FredNats Offense Sputters as Series Evens with Hill City

LYNCHBURG, VA - The Fredericksburg Nationals dropped their second contest of the season Friday night, 5-3 to the Hill City Howlers. The loss evens the series 2-2 entering game five tomorrow.

After Thursday’s early offense, the FredNats struck in the first once again, this time a Ronny Cruz one-out double getting brought home by a Yeremy Cabrera RBI single to make it 1-0. Nolan Hughes once again showed lethality but up and down command in the start, both walking and striking out four in his second professional start. With the score 1-0 FredNats in the third, Hill City vaulted in front off a two-run home run from Cannon Peebles, giving the Howlers their first lead.

After an insurance run in the fifth, the offenses went dormant. The FredNats went without a baserunner in the third, fourth and fifth, before a Ronny Cruz walk broke the streak. Ultimately FredNat hitting could not produce anything else in the middle innings, with the game headed to the eighth 3-1 in favor of Hill City. Then, with the top of the order up, Eli Willits walked, and Yeremy Cabrera provided the FredNats with their first hit since the second inning with a game-tying two-run home run over the centerfield wall, setting the score at 3-3. FredNat pitching continued to struggle with free bases however, and the tie was short lived, with Ryan Minckler hitting a batter (later thrown out stealing) and walking another, one of a season high 10 walks by FredNat pitching. Back to back singles then gave Hill City a 5-3 lead, which was protected in the ninth by an Angel Perez save.

The loss drops Fredericksburg to 5-2 on the season, and evens the six-game series with Hill City. Saturday’s penultimate game is the final nighttime first pitch of the week, set for 6:30 p.m., with RHP Miguel Sime Jr. taking the mound for Fredericksburg against LHP Harrison Bodendorf.