Hillcats Starter Stuns Woodies

5/11/22 Game Recap

by: Jackson Pass

The heat throwing right hander Emiliano Teodo started on the mound for the Wood Ducks tonight, allowing one hit and racking up his first strikeout of the night on the opening batter. On the other side Rodney Boone struckout two Woodies batters in the bottom of the first, starting his game off strong.

The Hillcats scored first on an RBI single by Joe Donovan scoring Will Bartlett, who got on with a walk. Donovan is left on third, as the Hillcats lead 1-0 in the second. Boone continued to shove, striking out five through two innings of work. Teodo added three more to his strikeout totals in the third with the Hillcats stranding a runner on second. Boone went perfect on the first time through the Woodies lineup.

Isaiah Greene hit a rocket single past Maximo Acosta at second to start the fourth and added two stolen bases to his stats, swiping second and third. Teodo walked Bartlett to make it first and third for the Hillcats. Yordys Valdes made it 2-0 on an RBI single up the middle to score Greene from third. A 643 double play made it two outs with a runner on third with a groundout to Cauley at shortstop to end the inning. Boone ran his streak up to twelve in the bottom of the fourth, retiring three straight on groundouts.

In the fifth, Nick Lockhart relieved Teodo, throwing 4.0 innings, giving up two runs and striking four out. Lockhart starts off dominating by striking out the side. Boone kept climbing to an insane 15 straight batters retired without anyone reaching base. Bradford Webb came in from the Duck Blind to take over for Lockhart and also struck out the side, but allowed two runners on.

Boone came back out, perfect through 5.0 innings, as Daniel Mateo, the second batter, singled up the middle to break up the perfect game. Mateo made it to second on a wild pitch but the Woodies couldn't bring him in.

The Hillcats took a commanding 4-0 lead in the seventh, adding two runs on a hit and run single by Dayan Frias that moved Fox to third, before scoring on a fielding error in right, moving Frias to second. Another RBI single by Tolentino scored Frias from second. Yeury Gervacio replaced Boone in the bottom of the seventh, , who ended up throwing a one hitter in 6.0 innings, tallying up eight strikeouts. Osuna started it off with an infield single, and a walk to Galan made it first and second. A grounder to short with two out resulted in a throwing error allowing Osuna to score and on a throw from first to third Galan was caught trying to advance to third. The Hillcats lead 4-1.

Theo McDowell came in to face Bartlett, with Webb going 2.0 giving up two runs on four hits. McDowell started off with a strikeout and retired two Hillcats batters in a row. Moller hit a shot right to the left fielder for the first out, as the Woodies got one on but couldn't capitalize to close the deficit going into the ninth. Durango walked for the second time of the night, but was cut down attempting to steal second by Woodies catcher Moller. McDowell strikes out the next two batters to end his night with 2.0 innings pitched with one walk and three strikeouts. Trey Benton in from the pen for Gervacio, who threw a one hit one run ballgame through 2.0 innings. Benton keeps the Woodies bats quiet, to get the save on the night, striking out three, to end the game in a Hillcats win 4-1.

The Wood Ducks (13-16) and Lynchburg Hillcats (14-14) continue their series tomorrow, on Thirsty Thursday, May 12th, with the series tied at 1-1, as the first pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. in Kinston, NC at Grainger Stadium.

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