Bullpen Shines in 3-1 Loss to Delmarva

The Lynchburg Hillcats fall to 0-5 on the young season after a low-scoring outing against the Delmarva Shorebirds.

For the second night in a row, the first inning was all the Shorebirds needed to pull out the victory, winning 3-1.

Franco Aleman made his debut on the mound tonight, and got off to a rough start as he walked the first batter he faced. Luis Valdez would end up coming around to score on a Darell Hernaiz single two batters later. Hernaiz would eventually come around to score on a Josué Cruz single to give the Shorebirds the 2-run lead.

The Hillcats struggled to get the offense going until Milan Tolentino hit a double down the right field line to put a runner in scoring position in the second inning. However, the Hillcats struggled to get him across to score.

Hernaiz would tack on one more run for Delmarva in the third with a leadoff home run to left center field that moved the lead up to three.

The Hillcats would respond with a run of their own in the third inning as Isaiah Greene walked and came around to score on a Jake Fox RBI single to right. However, that was all the offense Lynchburg to muster up as they struck out nine times in the final six innings.

In relief, Reid Johnston and Davis Sharpe pitched five beautiful innings for the Hillcats. Johnston struck out three while only allowing one hit in three innings of work. Sharpe came on in the eighth and struck out three of the seven batters he faced.

The Hillcats will return to action tomorrow night at 6:30 at Bank of the James Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia for game three of their six game series against Delmarva.