SALEM, Va. – The Salem RidgeYaks (10–10) dropped their second consecutive game to the Fredericksburg Nationals (13–7), falling 11–4 on Saturday evening at Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark.
After a 14–4 loss on Friday night, Salem looked to bounce back and earn a share of the series against in-state foe Fredericksburg.
The Nationals struck in the top of the first inning behind a solo home run from Luke Dickerson off starter Jose Bello. That would be the lone hit Bello surrendered, as he retired the next eight batters before departing after three innings of work.
Salem tied the game in the bottom of the second when Ty Hodge reached on an error by third baseman Rafael Ramirez Jr. The next batter, Anderson Fermin, drove him in with an RBI single to even the score at 1–1.
Fredericksburg responded quickly, plating two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth, four in the sixth, and three in the seventh. Following the stretch of 10 unanswered runs, Salem trailed 11–2 after seven innings.
Christian Foutch (0–2) took the loss, tossing 2.1 innings out of the bullpen while allowing four runs on two hits with four walks and three strikeouts.
The RidgeYaks added a run in the sixth after a leadoff double by Starlyn Nunez and an RBI single from Enddy Azocar. Salem plated two more in the ninth on an Avinson Pinto sacrifice fly and D’Angelo Ortiz reaching on an error by the second baseman.
Salem finished the game with four runs on six hits and went 3-for-10 with runners on base, leaving five men stranded.
On the mound, left-hander Jason Gilman, a Staten Island, New York native and a former 16th-round pick by Boston last summer, made his professional debut. Gilman tossed two scoreless innings, allowing no hits while striking out five in his first career outing.
The RidgeYaks and FredNats conclude their six-game series Sunday afternoon at Carilion Clinic Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. ET, with right-hander Dalvinson Reyes expected to make his first career Single-A start.
Game Notes:
- The Yaks are now 9-5 at home in 2026
- Last season Salem and Fredericksburg met 23 times, of those meetings 18 were decided by three runs or less and all but one were decided by four runs or less.
- This week alone, four of the five games have been decided by six runs or more
- In four of the six games this week, the winning team has scored double digit runs
- Anderson Fermin has now reached base in 13 of the 14 games he has seen an at-bat in
- Andrews Opata stole a base and leads the team with nine stolen bases
- Jason Gilman went two innings in his professional debut, striking out five hitters
- Jose Bello pitched a season long three innings with a season best four strikeouts
- The six runs allowed by Adam Bates are a career high for most allowed by Bates in a single outing
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