WILSON, N.C. - Jose Anderson blasted the Wilson Warbirds to an 11-7, 11-inning victory on Friday night with a walk-off grand slam to defeat the Salem RidgeYaks at Wilson Ballpark.
Wilson (29-26) fell behind Salem (24–31) early in the contest, 6-2, behind a five-run fourth inning for the RidgeYaks. But the Warbirds showed resilience once again and slowly chipped away.
Wilson brought two runs back in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from Rylan Mills to score Frederi Montero, who led off the inning with a double. Pedro Ibarguen also scored in the frame, touching home on an error from Salme shortstop Avinson Pinto. The inning concluded with Wilson trailing 6-4.
In the bottom of the fifth, a Montero sacrifice fly plated Brady Ebel to bring the Warbirds within a run at 6-5.
Wilson continued fighting in the bottom of the sixth. A two-out error by Andrews Opata saw Luis Lameda reach second base. He then scored on an RBI base hit from Handelfry Encarnacion to tie the game at six.
Nine innings were not enough for the two teams to settle their differences. A Skylar King RBI single in the top of the 10th gave Salem a brief 7-6 lead. Pedro Ibarguen responded in the bottom of the 10th with an RBI double to send us to the 11th tied, 7-7.
A crucial double play in the top of the 11th allowed Joshua Quezada (W, 2-2) and the Warbirds to get off the field and set up Wilson for the bottom of the 11th.
Brady Ebel walked to lead off the frame, and was followed by a Juan Ortuno single to load the bases with the ghost runner Encarnacion at third.
On the second pitch of his at-bat, Anderson demolished a walk-off grand slam to propel Wilson to an 11-7 victory and retake the Carolina League lead in home runs.
Griffin Kilander (L, 0-1) took the loss for Salem, surrendering the grand slam in the 11th.
The two teams are back in action Saturday at 7:05 p.m. for Star Wars night. Again, there will be fireworks after the game ends. Tickets for the contest are available at WilsonWarbirds.com or by calling (919) 269-2287.