Luis De La Cruz treated Hill City Howlers fans to an early fireworks show as his seventh inning home run gave the Howlers the 4-2 lead and victory over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers on the Fourth of July.
The team was carried by tremendous pitching performances from Harrison Bodendorf, Conner Whittaker, and Keegan Zinn. The trio combined for 17 strikeouts, only allowing two runs on six hits.
On America’s 250th birthday, Fayetteville started things in the first inning on a Waner Luciano single to right field, scoring Kevin Alvarez.
In the bottom of the third, Dauri Fernandez took matters into his own hands. After being hit by a pitch, he swiped second. A pickoff error on the pitcher went into centerfield as Fernandez turned on the jets to score from second, tying the game at one.
In the fourth, Luciano delivered again, hitting his third home run in as many games to put the Woodpeckers back in front by one.
The game went quietly into the seventh inning as the Howlers struggled to capitalize with runners in scoring position. Finally, Riley Nelson stepped up and burned a single up the middle, scoring Jonathan Martinez from third to tie the game.
One pitch later, Luis De La Cruz lit up the Hill City skyline with a mammoth two-run home run to right field, giving the Howlers the 4-2 edge. For De La Cruz, it was his sixth home run of the year.
Keegan Zinn finished off the game, striking out three in the ninth inning, to give the Howlers their second straight Fourth of July victory.
Hill City and Fayetteville wrap up their series on Sunday afternoon at City Stadium. Tickets for the 2 p.m. matinee are avaible at hchowlers.com.