SALEM, Va. – The Salem RidgeYaks (9-8) erased a six-run deficit and forced extra innings but ultimately fell 7-6 to the Fredericksburg Nationals (11-6) on Wednesday morning at Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark.
After trailing 6-0 entering the third inning, Salem scored six unanswered runs to send the game to the 10th before coming up just short.
With 4,355 local school kids in attendance, Wednesday marked the first morning game of the season and the first of two Education Day games on the schedule.
Fredericksburg struck early against RidgeYaks starter Myles Patton. Four of the first five batters recorded hits, including back-to-back home runs by Coy James and Sir Jamison Jones to give the Nationals a 4-0 lead just 20 pitches into the game.
The Nationals added to the lead with RBI doubles from Yeremy Cabrera and Luke Dickerson, extending the advantage to 6-0 after two innings.
Patton exited after 3.2 innings, allowing seven hits and six runs while striking out five. He did not factor into the decision.
Salem began its comeback in the third inning with an RBI single from Luke Heyman and a run scored on a throwing error by catcher Jones on a pickoff attempt.
A wild pitch in the sixth brought home another run, cutting the deficit to 6-3 entering the final three innings.
Heyman led off the eighth with a single, and Kleyver Salazar followed with a two-run home run to center field, his second of the season, to make it a one-run game.
Down to their final three outs in the ninth, Frederik Jiminez tied the game with a solo home run off Bryant Olson, sending it to extras.
In the 10th, Jack Moroknek drove in the placed runner with an RBI single, giving Fredericksburg a 7-6 lead.
In the bottom half, Andrews Opata stole third and Heyman walked to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. However, Olson struck out the next three batters, Salazar, Ty Hodge and Anderson Fermin, to end the game.
Olson (3-0) earned the win, pitching the final two innings and allowing only the Jiminez home run. Adam Bates (0-2) took the loss for Salem, tossing two innings and allowing one hit and no earned runs in extra innings.
The RidgeYaks and Nationals continue the series Thursday night, with left-hander Dylan Brown scheduled to make his fourth start of the season. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. on a Thirsty Thursday in Salem.
Game Notes:
- Wednesday marked Salem’s first extra-inning game of the 2026 season
- Salem hitters struck out 14 times, the most in a game this season
- The crowd of 4,355 was the largest crowd Salem has played in front of this season
- Salem’s four-game morning win streak ended; the last AM loss came on April 24, 2024 (4-3 at Carolina)
- The 2:51 game time was the third-longest game of the season for Salem
- Salem has outscored opponents 34-12 over its last three home games
- Andrews Opata went 0-for-4, snapping a nine-game hitting streak
- After committing an error in 20 straight games dating back to last season, Salem has now gone back-to-back games without an error
- Kleyver Salazar’s eighth-inning home run traveled 413 feet, the longest at Carilion Clinic Field this season and the first 400+ foot homer by Salem this year
- Myles Patton made his first professional start and struck out a career-high five
- Jacob Mayers pitched a career-long 4.1 innings
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