RidgeYaks Pick Up Fourth Straight In 2-1 Win Over Wilson

SALEM, Va. – Led by D’Angelo Ortiz’s two-hit day and four members of the Salem pitching staff not allowing an earned run, the Salem RidgeYaks (5-1) won their fourth consecutive contest in a 2-1 victory over the Wilson Warbirds (2-4) on Thursday evening at Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark.

The scoring got started early on. Wilson struck first for the second consecutive day on an Eric Martinez RBI single in the top of the fourth, before Salem would quickly respond with one of its own in the home half of the frame.

After an Avinson Pinto triple down the right field line, Ortiz would come through with an RBI knock punched up the middle to tie the game at one, a spot we would stand under much later on.

The Warbirds had an opportunity in the top of the seventh, though. Wilson would load the bases with nobody out for the second time in the game, with left-hander Nicholas De La Cruz needing a shutdown frame.

In desperate need of a strikeout, De La Cruz would proceed to then punch out the next three Wilson hitters to escape the jam unscathed. It was the second time the Warbirds had struck out back-to-back-to-back times over the course of the game, with Wilson finishing 0-for-6 with six strikeouts when the bases were loaded on the day.

That’s when Salem broke through in the bottom of the eighth, With the bases loaded and one down, a Garrett Hodges wild pitch proceeded to score Andrews Opata from third. The Yaks would take a 2-1 lead, and would end up holding in the top of the ninth.

Left-hander Dylan Brown finished the night with a career-high eight strikeouts in his second professional start. The southpaw tossed three and two-thirds of scoreless baseball, giving up just one hit on the day.

Righty Griffin Kilander, De La Cruz and fellow right-hander Wuilliams Rodriuguez would then proceed to avoid allowing an earned run over the course of the game.

The RidgeYaks and Warbirds will do it all again when they resume their six-game set tomorrow evening at 6:35 p.m. Right-hander Madinson Frias gets the start.

Game Notes:

• The Yaks have won five of their first six games to start the season
• D’Angelo Ortiz is now 5-of-16 to start 2026
• Dylan Brown struck out eight of the 16 batters he faced
• Brown now has 14 strikeouts on the season which ranks second in the Carolina League and third in all of Single-A
• Salem has cliched at least a split of the six-game series
• Nicholas De La Cruz’s five outs all came via the strikeout
• Salem’s pitching staff struck out 18 Warbirds, the most strikeouts by the staff since April 11, 2024 at Delmarva
• Salem’s 5-1 start is the best start to a season since 2022
• The Yaks also stole three bases, marking the fourth game this season with three or more stolen bags
• Salem has stolen 18 bases on the season which is good for third in both in the Carolina League and Single-A

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