Hillcats Ride Homers to Victory 

Lynchburg, Virginia – Andres Melendez smashed the Lynchburg Hillcats (68-44) second grand slam of the year and Angel Martinez blasted his seventh homer of the season to lift the ‘Cats to a 11-4 game four win over the Salem Red Sox (68-44) Friday night at Bank of the James Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Lenny Torres started on the mound for the Hillcats, giving up a single to Angel Maita to leadoff the game. Torres followed by fanning Tyler McDonough, but another single and a walk loaded the bases for Salem. Nick Northcut stepped up and crushed a grand slam over the wall in right field, just the second allowed by the Hillcats all season, to give Salem a sudden 4-0 lead just a half an inning into the game.
• Lynchburg tallied in the bottom of the second inning when Miguel Jerez knocked home Alexfri Planez with an RBI single off Red Sox starter Wyatt Olds. The single cut the Salem lead to three.
• Hillcats reliever Alec Wisely (2-2) tossed two scoreless innings in the second and third, holding the score at 4-1 heading into the bottom of third.
• Salem made a pitching change, sending out Yasel Sanatana to take over for Olds on the mound. The Hillcats pounced immediately, slicing three straight singles, including an RBI base-hit from Planez. With the lead now cut to two, Jorge Burgos earned a free pass to load the bases for Andres Melendez. The Hillcats slugger mashed a grand slam to turn the tides and give Lynchburg a 6-4 lead.
• In the bottom of the fifth Miguel Jerez and Micael Ramirez both drew walks against Red Sox reliever Alex Montero. The Salem hurler quickly got two outs, but Angel Martinez smoked a bomb to right, scoring three and extending Lynchburg’s lead to five.
• Alexfri Planez and Milàn Tolentino each added RBIs in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings, respectively to put Lynchburg up seven.
• Yuery Gervacio, Cade Smith, and Alaska Abney combined to pitch five and two thirds innings of shutout baseball for the Hillcats and Lynchburg solidified an 11-4 victory in game four.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Hillcats look to take a series lead Saturday night at Bank of the James Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:30pm with Juan Zapata set to take the mound for the Hillcats.