The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (16-21) and the Delmarva Shorebirds (14-23) played game four on Friday night from Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. Joey Dixon was on the mound for Fayetteville against Denton Biller of Delmarva.
At the top of the first inning, Fayetteville right fielder Anthony Huezo hit a solo home run to right field for a 1-0 lead. It was Huezo’s fourth home run of the season. Later, Fayetteville had runners on first and second base with two outs when D.J. Newman hit a two-run RBI triple to right field. Kevin Alvarez and Arturo Flores scored for a 3-0 lead.
After Carlos Cauro was hit by a pitch, Delmarva made a pitching change. German Ramirez worked a four-pitch walk before Brandon Forrester struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the first inning, Delmarva had runners on the corners when Raylin Ramos hit an RBI double to right field. D.J. Layton scored, and the Shorebirds cut the deficit to 3-1. Two batters later, Edwin Amparo hit a two-run RBI single to left. Joshua Liranzo and Raylin Ramos scored, and the game was tied 3-3. With two outs, a groundout by Alfredo Velásquez ended the inning.
Moving to the top of the fourth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on second base when Anthony Huezo hit an RBI double to left field. German Ramirez scored to give the Woodpeckers a 4-3 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Kevin Alvarez ended the inning.
Fayetteville starter Charlie Weber pitched four innings, allowing four hits, three runs, one walk, and six strikeouts, throwing 70 pitches, of which 43 were strikes. Jose Serrano was pitching for Fayetteville in the bottom of the fifth inning. He struck out two, throwing 10 pitches, of which seven were strikes, to get three outs.
At the top of the sixth inning, Fayetteville had two runners on base when Anthony Huezo hit a three-run home run to right-center field for a 7-3 lead. It was Huezo’s second home run of the night, and the fifth of the season. With two outs, a flyout by Kevin Alvarez ended the inning.
At the top of the ninth inning, Fayetteville added insurance runs. They had runners on the corners when Carlos Cauro hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Arturo Flores for an 8-3 lead. German Ramirez followed up with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring D.J. Newman for a 9-3 lead. With two outs, Brandon Forrester struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Fayetteville pitcher Jose Serrano pitched five innings, allowing three walks and six strikeouts, throwing 82 pitches, of which 48 were strikes, to get the final 15 outs to end the game. The Woodpeckers defeated the Shorebirds 9-3 for their third straight win.
Fayetteville finished the night with nine hits, committed two errors, went 4 for 10 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base. Anthony Huezo went 4 for 5 with two home runs, a double, a stolen base, and five RBIs. The win went to Fayetteville pitcher Jose Serrano (1-1), and the loss went to Delmarva pitcher Dalton Neuschwander (1-3).
The Woodpeckers and Shorebirds play game five on Saturday at 7:05 pm on the MLB App. Ryan Forcucci (0-2, 12.91 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Brayan Orrantia (0-3, 5.40 ERA) of Delmarva.
