The Lynchburg Hillcats secured a series win over the Charleston RiverDogs with a 7-5 victory on Sunday evening at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. All seven of the Hillcats runs scored with two outs. The RiverDogs tumbled to 2-10 in series play this season. The Sunday contest was played in front of 4,754 fans.
Using a pair of walks and some speed on the bases, the RiverDogs (1-2, 28-40) jumped out to a quick advantage. Carlos Colmenarez worked a walk to open the inning and raced to second on a balk by Kyle Scott. He stole third base and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jhon Diaz to give the RiverDogs a 1-0 lead.
The home team added to the lead but missed an opportunity to do more damage in the fourth. Enderson Delgado took a leadoff walk and then raced from first to third on Raudelis Martinez’s single that featured an error by left fielder Wuilfredo Antunez.
Santiago Suarez was one out away from working 5.0 scoreless innings on the mound. However, he issued back-to-back walks to the eight and nine hitters in the Lynchburg (2-1, 39-30) lineup, allowing them to get leadoff hitter Tommy Hawke to the batter’s box. The center fielder drove the first pitch over the wall in right field for his first home run of the season as Lynchburg grabbed a 3-2 lead. Those were the only runs allowed by Suarez in his outing. His scoreless innings streak was snapped at 16.0.
The RiverDogs fought back to even in the sixth. Jhon Diaz began the frame with a walk and quickly stole second base. He then raced home with the tying run on a double to the gap by Delgado.
Dalton Fowler entered with the score tied in the eighth. Luis Durango poked a leadoff single to left to begin the frame and advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw. A strikeout followed and then a groundball moved the runner to third with two outs. A wild pitch squirted away from Martinez behind the plate to give the Hillcats a 4-3 advantage.
In the bottom of the same frame, Delgado punched a double down the left field line to start another RiverDogs rally. Martinez followed with a sacrifice bunt and Ricardo Gonzalez tied the game once more with a sacrifice fly just deep enough in center to score the runner.
Jonalbert Rumbol allowed the first two hitters in the ninth to reach base for Lynchburg. A strikeout of Rafael Ramirez Jr. was good for the first out and then Woo Shin cut down a potential run at the plate with an outfield assist for the second out of the inning. A walk loaded the bases and caused manager Sean Smedly to go to the bullpen and call on Seth Chavez. The new reliever moved ahead of Durango 0-2 before hitting him with a pitch to force in the go-ahead run. A throwing error by Martinez on a toss back to the mound allowed a second run to score and Hawke’s RBI double moments later made it 7-4. Angel Mateo blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth, but it was too little, too late for the RiverDogs.
Gerlin Rosario worked 2.0 scoreless innings for the RiverDogs as the first man out of the bullpen. Fowler allowed only an unearned run in his lone inning, while Rumbol took the loss with three runs surrendered in 0.2 innings.
Hawke was the spark plug at the top of the lineup for the Hillcats with a 2-4 showing and four runs batted in. Delgado doubled twice for the RiverDogs as the only player in the lineup with multiple hits.
Ballpark Fun
The RiverDogs suited up as the Cannon Street All-Stars for the second season in a row. The second day of Larry Doby Weekend presented by MUSC Health was dedicated to celebrating the Charleston-based little league team comprised of 14 African American players in 1955. The 61 eligible white teams in South Carolina staged a boycott and refused to play the Cannon Street All-Stars, leading to them being declared the state champion. They were invited to Williamsport as guests, but never were allowed to play in the tournament.
Following a Monday off day, the RiverDogs embark on a nine-game road trip that begins in Augusta on Tuesday night. Starting pitchers have not yet been announced for the opening game of the series. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
The RiverDogs continue their hunt for a fourth-consecutive Carolina League championship in 2024. The full schedule of games is available here.
Lynchburg 7, Charleston 5
June 23, 2024
Click here for the box score
Lynchburg (R-H-E): 7-6-1
Charleston (R-H-E): 5-6-2
Win: Harlow (3-1)
Loss: Rumbol (1-3)
Save:
HR: Lynchburg: Tommy Hawke (1, 5th inning, 2 on base)
HR: Charleston: Angel Mateo (6, 9th inning, 0 on base)
