It came an inning later than the previous night, but the wheels came off the bus with another big inning in the early going as Lynchburg pummeled Potomac, 9-1.
It only took three batters for the Hillcats to score in the 1st as Josh Elander served up a two-run shot to the opposite field to give the visitors an early 2-0 lead. Things would not go much better in the second with a leadoff triple and a grounder to 1st plating the third Lynchburg run.
On a night where P-Nats highlights were few and far between, Brandon Miller broke up the no-hitter and the shutout with a solo homer to right (yes, the wind was blowing that way, but it was only 5 m.p.h.) with one out in the 2nd. Tony Renda collected the second hit for the Woodbridge nine with a liner 3-4 hole into right field in the fourth and took second on a wild pitch.
Alas, Potomac would have just one more baserunner — a one-out walk by Mike McQuillan in the 6th — before McQuillan and Renda would lead off the 9th with their second walk and hit, respectively. Veterans Oscar Tejeda and Kevin Keyes couldn’t cash them in though as they hit into double play and struck out to end the bid for a second run.
Ronald Pena (0-0, 12.27) will take the hill for the P-Nats this morning in front of hundreds of screaming girls. Unfortunately, they’ll be middle schoolers there for the annual Science Day promotion. Lynchburg will be going for the sweep with Mauricio Cabrera (0-0, 2.25) on the bump for the Hillcats.