Hillcats Pummel Mudcats, Win Series

Lynchburg, Virginia – The Lynchburg Hillcats (40-37) piled on nine runs in the first four innings to trump the Carolina Mudcats (46-32) 10-4 Sunday evening at Bank of the James Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Mudcats tallied right away on ‘Cats starter Josh Wolf in the first inning thanks to a two-RBI double off the bat of Zavier Warren.
• In the bottom of the inning Lynchburg cut the Carolina lead in half with Mudcats starter TJ Shook on the mound. Christian Cairo ripped a double to right field, coming home on a Jhonkensy Noel single to left to make it 2-1 Carolina.
• In the bottom of the second the Hillcats snatched a lead away from the Mudcats when Andres Melendez blasted his third home run of the year over the right field wall. The two-run shot scored Alexfri Planez and put Lynchburg up 3-2.
• The Hillcats extended their lead in the bottom of the third when Planez smashed a two-run home run of his own to center field. The bomb was the 10th of the season for the Hillcats' slugger and pushed Lynchburg to a 5-2 lead.
• The ‘Cats had their biggest inning in the bottom of the fourth, getting just one hit but scoring four runs. Leading off Andres Melendez was hit by a pitch, prompting Carolina to replace Shook with reliever Michele Vassalotti.
• The new Mudcats arm immediately hit Lynchburg’s Yordys Valdes with a pitch and walked Christian Cairo to load the bases. Melendez raced home when Vassalotti tossed a wild pitch into the backstop and Valdes scored on a fielding error committed by Noah Campbell at first. Jhonkensy Noel pushed Cairo home with a bloop single to right and Julian Escobedo ran home when Miguel Jerez grounded out. All in all, Lynchburg added four runs in the inning to go up 9-2.
• Josh Wolf pitched four straight scoreless innings for Lynchburg, even getting one out in the sixth to solidify the longest outing of his career. A trio of knocks and a run for Carolina in the sixth frame prompted Lynchburg to make a pitching change. The ‘Cats sent out Daritzon Feliz who walked in a run, but ultimately got out of the inning with the Hillcats still up 9-4.
• Lynchburg added one more run in the bottom of the sixth. Christian Cairo drew a free pass and promptly stole second, moving to third on a fly out. After Jhonkensy Noel was fanned, Cairo took off and stole home becoming the first Hillcat to accomplish the feat all season.
• Feliz pitched three shutout innings to end the game and Lynchburg pulled off a 10-4 win to secure a series win over Carolina.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Jhonkensy Noel went 3-4, pushing his hitting streak to twelve straight games.
• The Hillcats have now one two series in a row, against Carolina and Delmarva.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Hillcats get Monday off, then hit the road for a six game set with the Salem Red Sox on Tuesday.