The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (17-21) played game five on Saturday night against the Delmarva Shorebirds (14-24) from Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. Ryan Forcucci was on the mound for Fayetteville against Brayan Orrantia of Delmarva.
At the top of the first inning, Fayetteville left fielder Anthony Huezo was on third base when center fielder Kevin Alvarez hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Huezo scored for a 1-0 lead. With two outs, Nehomar Ochoa Jr. struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the second inning, Delmarva had a runner on first base when Felix Amparo hit an RBI double to left field. Andres Nolaya scored, and the game was tied 1-1. With two outs, D.J. Layton grounded out to second base, and the inning was over. Ryan Forcucci pitched two innings, allowing two hits, one run, five walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 51 pitches, of which 23 were strikes.
Jackson Wells was the new pitcher for Fayetteville in the bottom of the third inning. Joshua Liranzo of Delmarva hit a single and later stole second and third base. Andres Nolaya hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Liranzo for a 2-1 lead. With two outs, a lineout by Felix Amparo ended the inning.
At the top of the fourth inning, Fayetteville had runners on second and third base when Adrian Heredia threw a wild pitch, scoring Hector Salas, and the game was tied 2-2. With two outs, Brandon Forrester struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
At the top of the fifth inning, Anthony Huezo worked a four-pitch walk. Xavier Neyens hit a single to left field. He tried to get to second base, but was called out, and Huezo went to third base. Fayetteville center fielder Kevin Alvarez followed up by hitting a two-run home run to right field to put the Woodpeckers up 4-2. With two outs, a flyout by Yosweld Vasquez ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Delmarva had runners on second and third base with two outs when Andrés Nolaya hit a three-run home run to center field to give the Shorebirds a 5-4 lead. It was his first home run of the season. A flyout by Felix Amparo ended the inning.
At the top of the sixth inning, Hector Salas and German Ramirez hit back-to-back singles. Fayetteville second baseman Camilo Diaz followed up by hitting an RBI double to left field, scoring Salas to tie the game 5-5. With two outs, Kevin Alvarez worked a four-pitch walk. A flyout by Nehomar Ochoa Jr. ended the inning.
Jackson Wells pitched three innings, allowing six hits, four runs, and three strikeouts, throwing 43 pitches, of which 30 were strikes. Cole MacRae was the new pitcher for Fayetteville in the bottom of the seventh inning. He struck out one, throwing nine pitches, of which five were strikes, to get three outs.
Moving to the bottom of the eighth inning, Delmarva had runners on second and third base with two outs when Braylon Whitaker flies out to right field, and the inning was over.
At the top of the ninth inning, Fayetteville center fielder Kevin Alvarez and first baseman Nehomar Ochoa Jr. hit back-to-back singles with Alvarez running to third base. Right fielder Josh Wakefield hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Alvarez to give the Woodpeckers a 6-5 lead. Catcher Yosweld Vasquez brought home Ochoa Jr. with a sacrifice fly to right field for a 7-5 lead.
Later, Hector Salas hit a single, and German Ramirez worked a four-pitch walk, which loaded the bases. Camilo Diaz worked a four-pitch walk, scoring Josh Wakefield for an 8-5 lead. Anthony Huezo hit into a forceout at home plate. A throwing error by catcher Andrés Nolaya allowed German Ramirez to score for a 9-5 lead. With two outs, a popout by Juan Sierra ended the inning.
Cole MacRae finished the game for the Woodpeckers in the bottom of the ninth inning. MacRae walked Edwin Amparo, but he would get the next three outs to end the game. MacRae pitched four innings, allowing two hits, one walk, and six strikeouts, throwing 58 pitches, of which 35 were strikes.
The Woodpeckers defeated the Shorebirds 9-5 for their fourth win in a row, and they take the series with one game left to play. It was also Fayetteville’s first road series win of the season.
Fayetteville finished the night with nine hits, went 4 for 16 with runners in scoring position, and left 11 men on base. Kevin Alvarez went 2 for 3 with a home run, a walk, and three RBIs. The win went to Fayetteville pitcher Cole MacRae (1-1), and the loss went to Delmarva starter Brayan Orrantia (0-4).
The Woodpeckers and Shorebirds conclude the six-game series on Sunday at 2:05 pm on the MLB App. Jesus Carrera (0-1, 3.60 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Caden Hunter (1-0, 0.60 ERA) of Delmarva.
