Dixon Hits For Cycle As Royals Pummel Cards 14-4

Burlington, N.C. - The Royals displayed their killer offense on Thursday night in a 14-4 win over the Johnson City Cardinals.
With no outs in the bottom of the second, David Hollie grounded into a double play that allowed Jake Means to score and put Burlington up 1-0. In the next at-bat, Burle Dixon sent a solo blast to right-center and doubled that lead.
It was in the bottom of the third when the Royals completely took over. Means reached on error to make the lead 3-0. Then, a William Hancock RBI single, a Hollie two-run double and a Dixon RBI double came in quick succession to pad it to 7-0. Not too long after, Jack Gethings walked with the bases loaded and Maikel Garcia hit a sacrifice fly to push it to a 9-0 edge.
The Royals weren't done yet, though. In the bottom of the seventh, Vinnie Pasquantino launched a three-run blast over the scoreboard in right field and made it 12-0 Royals.
The Cardinals did string some offense together in the top of the eighth. In total, Johnson City put up four runs on just one hit and cut its deficit to just eight runs.
However, Burlington tacked on more in the bottom of the eighth inning. Dixon, just a triple shy of the cycle, picked up the elusive three-bagger to lead off the inning. It's the first B-Royals cycle since Oliver Nunez accomplished the feat in 2017. Immediately after, Kevon Jackson hit a triple of his own to score him before Jackson himself crossed home on a wild pitch to make it 14-4.
Royals right-hander Heribert Garcia earned the win for tossing five scoreless in his Appalachian League debut. Cardinals starter Jose Moreno took the loss after surrendering nine runs-five of which were earned- in just 2.1 innings of work and falls to 3-4 on the season.
Burlington and Johnson City square off again on Friday night in game two of a three-game set. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Single-game tickets are on sale now. Call 336-222-0223 or visit www.burlingtonroyals.com for more information.