Blake Aita's Brilliant Start Helps Salem BeerMongers Defeat the Nationals in a Thriller, 5-4

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Blake Aita's Brilliant Start Helps Salem BeerMongers Defeat the Nationals in a Thriller, 5-4

May 1, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Salem Red Sox News Release


SALEM, Va. - Blake Aita was nearly untouchable Thursday night, and the Salem BeerMongers needed every bit of his brilliance.

The right-hander retired the first 15 batters he faced and carried a perfect game into the sixth inning to help the Salem BeerMongers (10-14) hold off a furious Fredericksburg Nationals (13-11) comeback in a nail-biting 5-4 win at Carilion Clinic Field.

Making his fifth start of the season, Aita delivered his most dominant outing yet. He went six innings, striking out seven and allowing just one hit which was a weak infield single by Nathaniel Ochoa to lead off the sixth. Aita threw 67 pitches, 45 for strikes, and left the game with a 2-0 lead.

His early dominance allowed Salem to build a cushion, and the offense did just enough to support the effort.

The scoring began in the bottom of the third inning when Natanael Yuten led off with a double to extend his hitting streak to three games. Two batters later, Yoeilin Cespedes grounded a single into center to plate Yuten and give Salem a 1-0 lead.

An inning later, the BeerMongers added another run. Frederik Jimenez and Starlyn Nunez opened the frame with back-to-back doubles, pushing the lead to 2-0 against Nationals starter Jake Bennett, who took the loss in the game.

The game remained tight until the seventh, when Salem added insurance runs. Cespedes singled to start the inning, bringing up Antonio Anderson, who has emerged as Salem's top offensive threat following the call up of Franklin Arias earlier in the week.

Anderson wasted no time. On the first pitch he saw from reliever Merritt Beeker, the switch-hitting third baseman launched a fastball over the left-center wall for a two-run home run-his second of the season and just the fourth home run hit by Salem at home this year.

The blast gave Salem a 4-0 lead and seemed to put the game comfortably in hand. But Fredericksburg had other plans.

Reliever Joe Vogatsky cruised through a quick seventh but ran into trouble in the eighth, issuing three walks to load the bases with two outs. Facing the Nationals' No. 26 prospect Cristhian Vaquero, Salem manager Ozzie Chavez turned to right-hander Nicolas De La Cruz for a four-out save attempt.

De La Cruz battled Vaquero for seven pitches before getting him to chase a breaking ball in the dirt, escaping the jam and preserving the four-run lead.

Salem added one more run in the eighth to take a 5-0 lead into the ninth.

Fredericksburg made one final push in the last frame. Nick Peoples reached on an error to open the inning, followed by a walk and an RBI single by Nate Rombach to get the Nationals on the board. Another walk and a Kevin Made RBI single cut the deficit to 5-2, still with no outs.

De La Cruz struck out Elijah Nunez for the first out, but Chavez again went to his bullpen, this time calling on 5-foot-10 catcher-turned-reliever Diego Viloria. The 22-year-old brought a perfect 0.00 ERA into the outing in his third relief appearance.

With the bases loaded and the go-ahead run at the plate, Viloria allowed a two-run single to Carlos Tavares, trimming the lead to 5-4. After striking out Kelvin Diaz for the second out, he walked Vaquero to reload the bases.

That brought up Peoples, who had started the rally. On the first pitch, he grounded a sharp ball up the middle, but Cespedes was positioned perfectly, stepping on second for the game-ending force out.

The dramatic victory marked back-to-back home wins for Salem, who now reach double digits in the win column with the result.

The series continues Friday night, with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. Salem looks to clinch a share of the series as Austin Ehrlicher is scheduled to make the start. He'll be opposed by Yoel Tejeda Jr. for the Nationals.

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