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August 9th, 2025
Zebulon, NC- The Carolina Mudcats (22-15) played host to the Lynchburg Hillcats (15-23) in the second game of a Saturday evening doubleheader. The Mudcats entered tonight’s contest 3.0 games ahead of the Fredericksburg Nationals (20-17) in the second half North Division standing. The Mudcats sent Miqueas Mercedes (0-0) to the mound who made his first appearance with the Mudcats tonight. The Hillcats sent Connor Whittaker (6-2) to the mound who entered tonight’s game with a 2.42 ERA in 63.1 innings pitched. The Mudcats won the first half of the doubleheader on a walk off single by Gery Holguin.
The Mudcats struck in the bottom of the first when Eric Bitonti crushed a solo home run to right field which gave the Mudcats a 1-0 lead. Lynchburg responded in the top of the second when Logun Clark and Jose Pirela scored on a single to left by Yerlin Luis which gave the Hillcats a 2-1 lead. Then, Yerlin Luis scored on a double to right field by Juneiker Caceres which expanded the Hillcats lead to 3-1. Lynchburg struck again in the top of the fourth when Alberto Mendez scored on a wild pitch by Bjorn Johnson which increased the Hillcats lead to 4-1. Then, Jose Pirela and Yerlin Luis scored on a single to left field by Jeffrey Mercedes which expanded the Hillcats lead to 6-1.
The Mudcats responded in the bottom half when Jose Anderson scored on an infield single by Kevin Garcia which cut the deficit to 6-2. Then, Filippo Di Turi scored on a single to center field by Gery Holguin which cut the deficit to 6-3. Later in the inning Kevin Garcia scored on a wild pitch by Keegan Zinn which cut the deficit to 6-4. Gary Holguin also scored on a wild pitch by Keegan Zinn which cut the deficit to 6-5. The Mudcats struck again in the bottom of the sixth when Tyler Rodriguez scored on a single to third base by Pedro Ibarguen which tied the game at 6-6.
Lynchburg struck in the top of the seventh when Robert Lopez scored on a wild pitch by Micheal Fowler which gave the Hillcats a 7-6 lead. Then, Logun Clark also scored on a wild pitch by Micheal Fowler which expanded the Hillcats lead to 8-6. Logan McGuire retired the Mudcats in order during the bottom of the seventh which secured the 8-6 win for Lynchburg.
The winning pitcher for the Hillcats was Logan McGuire (4-3) for his 3 innings pitched where he gave up 1 run on 2 hits. The losing pitcher for the Mudcats was Bjorn Jonhson (8-4) for his 3.1 innings pitched where he allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. The Mudcats record fell to 22-15 in the second half while the Hillcats record improved to 15-23 in the second half. The Mudcats exited the evening with a 2.0 game lead in the North Division second half standings. The Mudcats continue the series Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm at Five County Stadium.
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