Late Salem Rally Stuns Hillcats, 4-3

SUMMARY
Sean Brady dominated for seven innings, only facing three more than the minimum during that time, but the first two Salem hitters of the eighth reached and came around to score to hand the left-hander a hard-luck loss, 4-3, at LewisGale Field Tuesday night.

SALEM MAXIMIZES EFFICIENCY
Salem only had seven baserunners for the entire contest - five hits, a walk and an error. However, the Red Sox found a way to bring four of them home, including three in their final two trips to the plate to come from behind.

Lynchburg tallied the first run of the game thanks to Greg Allen. The speedy outfielder was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a weak ground ball, stole third base, and scored on an RBI groundout by Anthony Santander in the first. Lynchburg added another in the second when Taylor Murphy opened the frame with a double, and Paul Hendrix knocked him in with a double of his own. The Hillcats' final run came in the third when Santander drew a leadoff walk and scored on a Mike Papi fielder's choice.

Salem did not have a man reach until a leadoff single by Jordan Betts in the third, but he was quickly eliminated on a 6-3 double play off the bat of Ben Moore. In the fourth, Yoan Moncada smacked a double to right field. The combination of a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly platedMoncada to make it a 3-1 contest.

In the seventh, Nick Longhi hit a one-out triple and scored one batter later on an RBI groundout to cut it to a one-run margin, 3-2.

Salem capitalized on minimal baserunners in the eighth when a leadoff single and walk by Mike Meyers and Jordan Betts both came home.Betts scored on a two-out single by Moncada to give Salem its first lead of the game and shock the Hillcats, 4-3.

LATE RALLY OVERSHADOWS BRADY'S DOMINANCE
Sean Brady (2-2) only surrendered five baserunners in seven-plus innings of work, but four of them scored to give Brady his second loss of the year. The southpaw only conceded four hits and one walk while striking out three. It matched his longest outing of the year, as he tossed seven shutout innings against Frederick on April 21.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
Lynchburg went 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight men, including the bases loaded in the second inning. The Hillcats also failed to score in the fifth when three straight walks loaded the bases with nobody out. A strikeout and double play in that inning kept the 'Cats off the board.

SHORT HOPS
Lynchburg lost for the first time when leading after six innings…The Hillcats are now 19-1 when leading after six…Lynchburg and Salem are tied for the best record in the Carolina League at 22-9…The Hillcats fell to 2-4 in one-run games, while the Red Sox improved to 10-0.

ON DECK
Lynchburg returns to LewisGale Field Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. Lefty Justus Sheffield (3-1, 3.64) will start for Lynchburg against fellow southpaw Trey Ball (1-0, 1.80). Fans can listen to the action on 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com, beginning with the Hillcats On-Deck Show at 6:45 p.m.