Peoples' Ninth-Inning Home Run Breaks the Silence in 1-0 FredNats Win

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CarL Fredericksburg Nationals

Peoples' Ninth-Inning Home Run Breaks the Silence in 1-0 FredNats Win

June 12, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Fredericksburg Nationals News Release


FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The Fredericksburg Nationals (27-32) shut out the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (33-27) and won 1-0 behind a two-out, two-strike home run from Nick Peoples in the ninth inning, taking a 2-1 series lead by winning consecutive road games for the first time since April.

From the jump, it was clear both pitching staffs and defenses brought their A-game. Joan Ogando got the start for Fayetteville and struck out two in the first, not allowing more than one baserunner in each of the first three innings. With Brayan Romero on the hill, the FredNats saw Kevin Bazzell throw out two would-be base stealers in the first inning and Carlos Tavares start a perfect relay play from left field to cut down a runner at home in the second inning.

Romero tossed 4.2 innings, while Ogando threw six complete, but by the time both starters were done, the game was still tied 0-0. The lone scoring chance for the FredNats against Ogando came in the fifth, when three straight hitters failed to bring in Yoander Rivero, who had led off with a triple. In the sixth, Ogando got all three outs on four total pitches.

With both bullpens in the game, the offenses remained stagnant. In the seventh inning, despite a two-out walk, the Woodpeckers sent Max Holy for second and he quickly became the third caught stealing victim of Bazzell, who fired him out to finish the frame.

On the other side, Ryan Smith was carving up the FredNats and got the ninth after two scoreless innings with four strikeouts. He retired Bazzell and Roismar Quintana with relative ease and faced Peoples next. Peoples had already flied out to the wall in straightaway center earlier and had a line drive double that he shot out at 114 miles per hour, but Smith wasn't fazed and got ahead 0-2.

That's when he made his mistake.

Smith grooved Peoples a pitch to hit, and it was sent screaming on a low line over the right-center field fence at 115 mph, the hardest-hit ball by any FredNat in 2025. It never died and soared out of Segra Stadium, giving the FredNats a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning.

Merrick Baldo got the call, looking for a save and picked up the torch from his fellow FredNat arms. Baldo retired the side in order, including a strikeout of the game's final batter, Waner Luciano. Peoples and the pitchers did the heavy lifting to win another one-run game for the FredNats, their second in a row, and take a series lead. The FredNats are now 6-4 in June, with all ten games being decided by two runs or fewer.

Ryan Minckler (2-4) got the win with a scoreless eighth, as Smith (2-3) got the loss and Baldo (4) got the save. In game four of the series Friday, the FredNats send Davian Garcia (2-2, 3.56) to the mound, looking to secure at least a series split in a 7:05 start.

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Carolina League Stories from June 12, 2025


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