Salem Stuns Lynchburg in Eighth Again

SUMMARY
For the third time in eight matchups, Salem used an eighth-inning rally to knock off Lynchburg. This time, a three-run frame defeated the Hillcats, 5-2, in front of 4,012 fans at City Stadium Saturday night. The late surge overshadowed a David Armendariz homer and five shutout innings from starting pitcher Mitch Brown.

EARLY EXTRA-BASE HITS DON'T HOLD UP
Four of Lynchburg's first six hits went for extra bases, including back-to-back hits in the first inning to plate the first run of the game.

Yu-Cheng Chang banked a two-out triple off the right-field wall, and Anthony Santander doubled to left to give Lynchburg a 1-0 advantage. In the fourth, David Armendariz hit a two-out solo home run to push the Hillcats lead to 2-0.

SALEM STAGES COMEBACK
A leadoff fielding error in the top of the sixth opened the door for Salem to start its comeback. Mauricio Dubon reached on the miscue and scored on a Nick Longhi double one batter later. With one away, Danny Mars hit a sacrifice fly to left field to tie the contest, 2-2. Both runs were unearned against Antonio Romero.

With the score still knotted, Salem used a three-run eighth to take control. Dubon walked, and Rafael Devers singled to put runners on the corners. Mars doubled to give the Red Sox the lead. Jordan Milbrath entered out of the bullpen, and a wild pitch allowed Devers to score and make it 4-2. Ben Moore singled to bring home Mars and make the final margin 5-2.

Romero (1-1) took the loss, while Matt Kent (3-3) earned the win for Salem by going seven innings. The lefty only allowed two runs on seven hits, partly thanks to picking off three runners. Mitch Brown did not factor into the decision despite five shutout innings in which he surrendered just four hits.

SHORT HOPS
Lynchburg is now 15-6 when scoring in the first inning…The Hillcats received eight hits from eight different players tonight.

ON DECK
Lynchburg and Salem play a Sunday afternoon contest at 2 p.m. The Hillcats are expected to start Nick Pasquale (1-0, 3.18). 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 1:45 p.m.