Hillcats Come From Behind to Shock Kannapolis

The Lynchburg Hillcats won in dramatic fashion on Thursday night over the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers by a score of 9-8.

The Hillcats and Cannon Ballers traded blows all throughout the ballgame, with Lynchburg taking the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth inning. They entered the inning trailing by three, but loaded up the bases with no one out and would end up scoring four.

Kannapolis struck twice in the first inning as Jhoneiker Betancourt and Juan Gonzalez would each drive home an RBI.

Lynchburg would experience a bit of a power surge in the third inning as back-to-back home runs would power them in front. C.J. Kayfus would deliver a three-run blast to put the Hillcats in front. Wuilfredo Antunez would follow him with a solo shot of his own to extend the lead to 4-2.

The fifth would spell trouble for the Hillcats as Kannapolis would slowly tack on five runs to retake the lead. The frame was capped off by a two-run triple from Wilber Sanchez to put the Cannon Ballers ahead 7-4.

Lynchburg and Kannapolis would trade off runs in the seventh and eighth as Juan Benjamin drove a run home in the seventh. Ryan Galanie would plate a run on a fielder’s choice in the eighth to eliminate the run the Hillcats had scored.

In the bottom of the frame, the Hillcats would load up the bases with no one out. Alex Mooney would bring home a run with a walk before Benjamin would single home another. Jaison Chourio would drive a ball to the warning track for a sacrifice to tie the game before Manuel Mejias would break the tie with an RBI single up the middle.

In the ninth with the Hillcats up one, Maick Collado would make a game saving barehanded play to throw out the tying run at home. Lynchburg would hold on to end their two-game skid.

The Hillcats and Cannon Ballers will meet again on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. at Bank of the James Stadium.