homestand can be purchased at Lynchburg-hillcats.com.