SALEM – Led by Andrews Opata’s four-RBI night and Christian Foutch’s first professional win, the Salem RidgeYaks (26-23) raced past the Wilson Warbirds (24-23) by a final score of 8-0 on Thursday evening at Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark.
The scoring got started early on. Yaks catcher Kleyver Salazar laced an RBI single through the right side in the home half of the first to give Salem the early 1-0 lead, before Opata came through in a big way.
The former non-drafted free agent signee clubbed his 10th homer of the season to put Salem on top 4-0 in the home half of the third, with a no-doubt bomb out to right center field to push the Yaks ahead by four.
It was two innings later that Salem would put it away. Opata picked up his fourth RBI of the night on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-0, before Avinson Pinto’s two-run double gave the Yaks a touchdown advantage. First baseman D’Angelo Ortiz would then tally one more, with his RBI single up the middle giving the Yaks an 8-0 lead.
That’s all Salem would need from there, with the Salem pitching staff combining to give up just one hit over the course of the contest. Foutch struck out three, while allowing just one hit over five innings of work, with southpaw Ethan Walker only surrendering two baserunners in four innings in relief.
It was also a debut to remember for No. 13 prospect Martin Shelor, with the 9th round pick in the 2026 MLB Draft notching his first career hit in his first professional at-bat.
As far as the postseason picture goes, Salem remains just 2.5 games out of first place (Fayetteville) in the second half of play in the Carolina League North, while Wilson now sits 3.5 games back of the first place crown.
The RidgeYaks and Warbirds continue their six-game series tomorrow evening from Carilion Clinic Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET with right-hander Williams Montero scheduled to get the ball.
Game Notes:
- The RidgeYaks have scored a combined 29 runs in the last two games
- Right-hander Christian Foutch picked up his first professional win (1-5)
- Foutch threw 52 pitches, 37 for strikes
- Left-hander Ethan Walker notched his second save of the year
- Outfielder Martin Shelor picked up his first professional hit
- No. 4 prospect Franklin Primera went hitless for just the second time in 16 games
- Salem threw just 109 pitches as a staff
- The Yaks have taken the first two games of the series