LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Hill City Howlers fell in their home debut Tuesday night, dropping a 9-4 decision to the Fredericksburg Nationals.
In front of a crowd of more than 2,000, the Howlers opened their home slate with Opening Day festivities, highlighted by the first of 13 scheduled fireworks shows this season. Despite a strong outing from Will McCausland, Fredericksburg pulled away late to secure its fourth consecutive victory.
Aidan Major made his first start in the Cleveland Guardians organization, pitching 2 2/3 innings and striking out three. The Nationals struck first in the second inning when Luke Dickerson delivered an RBI single to score Gavin Fien.
The Howlers answered in the bottom half of the inning, capitalizing on two wild pitches and a pickoff error to tie the game at 1.
Fredericksburg regained the lead in the third on Ronny Cruz’s RBI double to right field. Cruz finished a triple shy of the cycle and drove in three runs.
Hill City responded again in the third as Robert Arias singled to right to score a run and even the game at 2. Cruz put the Nationals back in front in the fifth with an RBI triple, making it 3-2.
Yeiferth Castillo tied the game in the sixth with a 401-foot home run to right field, the first in Howlers franchise history.
The Nationals took control in the seventh. Zane Petty entered in relief and allowed a two-run home run to Cruz on the first pitch he faced, giving Fredericksburg a 5-3 lead. Nick Peoples added a grand slam in the eighth to extend the advantage.
The Howlers added a run in the bottom of the eighth on a fielder’s choice by Castillo, but Fredericksburg closed out the game to remain unbeaten.
McCausland took the loss despite striking out a career-high eight batters. Isaac Lyon earned the win for the Nationals.