The Hill City Howlers survived a chaotic Sunday matinee against the Wilson Warbirds, winning 8-7.
The two teams combined for 22 walks and four errors, accounting for the 15 run total. The walks overshadowed a strong start from Erigaldi Perez, who struck out five in five innings after a long opening frame.
A 30-minute first inning saw Hill City leading 3-2 out of the gate. The Warbirds threatened early as a bases loaded walk to Rylan Mills allowed a run to score. Jose Anderson delivered a sacrifice fly for the second, giving Wilson the fast start.
Hill City answered back in the bottom of the frame as Riley Nelson came through with the bases loaded, knocking in a two-run single to tie the game. Jose Pirela followed later in the frame with an RBI double, giving Hill City the lead.
The Warbirds traded blows again in the second after a leadoff single from Pedro Ibarquen. He swiped second before a throwing error saw him reach third. Kevin Garcia followed with a ground out to even the score once more.
In the third, Hill City found their stride once again. A leadoff single for Alejandro Blasco opened the frame before a balk put him in scoring position. Nelson supplied for the Howlers again, earning his third RBI of the day with a base hit to right.
The game settled down until the bottom of the seventh inning when command began to fail both teams. Wilson walked six in a row to open the inning, accounting for three of the runs for the Howlers. Yeiferth Castillo drove home the fourth with an RBI single, giving the Howlers an 8-3 lead.
The top of the eighth inning was nearly a repeat of the bottom of the seventh. Several walks began the frame, including a bases-loaded walk to Pedro Ibarguen. Handelfry Encarnacion scored another on a forceout at second before Brady Ebel drove home two with a single to left, trimming the game back to one.
Harrison Ruiz came on to pitch the ninth, retiring the side in order to halt the chaos and secure the series split for Hill City.
The Howlers hit the road for a two-week road trip against Myrtle Beach and Charleston. The team returns home for the final home series of the season on August 25-30 against Kannapolis. Tickets are available at hchowlers.com.