The game was not as close as the final score would suggest, as the Hillcats defeated the Nationals, 10-7 in Potomac’s home opener.
As is often the case in April games, it was cold and it was sloppy. The two teams combined for four recorded errors, three wild pitches and two passed balls. Consequently, runs came easy, early and often.
The difference was the one really big inning, which knocked P-Nats starter Nick Lee from the box with two outs in the 2nd inning. Lynchburg would send ten men to the plate, six of them would hit safely and six of them would score to take an early 7-1 lead.
Lee, who struck out three of the 13 batters he faced, was (obviously) not sharp despite just walking one. As the old saw goes, the batters will tell you when you’re not hitting your spots as they belted three doubles against the southpaw, jumping on his curve when bent instead of broke.
He would finish with seven runs, all earned, on seven hits over one and 2/3rds.
The P-Nats offense answered the Hillcats with three runs in the second, but like the last single at the bar at closing time, it wasn’t pretty. A walk, a hit batsmen, and an error opened the frame to allow Stephen Perez (RBI single), Tony Renda (sacrifice fly) and Kevin Keyes (RBI single) to cash in the mistakes.
Indeed, walks, errors and misplays led to the next two Potomac runs in the 3rd and 5th innings before they strung together a relatively clean two-out rally in the 6th. Tony Renda reached infield hit, Oscar Tejeda singled, and Keyes delivered another single for the final Potomac run.
Pedro Severino launched a triple off the base of the centerfield wall with two outs in the 7th for the last P-Nat hit. Tejeda led the nine-hit offense with a 3-for-5 night, followed by Keyes with a 2-for-4 effort.
While Brian Dupra and Bryan Harper kept things close for five and a 1/3rd innings, Travis Henke was not as effective, giving up two runs in the 8th to give Lynchburg a 10-7 cushion.
Veteran Hillcats reliever Brandon Cunniff slammed the door on the P-Nats with a pair of 1-2-3 innings, striking out the side in the 8th and four total for the save.
The series continues tonight with Brian Rauh (0-0, 1.80) making his second start, opposed by Lynchburg’s 19-y.o. Lucas Sims (0-1, 6.75).