The Fayetteville Woodpeckers ran away from the Hill City Howlers on Wednesday evening, winning 9-5.
Hill City struggled to capitalize on base runners, having at least one aboard in all but one inning. The ‘Peckers had received a tremendous start from Jagger Beck, who went five full innings of shutout baseball.
The game began quietly through the first two innings. However, when the third inning arrived, Fayetteville found some momentum. An RBI ground out from Arturo Flores brought home the game’s first run.
Brandon Nigh earned an RBI single in the fourth, pushing the lead to two. A solo shot from Xavier Neyens in the fifth extended the lead to three before German Ramirez scored in the sixth to make it a four-run lead.
The death by a thousand paper cuts continued in the seventh inning as the Woodpeckers tacked on two more. Brandon Nigh and Anthony Huezo both walked with the bases loaded, pushing the score line up to 6-0.
In the bottom of the seventh, Hill City cracked the board as Yaikel Mijares drove home their first run with a sacrifice fly to right.
However, the momentum was short lived as the Woodpeckers scored thrice more in the eighth. Another bases-loaded walk to Ramirez plated another. Then, a two-run single from Nigh, put the game out of reach as the score was pushed to 9-1.
Hill City struck for three of their own as Cannon Peebles doubled home two, as the first three batters all went opposite field for base hits. Reiner Herrara scored later in the frame on a ground out, as the score moved to 9-4.
One more scored in the ninth as Gabriel Rodriguez drove home a run on a groundout, allowing Mijares to score.
Hill City dropped their ninth game of the second half, ending their two-game winning stretch. The two teams will square off again on Thursday evening at City Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.