SALEM, Va. – The Fredericksburg Nationals defeated the Salem Red Sox 9-5 on Tuesday night, powered by a dominant start from Bryan Polanco and a seven-run sixth inning. Polanco threw five scoreless innings at Carilion Clinic Field, allowing just one hit and striking out five, while the FredNats’ offense broke open the game in the sixth. The win marks Fredericksburg’s first road series opener victory of the season and their fourth straight win.

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The Fredericksburg Nationals (12-9) defeated the Charleston RiverDogs (8-13) 6-5 on Sunday, April 27, 2025, securing a 4-2 series win. Jackson Ross hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to complete a late-game comeback before 4,007 fans at Virginia Credit Union Stadium. The FredNats now head to Salem, with game one set for Tuesday at 6:35 p.m.

Here’s the full press release:

The Fredericksburg Nationals (12-9) launched another late-game comeback against the Charleston RiverDogs (8-13), winning 6-5 on Jackson Ross’ sacrifice fly in the tenth inning. The win, which saw the FredNats score four unanswered runs after the eighth, also secured a 4-2 series victory for Fredericksburg.

In front of a season-high 4,007 fans at Virginia Credit Union Stadium, Fredericksburg’s Davian Garcia and Charleston’s Janzen Keisel took the hill on a “Salute to Service Sunday” with the series on the line. Both pitchers were sixth-round selections in the 2024 MLB Draft and both struggled with command in their respective starts.

The FredNats got to Keisel in the second inning when the Oklahoma State product walked three to load the bases before Cristhian Vaquero smoked a double high off the right field wall, missing a grand slam by a yard. It was Vaquero’s tenth hit of the series and gave him his eighth and ninth RBI to put Fredericksburg up 2-0.

Garcia skirted around traffic with two pickoffs and a double-play ball in the first three innings, but couldn’t avoid damage in the fourth. After a leadoff double from Jack Lines, Charleston’s first hit, Garcia issued his fourth walk to set the table for the RiverDogs. With one out, Nathan Flewelling flipped a double the opposite way to score both runners and came home himself on an RBI single from Larry Martinez, giving Charleston a 3-2 lead.

The RiverDogs got to the FredNat bullpen after that in the sixth inning too, plating two runs off of Kevin Dowdell despite only one hit, extending their lead to 5-2.

After going scoreless for five consecutive frames, Fredericksburg got a golden opportunity again in the eighth. The RiverDog defense finally cracked as Jack Lines booted a Kevin Bazzell ground ball and Randal Diaz raced around the basepaths to score. Two batters later, a pop-up dropped on the infield before a Nate Ochoa single, loading the bases for Carlos Tavares with only one out.

Tavares, the youngest FredNat, came through in the clutch. He rattled a base hit into right field, scoring both Bazzell and Ross, tying the game at five apiece. As had happened so often in the series, Charleston’s mistakes in the field let Fredericksburg back in it.

Neither team scored in the ninth inning, sending Sunday’s contest to extra innings. After Charleston’s sacrifice bunt to move the automatic runner to third base, Flewelling pulled a ground ball to Tavares at first, who was playing in. The runner, Connor Hujsak, broke for the plate and Tavares made another phenomenal play, perfectly placing his throw to the plate to gun down Hujsak and ensuring Charleston wouldn’t score in the tenth.

That meant the FredNats needed just one run to win it and had Kevin Bazzell starting at second. The first batter of the inning, Jorgelys Mota, roped a base hit into right and Billy McMillon conservatively gave Bazzell the stop sign at third. Ross came up next with the game in his hands and was once again the walk-off hero. He had a walk-off home run in the FredNat home opener, but this time just needed to lift a fly ball to deep center field as Bazzell sprinted home to score.

Austin Amaral (1-0) got the win after pitching the tenth and Jonalbert Rumbol (0-1) got the loss. The FredNats have now won three straight to get to three games above .500 for the first time in 2025. They will head to Salem next week, with game one on Tuesday starting at 6:35.

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The Fredericksburg Nationals (11-9) won for the second consecutive night, defeating the Charleston RiverDogs (8-12) 5-3 at Virginia Credit Union Stadium. Cristhian Vaquero drove in four runs, including a three-run home run, and the FredNats’ bullpen combined for 11 strikeouts over four innings.

Here’s the full press release:

The Fredericksburg Nationals (11-9) won for the second straight night, beating the Charleston RiverDogs (8-12) 5-3 behind another headlining performance from right fielder Cristhian Vaquero and Single-A’s best bullpen.

On “A Minecraft Movie Night” at Virginia Credit Union Stadium, the FredNats handed the ball to starter Angel Roman, who entered the night with an ERA above 17 and was coming off his most difficult outing of the season. He again got off to a slow start, allowing single runs in each of the first two innings. He gave up two hits in the first and three hits in the second and looked like he may not last past then.

However, with the bases loaded in the second, he forced a groundout to third to strand all three runners. From there, he settled down and was fantastic.

The groundout started a stretch of nine straight batters retired by Roman, who fought through another two baserunners in the fifth inning without allowing a run.

By then, his offense had tied the game. The first eight FredNats went down in order against Charleston’s Jose Urbina before Kelvin Diaz pulled a line drive into left field for a two-out single in the third inning and stole second ahead of Vaquero. Vaquero came into the day having already posted two three-hit games in the series and was fresh off a multi-RBI performance Friday night. In his first act Saturday, the FredNat outfielder laced a single up the middle that drove in Diaz to draw the game to 2-1.

In the fourth, Fredericksburg pounced again. Jorgelys Mota reached on an error, advanced on a passed ball and scored when Nate Rombach whacked a single through the right side. Mota ran through a stop sign at third base and showed off his speed to tie the game 2-2.

In the fifth, after Roman’s efforts, the FredNats saw Moises Gallardo reach on a Charleston error, Elijah Nunez draw a walk and Kelvin Diaz bunt both of them over, giving Vaquero another RBI chance and he didn’t disappoint.

The FredNat switch-hitter stepped to the plate and launched a sky-scraping home run that touched down in the RiverDog bullpen to give the FredNats five unanswered runs and a 5-2 lead. Vaquero’s second home run of the season gave him a FredNat single-game season high four RBI. He’d finish the night 2/4 and now has nine hits in the first five games of the series.

From there, the FredNat bullpen locked things down again. The group that entered the night with a Single-A-best 2.92 ERA saw Gavin Bruni strike out the side in the sixth, Robert Cranz go six up, six down with six strikeouts and Merrick Baldo punch out two more. Of the bullpen’s 12 outs, 11 of them came by way of the strikeout, including seven RiverDogs in a row at one point. Baldo gave up a ninth-inning solo shot, but by night’s end, the Fredericksburg bullpen ERA dropped even further to 2.89.

In a 5-3 victory, Roman (1-1) got his first win of the season as Charleston reliever Noah Beal (0-1) stomached the loss. The FredNats secured at least a series split and will go for a series win in game six Sunday with Davian Garcia (1-1, 4.15) on the mound in a 1:35 start.

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The Fredericksburg Nationals (10-9) scored seven unanswered runs to defeat the Charleston RiverDogs (8-11) by a score of 8-1 on Firework Friday at Virginia Credit Union Stadium.

The game remained close through the first five innings, tied 1-1 after solo runs from each team. Jackson Ross hit a solo home run in the second inning for the Nationals, and Charleston tied the game in the fourth. In the sixth inning, Fredericksburg took advantage of Charleston’s defensive mistakes, scoring four runs, followed by three more runs in the eighth inning.

The Nationals’ bullpen pitched six scoreless innings to secure the team’s largest winning margin of the season and tied the series at two games apiece. Matt Bollenbacher earned the win for Fredericksburg. Game five of the series is scheduled for Saturday, with Angel Roman starting for the FredNats.

Here’s the full press release:

The Fredericksburg Nationals (10-9) took advantage of late mistakes made by the Charleston RiverDogs (8-11) and scored seven unanswered runs to win 8-1 on a Firework Friday at Virginia Credit Union Stadium.

When the sixth inning started, the game had been played to script. In a tight, well-pitched series, the FredNats and RiverDogs were again playing close in a 1-1 tie. Both starters, Yoel Tejeda Jr. (3+ IP, 1 ER) and Ryan Andrade (4.0 IP, 1 ER), were long gone and their offenses were stifled. The Nationals’ run came via a Jackson Ross solo home run, his third of the year, to start the second inning, while the RiverDogs nickel and dimed their way to a run in the fourth.

Outside of putting baserunners on, neither offense was having much success scoring.

Then, the FredNats got some help in the sixth inning, a frame that doomed Charleston. Reigning Carolina League Player of the Week Jorgelys Mota drew a one-out walk to reach for his second time. Ross came up next and rolled a ground ball to short that looked like an inning-ending double play. Charleston shortstop Jack Lines wildly sailed his throw down the right field line, though and Mota motored around to score and give the FredNats a 2-1 lead.

After a Nate Rombach walk, Nate Ochoa rifled a line drive into center field that would’ve loaded the bases, but Angel Mateo overplayed it and it sailed right by him to the wall, scoring both runners. Another Charleston miscue, a wild pitch, brought Ochoa home and completed a four-run inning that put Fredericksburg ahead 5-1.

The FredNats added three more runs in the eighth inning, courtesy of outfielders Elijah Nunez and Cristhian Vaquero, who both had RBI base hits. Vaquero had his second three-hit game of the series, driving in two runs as well and adding a mind-bending stolen base and a game-changing diving catch that stranded the bases loaded for Charleston – a banner day for Washington’s 26th-ranked prospect (MLB Pipeline).

The FredNats held on to win 8-1, their largest winning margin of the season, and tied the series at two games apiece. Again, the FredNat bullpen helped fuel the win, with six scoreless innings from Matt Bollenbacher, Erik Tolman and Austin Amaral.

Bollenbacher (1-0) got the win as Dominic Niman (1-2), who pitched the sixth inning, got the loss despite not allowing an earned run.

In game five of the series Saturday, the FredNats send Angel Roman (0-1, 17.61) to the mound against Jose Urbina (0-1, 2.57) in a 7:05 start.

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The Fredericksburg Nationals (9-9) were shut out for the first time this season, falling 6-0 to the Charleston RiverDogs (8-10) on Thursday at Virginia Credit Union Stadium. Charleston scored all six of its runs in the first two innings, capitalizing on six hits and three Fredericksburg errors.

FredNats starter Alexander Meckley was pulled in the third inning after walking three consecutive batters. Charleston’s Trevor Harrison held the FredNats scoreless over five innings, striking out seven. The FredNats loaded the bases in the second inning with no outs but failed to score and stranded 11 runners overall.

Game four of the series is scheduled for Friday at 7:05 p.m. Yoel Tejeda Jr. (1-0, 4.15 ERA) is set to start for Fredericksburg against Charleston’s Ryan Andrade (1-0, 0.64 ERA).

FREDNATS BLANKED IN 6-0 LOSS TO CHARLESTON

BOX SCORE

FREDERICKSBURG, VA – The Fredericksburg Nationals (9-9) were shut out for the first time this season, falling for the second straight day to the Charleston RiverDogs (8-10), who won 6-0 behind early offense and strong pitching.

Alexander Meckley had the start for the FredNats at Virginia Credit Union Stadium, a building he hadn’t allowed a run in during his first two years for Fredericksburg. That streak met its end at the hands of the RiverDogs.

Charleston slapped hits in all directions against Meckley, finding holes with ground balls and sneaking line drives along the foul lines. Two innings in, Meckley had allowed six total hits. Add in three Fredericksburg errors and the RiverDogs jumped out to a commanding 6-0 lead. Meckley walked three straight in the third inning and got the hook, but Merritt Beeker got him out of the jam with a strikeout.

It was already going to be hard for the FredNat offense against Charleston’s Trevor Harrison and the early deficit didn’t help. Harrison, 19, is Tampa Bay’s 11th-ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline and was coming off a scoreless, hitless 4.2 IP outing against Hickory. The righty picked up right where he left off, keeping the FredNats off balance across five scoreless innings while racking up seven strikeouts.

The only real big chance the FredNats had to score against Harrison came in the second inning when they had the bases loaded with nobody out and leadoff hitter Cristhian Vaquero coming up but Vaquero got ahead of a breaking pitch and softly lined out to first. The Nationals stranded all three runners and would go on to strand 11 total.

Nobody scored again after the six early runs for Charleston as the FredNat bats stayed quiet and the Fredericksburg bullpen was excellent. Beeker covered 3.1 innings while Erick Mejia, Adam Bloebaum and Merrick Baldo all tossed scoreless innings as well.

In the end, the RiverDog bullpen did the same and the FredNats, for the first time all year, didn’t score, giving Charleston its third shutout of 2025.

In game four on Friday, Fredericksburg hands the ball to Yoel Tejeda Jr. (1-0, 4.15) against Ryan Andrade (1-0, 0.64) in a 7:05 start.

The Charleston RiverDogs scored four late runs to top the Fredericksburg Nationals 6-2 on Education Day at Virginia Credit Union Stadium. Over 3,000 students attended the early game, where FredNats starter Bryan Polanco allowed just one run in four innings. Cristhian Vaquero went 3-for-5 with an RBI, but Charleston broke a 2-2 tie with a strong finish against Fredericksburg’s bullpen. Robert Cranz (1-2) took the loss.

Next Game: Thursday, 6:35 p.m. — Alexander Meckley (1-1, 5.56) vs. Trevor Harrison (1-1, 4.50)

Full Press Release

RIVERDOGS BITE BACK, TAKE GAME TWO 6-2 OVER FREDNATS

BOX SCORE

FREDERICKSBURG, VA – The Fredericksburg Nationals (9-8) saw their usually-dominant bullpen allow four late runs to the Charleston RiverDogs (7-10) in a 6-2 loss on an Education Day at Virginia Credit Union Stadium.

The first pitch was thrown at the bright and early time of 11:05 a.m. by Bryan Polanco with a crowd of over 3,000 local students in attendance on field trips from school. Polanco, the FredNats Opening Day starter, gave them a good showing in his fourth start of the year.

The Fredericksburg righty fought through some early traffic to finish four full innings, giving up just one run. He stranded the bases loaded in both of the first two innings, with the only run against him scoring on an RBI walk with two outs in the second inning.

His offense got the run back quickly in the bottom of the second when Nick Peoples tripled and his fellow outfielder, Nate Ochoa, brought him in when his single up the middle split the drawn-in defense. At the end of four innings, the game was tied at one apiece.

The FredNat bullpen, which entered the day with a 2.99 ERA, struggled through the next five innings. Kevin Dowdell allowed a run in his two innings of work, while Robert Cranz and Ryan Minckler each allowed two in an inning apiece. In total, five of the six Charleston runs were scraped across against the Fredericksburg relievers.

After the second inning, the only run the FredNats scored came when Cristhian Vaquero hooked a triple off the right field wall to score Carlos Tavares in the fifth. Despite the loss, Vaquero had a strong day at the plate, going 3/5 with an RBI.

Cranz (1-2) got the loss, with Charleston reliever Owen Stevenson (1-0) walking into the win after facing just one batter.

In game three on Thursday, the FredNats pit Alexander Meckley (1-1, 5.56) against Trevor Harrison (1-1, 4.50) for a 6:35 start.

Fredericksburg is getting ready to paint the town red, white, and blue to honor its hometown heroes—the Fredericksburg Nationals—after their 2024 Carolina League Championship victory.

Fans are invited to join the Carolina League Championship Celebration and Ring Ceremony on Monday, April 7, at noon at Riverfront Park in downtown Fredericksburg. The event will honor the FredNats’ thrilling 2024 season and their second league title since the team’s arrival in the city.

Players from the championship roster, including those who have since been promoted to the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks, will return to Fredericksburg for the festivities. The celebration will feature remarks from FredNats manager Jake Lowery, team owner Art Silber, and Fredericksburg Mayor Kerry Devine.

In a symbolic nod to the city’s baseball traditions and hometown pride, one player will ceremoniously throw a silver dollar across the Rappahannock River—a playful tribute to the team’s bold spirit and the community’s support.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate this milestone with the entire city,” said FredNats manager Jake Lowery in a previous statement. “The fans were with us every step of the way during our championship run, and this celebration is as much theirs as it is ours.”

Attendees are encouraged to wear their FredNats championship gear, arrive early, and be ready to kick off the 2025 season with the reigning champs. The celebration also marks a connection between the team and Fredericksburg, where downtown has become a gathering place for fans and families since the team relocated from Woodbridge in 2020.

The FredNats’ 2024 victory was a hard-earned triumph, capping off a stellar season that included standout pitching performances and a late-season surge that secured a playoff spot. In the championship series, they faced off against the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers and emerged victorious, sweeping the playoffs and clinching the title in front of a packed home crowd.

The win ignited a wave of excitement across the region and cemented the FredNats’ place in Fredericksburg sports history.

Stay with Potomac Local News for continuing coverage of the FredNats and community events around Fredericksburg.

The Fredericksburg Nationals (FredNats), in collaboration with the Fredericksburg Area Museum, Germanna Community College, and Dovetail Cultural Resource Group/Mead & Hunt, have unveiled a new alternate uniform identity for select games in the 2025 season.

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Press Release:

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Two Fredericksburg Nationals staff members, Eric Taylor and Chris Krick, received top honors in the Carolina League following the team’s 2024 championship season. Taylor, the FredNats' Head Groundskeeper, was named Carolina League Groundskeeper of the Year, while Home Clubhouse Manager Krick earned the title of Home Clubhouse Manager of the Year. The awards, chosen through surveys of league managers, players, and executives, recognize their dedication to maintaining an exceptional playing and clubhouse environment.

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