The Hill City Howlers suffered a 10-4 defeat in their series opener against the Fayetteville Woodpeckers on the road.
The Howlers (11-20) trotted out two new arms to mixed results as Alejandro Rivera and Austin Testerman made their team debuts in the game. Rivera went five innings in his start but let up five runs, and Testerman gave up two in 0.2 IP.
Despite the struggles of the staff, Reiner Herrera had a big day, going 2-3 with a homer, double and walk plus two RBI in the loss.
Herrera scorched an RBI double down the right field line to give Hill City an early 1-0 lead in the first, continuing his hot start in a Howlers uniform.
Two more came across in the frame, one off a Riley Nelson groundout and the other on a Jonathan Martinez RBI single to give the Howlers a 3-0 lead for first-time Howler Alejandro Rivera.
It didn’t take long for Fayetteville (16-14) to answer when outfielder Jadyn Fielder belted a two-run homer in the second to make it a one-run game.
After a scoreless third, catcher Arturo Flores gave the Woodpeckers their first lead on a two-run blast of his own to make it 4-3.
Not to be outdone, Flores’ catching counterpart Reiner Herrera added onto his strong night with a game-tying solo home run in the fifth.
Following Fayetteville third baseman Waner Luciano’s RBI single to grab the lead back, Arturo Flores matched Herrera with another home run. It was another two-run shot for the catcher, and it gave some cushion to the Woodpeckers’ lead, raising the score to 7-4.
First baseman Carlos Cauro supplied more power for Fayetteville in the seventh, smashing the team’s fourth home run of the night to make it 8-4 in favor of the Woodpeckers.
Howlers pitching got gashed a couple more times before the end of the game, with a DJ Newman single and Josh Wakefield double supplying the final two runs to lock down the 10-4 final.
The Howlers and the Woodpeckers meet again tomorrow at 6:35 p.m. in Fayetteville for game two of the series.