Hillcats Wait Too Long, Rally Falls Short Again Against Fredericksburg

For the second straight night, the Lynchburg Hillcats late rally fell short to the Fredericksburg Nationals as they dropped game four, 5-4.

Travis Sykora pitched a gem for the Freddies, throwing five innings of no-hit baseball. By the time Lynchburg made their run in the eighth, they had a long, uphill climb.

On the first pitch of Melkis Hernandez’s Hillcat career, Brenner Cox greeted him with a blast to right field to get the scoring started for Fredericksburg.

They would continue to pour on in the fourth inning as Jorgelys Mota would ground into a double play with the bases loaded plating a run. Nick Peoples would extend the lead up to three with a single later in the inning that brought home Armando Cruz.

The Nationals would strike again in the fifth inning as Nathaniel Ochoa would single to center, driving home another run. A wild pitch in the seventh would add on the final insurance run of the night, as Elijah Green touched the plate.

The Hillcats saved all their scoring until the eighth inning as Welbyn Francisca would deliver a grounder up the middle, plating two runs. Two batters later, Luis Merejo would double deep off the center field wall as two more would score, cutting the deficit to one.

In the ninth, the Hillcats would once again have the winning run at the plate, but for the second game in a row, they could not create any more damage. Tommy Hawke would strikeout looking to end the ballgame, frustrated by the zone created by the home plate umpire.

Lynchburg will look to snap their two-game skid against their former pitcher, Alex Clemmey, on Saturday evening. Clemmey was acquired by the Nationals in the Lane Thomas deal on Monday.

Tickets for tomorrow night’s 6:30 p.m. contest can be purchased at Lynchburg-hillcats.com.