Howlers Drop Wilson Home Opener

After a valiant comeback attempt, the Hill City Howlers fell to the Warbirds in Wilson, 7-5.

Hill City enjoyed home runs off the bats of Juneiker Caceras and Dauri Fernandez to score five unanswered runs from the sixth inning on and Will McCausland twirled a gem in relief, going four scoreless frames with five strikeouts but it wasn’t enough to complete the turnaround.

The Howlers played from behind early in this one, with the first run coming off the bat of Wilson catcher Yannic Welther, who cracked a ball over the left-field fence to make it 1-0 in the bottom of the third. Hill City starter Aidan Major left after the next run scored, a Brady Ebel sac fly to bring home Luiyin Alastre for the Warbirds in the third.

Things got out of hand in the fourth, as the Warbirds plated five more runs and ran Hill City arm Wes Burton out of the game before he completed a full inning. Alastre put the first two runs of the inning on the board with a double, then a sac fly and two-run single later, the score was 7-0.

Things quieted for Wilson as Will McCausland played fireman and promptly tossed scoreless fifth and sixth innings, meanwhile the Howlers got a run back on a Juneiker Caceras home run to make it 7-1 Warbirds.

McCausland kept it going, posting two more zeros on the board going into the final frame.

In the ninth, the Howlers loaded the bases and cashed in quickly after Wilson hurler Thomas Conrad balked, letting Robert Arias score Hill City’s second run. Dauri Fernandez followed Caceras’ lead from earlier in the game, smashing a three-run shot, his first in A ball, to put the Howlers within two at 7-5.

Unfortunately, the Dauri Fernandez home run was the last gasp for Hill City, as Caceras grounded out to end the game.

The Hill City Howlers will be back in action Wednesday at 7:05 EST in Wilson, North Carolina. You can listen to the game at the Hill City Howlers Radio or watch it on Bally Sports Live.