FredNats

The Fredericksburg Nationals won an extra-inning thriller for the second time in as many games Tuesday at Carillion Clinic Field. Vandel Pena scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the tenth inning to help the FredNats to an 8-7 victory.

The win comes at a critical time for the FredNats, who gained a game on Salem, Lynchburg and division-leading Carolina. The FredNats, Red Sox and Hillcats are now all tied for second in the Carolina League North. All three teams are one game behind the Mudcats with two games to go in the first half. The FredNats own the head-to-head tiebreaker vs. Carolina and Lynchburg and will own the tiebreaker vs. Salem with a win tomorrow or Thursday. The FredNats also won in extras Sunday at Myrtle Beach.

In desperate need of a win in the series finale in Myrtle Beach, the FredNats found a way to squeak out a nail-biting 4-3 over the Pelicans in 10 innings.

Jeremy De La Rosa drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning, and then with the tying run on third base in the bottom of the 10th, J.T. Arruda made the play of the year for Fredericksburg, flipping over the wall next to the FredNat bullpen to catch a pop fly and end the game.

The Lynchburg Hillcats scored two runs in the top of the 9th inning to rally and beat the FredNats 6-4 in the series finale at Virginia Credit Union Stadium. Jacob Young had two hits and two RBIs, T.J. White had an RBI triple, and the FredNats still take five out of seven games in the series from the Hillcats.

Lynchburg scored the first two runs of the game in the 5th off FredNat starter Bryan Caceres after a home run and two doubles. Overall, Caceres had a good day, pitching five innings and allowing five hits, two earned runs and he struck out three.

Before the skies opened and postponed the second game of the doubleheader to Thursday, the FredNats and Hillcats got the first game in with the FredNats taking a 7-5 win. T.J. White hit two home runs and drove in four runs, and the FredNats held the Hillcats to four hits on the mound.

After Lynchburg’s Jake Fox hit a solo home run on the second pitch of the game, the FredNats scored two in the bottom of 1st to take a lead they would never relinquish. With runners on the corners, Jeremy De La Rosa stole second, and Viandel Peña scored from third when the throw went to second base. Leandro Emiliani then drove in De La Rosa with a single to make it 2-1.

In the series opener of what is a crucial series for the FredNats’ first-half chances, Fredericksburg got the job done in nail-biting fashion, beating the Lynchburg Hillcats by a score of 3-2 on Tuesday, June 7, 2022.

Branden Boissiere got the big hit to tie the game in the 7th inning after the FredNats trailed 2-0, and a mishap in the outfield by Lynchburg allowed the go-ahead run to score. The FredNat bullpen held onto the lead for the win.

Jeremy De La Rosa had a pair of hits and Bryan Caceres pitched five solid innings, but the FredNats gave up six runs combined in the 6th and 7th innings to fall 9-0 in the series opener at Segra Stadium in Fayetteville, N.C.

The FredNats threatened a few times early, leaving men on base in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings. Fayetteville scored single runs in the 3rd and 5th innings to lead 2-0 and the door was wide open for the FredNats, but they were unable to get on the board to put the pressure on. Caceres stranded a total of six runners on base and did not walk a man, but he takes the loss and falls to 3-3 on the season.

Stephen Strasburg pitched five no-hit innings and faced one over the minimum in his second rehab start, Sammy Infante and Leandro Emiliani both hit two home runs, and the FredNats beat the Salem Red Sox 7-4 on Sunday, May 29, 2022, in front of over 5,600 fans at Virginia Credit Union Stadium to split the series with Salem.

Strasburg had six strikeouts and just one walk in five no-hit innings. He threw 58 pitches and 38 strikes, and was very sharp in his second rehab stint in Fredericksburg this week.

After scoring just three runs combined in the first two games of the series, the FredNats exploded for 12 runs and 16 hits in a 12-1 win over Salem on Thirsty Thursday at Virginia Credit Union Stadium.

Rodney Theophile got his fourth win of the season as well and lowered his Carolina League-best ERA to 1.44 after pitching 5 1/3 innings, allowing no runs and striking out four.

On Wednesday, May 25, Sammy Infante had three hits and scored both FredNat runs, Yoander Rivero had both RBIs, but the FredNats lost the second game of the series 8-2 to the Salem Red Sox at Virginia Credit Union Stadium in Fredericksburg.

2018 first-round pick Mason Denaburg made his first appearance since August of 2019 after two surgeries and pitched 2+ innings while allowing four hits and four earned runs. Denaburg had a 1-2-3 1st inning but ran into trouble with two outs in the 2nd. He was replaced in the 3rd inning by Bryan Peña, who got out of a bases-loaded, nobody out jam unscathed. Denaburg threw 51 pitches and consistently had his fastball in the mid-90s.