Myrtle Beach, SC - The Fredericksburg Nationals lost a heartbreaker on a walkoff grand slam in the series opener against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. The FredNats ran out of pitching, forcing them to throw a position player in extra innings.
It was a tough start for Fredericksburg. As the first eight men to head to the plate were retired, Myrtle Beach’s leadoff man Darwin De Leon scored on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 1st to give the Pelicans an early 1-0 lead. In the top of the 3rd, Manny Cabrera ended the early perfect game bid for David Bracho with a solo home run to even the game. Right away, the Pelicans scored three in the 3rd to go up 4-1.
The FredNats bats really got going in the top of the 4th. After a leadoff walk for Luke Dickerson, Hunter Hines hit his first triple of the season, down the right field line to bring Dickerson across. Dashyll Tejeda then singled to bring him across. Tejeda scored on a wild pitch after a couple of walks. Manny Cabrera hit an RBI single to plate Juan Cruz and put Fredericksburg in front 5-4.
Home runs played a big part in the game. The Pelicans tied it at 5 on a Jose Silva solo shot in the bottom of the 6th. The FredNats responded right away though, as in the top of the 7th, Coy James hit his team leading 10th home run of the season to put the FredNats up 7-5. Later that inning, the Pelicans tied the game, scoring two unearned runs on a wild pitch and an RBI groundout.
On the first pitch of the top of the 10th, with Dashyll Tejeda on second as the automatic runner, Juan Cruz hit his 7th home run of the season, an absolute moonshot into left field, to put the FredNats up 9-7.
With the team out of pitching, position player Christian Fagnant had to pitch the bottom of the 10th. He almost induced a triple play to get out of the game, but ended up walking three, and allowed a grand slam by Derniche Valdez as the FredNats fall 11-9.
With the loss, the FredNats drop a series opener for just the 5th time this year. The FredNats look to get back into the win column tomorrow with RHP Alexander Meckley getting his first start back with the team. First pitch at Pelicans Ballpark is set for 7:05 PM.