In a game eerily similar to Tuesday, the Hill City Howlers walked off the Kannapolis CannonBallers to win 7-6 on Thursday evening.
Hill City led by six heading into the seventh inning before Kannapolis stormed back to tie the game in the ninth before the Howlers second walk-off of the series. On Tuesday, they led by four in the seventh before needing the walk-off in the tenth to win.
The Howlers came out the gates fighting, as Lucas Moore opened the game with his first-of-three doubles before scoring on a triple from Alejandro Garza. An errant throw to third would allow Garza to score, giving Hill City the 2-0 lead.
The second inning brought more electricity from the offense as Angel Abreu worked an 11-pitch walk to setup the inning. Moore’s second double brought him home before a two-run blast from Reiner Herrera to right-center brought the lead to five.
Pedro Dalmagro mashed his first Hill City homer in the sixth inning off of Fidel Montero. His round-tripper carried over the right-center field fence, pushing the Howlers up 6-0.
Miguel Flores pitched his best outing of the season, finishing the night after six innings, striking out four while allowing one hit.
Kannapolis came to life in the seventh inning as they loaded up the bases with only one out. Jake Berkland drew an 11-pitch free pass of his own for the first run of the game. Ryan Bilka, on as relief, fired a wild pitch to the backstop for the CannonBallers second run.
Steven Lancia crept the ‘Ballers a bit closer in the eighth inning with a two-run home run of his own. As the rain fell, he lofted his line drive over the left-center wall to cut the deficit to two.
The ninth brought more trouble for the Howlers as Kannapolis tied up the game at six. Abraham Nunez drove home a run with a single to center. Then, with the bases loaded, Clay Burdette was hit by a pitch, drawing Kannapolis level.
In the bottom of the ninth, Hill City wasted no time, loading up the bases with no one out. Johan Rodriguez bounced a single into center, earning his second walk-off of the season.
Hill City leads the series 2-1 and will square off again with the CannonBallers on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. within the confines of City Stadium. Tickets are available at hchowlers.com.