The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (11-18) and the Wilson Warbirds (13-16) played game two on Wednesday afternoon from Segra Stadium. Nick Potter was on the mound for Fayetteville against Carlos Carra of Wilson.
The game was scoreless for two innings until the top of the third inning, when Wilson right fielder Handelfry Encarnacion hit a solo home run to right field to give the Warbirds a 1-0 lead. It was Encarnacion’s fifth home run of the season. After striking out Brady Ebel, Potter was replaced by Brandon Cassedy.
Wilson had runners on second and third base with two outs when Brandon Cassedy struck out Kevin Garcia. Nick Potter pitched 2.1 innings, allowing two hits, one run, two walks, and four strikeouts, throwing 53 pitches, of which 32 were strikes. Cassedy allowed two hits and two strikeouts, throwing 14 pitches, of which 10 were strikes.
Kellan Oakes was the new pitcher for Fayetteville at the top of the fourth inning. A lineout by Filippo Di Turi, a groundout by Pedro Ibarguen, and Oakes striking out Nick Monile ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Fayetteville shortstop Xavier Neyens worked a four-pitch walk. He moved to second base on a passed ball by Wilson catcher Kevin Garcia and moved to third base on a groundout by Josh Wakefield. First baseman Nehomar Ochoa Jr. hit an RBI double to center field. Neyens scored, and the Woodpeckers tied the game 1-1. A groundout by Anthony Huezo ended the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning with two outs, Wilson had runners on the corners when Brady Ebel stole home plate, but they got Frederi Montero out at second base to end the inning. The Warbirds took a 2-1 lead.
Kellan Oakes pitched four innings, allowing two hits, one run, two walks, and four strikeouts, throwing 68 pitches, of which 42 were strikes. Leomar Rosario was the new pitcher for Fayetteville at the top of the eighth inning. Wilson had a runner on second base when Kevin Garcia hit a two-run home run to left field for a 4-1 lead. With two outs, Rosario struck out Nick Monile to end the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Fayetteville catcher Arturo Flores hit a solo home run to center field. The Woodpeckers trailed the Warbirds 4-2. Wilson got the run back at the top of the ninth inning when Jose Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Bardy Ebel for a 5-2 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Juan Ortuno ended the inning. Leomar Rosario pitched two innings, allowing two hits, three runs, four walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 40 pitches, of which 19 were strikes.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Fayetteville had runners on second and third base when Anthony Huezo hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Xavier Neyens scored, and it was now 5-3 with two outs. A groundout by Arturo Flores ended the game. The Woodpeckers lost to the Warbirds by the final score of 5-3, snapping their seven-game home winning streak.
Fayetteville finished the afternoon with four hits, committed three errors, went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, and left four men on base. The loss went to Fayetteville pitcher Kellan Oakes (2-1), while the win went to Wilson starter Carlos Carra (1-5), and Jose Meneses earned the save (2).
The Woodpeckers and Warbirds play game three on Thursday at 6:35 pm on the MLB App. Fayetteville has yet to name a starter, while Tyler Renz (1-1, 2.78 ERA) will be on the mound for Wilson.
