Improbable Comeback Hoists Lynchburg over Salem
July 6, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
An improbable comeback hoisted the Lynchburg Hillcats over the Salem Red Sox 6-5 in ten innings on Sunday,
With the win, Lynchburg has now gone three full seasons without a series loss to Salem. In addition, the Red Sox still have not won a series since the beginning of May.
For the second game in a row, Salem struck for three in the first inning. Today, Frederick Jimenez drove home a run on a sacrifice fly. One batter later, Enddy Azocar blasted his third home run of the year, a two-run shot to put Salem up 3-0.
The Hillcats would get a run back in the bottom of the second inning as Garrett Howe reached on an infield single to short, driving home Luis Merejo.
Salem would respond in the top of the fifth inning as Justin Gonzales would pick up his second double of the afternoon, driving home a run and pushing the lead to 4-1. They would add another in the sixth after scoring on a wild pitch, extending their cushion to four.
Lynchburg only had two hits until the ninth inning when their backs were against the wall. However, they would load up the bases with no one out in the inning.
Howe drove home the first run of the inning with a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Yaikel Mijares followed with an RBI single to right, cutting the deficit to two. Nick Mitchell singled on a liner to left, moving the needle to 5-4.
Then, with one out in the frame, Welbyn Francisca delivered the second sacrifice fly of the inning, knotting the game up at five in the ninth.
In the tenth, Francisca pulled a rabbit out of his hat with an outstanding defensive play. With two down and the runner on second, a sharply hit grounder kicked off the heel of Howe and into shallow left. Francisca backed up the play and threw out the runner attempting to score with a dart to Bennett Thompson behind the plate, holding the tie game.
Jeffery Mercedes began the bottom of the tenth on second but would not stay there long. Merejo roped a sharply hit grounder past the third baseman to score the winning run, lifting Lynchburg over Salem.
Lynchburg will remain at home for a second straight series as they face the Hickory Crawdads for the first time at Bank of the James Stadium on Tuesday. Tickets are available at Lynchburg-hillcats.com.
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