Bazzell, FredNats Win Marathon Battle, Beat Fayetteville 9-6 in 12 Innings

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CarL Fredericksburg Nationals

Bazzell, FredNats Win Marathon Battle, Beat Fayetteville 9-6 in 12 Innings

April 18, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Fredericksburg Nationals News Release


FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The Fredericksburg Nationals (7-6) came back late again and ultimately scored three 12th-inning runs to sink the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (6-7) late at night at SEGRA Stadium by a score of 9-6.

In a game that saw seven ties and lead changes, it was the last one that really mattered. As the road team, the FredNats came to the plate first in the 12th inning with the game tied 6-6. Fredericksburg's fastest runner, Cristhian Vaquero, was the automatic runner at second base and the two, three and four hitters were due up. Elijah Nunez started the party by drawing a walk against reliever Dawil Almonte, his second of the night. Then, Kevin Bazzell stepped up with two aboard.

Bazzell had already been the Nationals' hero of the night across the first 11 innings. At the plate, he had knocked in the FredNats' 10th-inning run with a rifled base hit up the middle to score Kelvin Diaz and had scored the game-tying run in the eighth inning to get the game to extras. At his catching position, he had thrown out Cesar Hernandez trying to steal in both the eighth and 10th innings and backpicked a runner in the eighth as well.

After all that, the Nationals' 2024 third-round pick was looking for the real difference-making swing. He found it with a bounding-ball single through a wide-open right side of the infield, scoring Vaquero with ease. It was Bazzell's second RBI of extra innings and the game-winning hit that made it 7-6.

It relieved the infuriation stemming from a controversial call at the plate in the bottom of the 10th that almost got Bazzell ejected and did get FredNat manager Billy McMillon thrown out of the game. It erased the pain of a game-tying, two-run home run hit off of Robert Cranz in the 11th inning by Drew Brutcher with Fayetteville down to its last out. It validated the late-game efforts of Jorgelys Mota, who again drove in runs with multiple RBI doubles.

It, perhaps most importantly, punctuated the first banner game of the season for the Nationals' 13th-ranked prospect (MLB Pipeline), who led the FredNats to their second consecutive comeback win on the road.

The Nats added two more runs off of position player Carlos Cauro and handed Austin Amaral the ball in the bottom of the 12th with a 9-6 lead. He retired the side in order to secure his first save of the season. Despite allowing three runs, Cranz (1-1) earned the win. Almonte (0-1) got the loss.

Despite pitching five full innings again, FredNat starter Yoel Tejeda Jr. had to wait seven innings to see the game end and he finished with no decision, mixing two hits and two runs allowed with five strikeouts.

With the series tied 2-2, the FredNats will regroup with the starting pitcher to be determined for Saturday's 7:05 start.

#FREDNATS

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