The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (28-32) and the Salem RidgeYaks (24-36) played game three on Thursday night from Carilion Clinic Field. Adam Shoemaker was on the mound for Fayetteville against Leighton Finley of Salem.
At the top of the first inning, Fayetteville center fielder Anthony Huezo hit a single to third base. He later stole second base. Designated hitter Xavier Neyens hit an RBI single to right, scoring Huezo for a 1-0 lead. Waner Luciano grounded into a double play, and Arturo Flores struck out swinging to end the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Shoemaker hit Skylar King with one out. King stole second and went to third base on a passed ball by catcher Auturo Flores. Andruw Musett reached first base on a throwing error by Shoemaker, and King scored to tie the game 1-1. Shoemaker struck out Frederik Jimenez and Louis Andujar to retire the side.
At the top of the third inning, Fayetteville second baseman German Ramirez hit a double to right field. Later, he moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt from Hector Salas. With two outs, Xavier Neyens worked a four-pitch walk. During Waner Luciano’s at-bat, Neyens stole second base, and Ramirez stole home plate to give the Woodpeckers a 2-1 lead. A groundout by Luciano ended the inning.
Fayetteville starter Adam Shoemaker went three innings, allowing one run, and struck out eight, throwing 63 pitches, of which 41 were strikes. Ryan Mathiesen pitched the bottom of the fourth inning, with one strikeout, throwing 18 pitches, of which 10 were strikes.
At the top of the fifth inning, Kenni Gomez worked a four-pitch walk. With one out, Hector Salas hit an RBI double to center field, scoring Gomez for a 3-1 lead. Anthony Huezo followed up by hitting an RBI single to right field, scoring Halas for a 4-1 lead. Fayetteville had the bases loaded with two outs, but Camilo Diaz struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Jose Serrano pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the fifth inning. At the top of the sixth inning, Fayetteville had the bases loaded when Hector Salas hit a two-run RBI single to center field, scoring Kenni Gomez and German Ramirez for a 6-1 lead.
Anthony Huezo worked a four-pitch walk, and the bases were loaded again with nobody out. Xavier Neyens worked a four-pitch walk, scoring German Ramirez for a 7-1 lead. Waner Luciano followed up by hitting a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Salas for an 8-1 lead. With two outs, Camilo Diaz struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Salem stormed back in the bottom of the sixth inning. With runners on second and third base, Salem shortstop Avinson Pinto hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Frederik Jimenez, and it was now 8-2. D’Angelo Ortiz followed up by hitting a two-run RBI single to right field, scoring Louis Andujar and Avinson Pinto.
The RidgeYaks cut the deficit to 8-4. With two outs, Ilan Fernandez hit an RBI double to center field, scoring Ortiz, and it was now 8-5. Serrano struck out Starlyn Nunez to end the inning. Jose Serrano pitched four innings, allowing four hits, four runs, five walks, and five strikeouts, throwing 77 pitches, of which 44 were strikes.
Moving to the top of the ninth inning, Waner Luciano worked a four-pitch walk, and Arturo Flores hit a single to left field. Fayetteville second baseman Camilo Diaz cleared the bases by hitting a three-run home run to left field for an 11-5 lead. It was his sixth home run of the season.
After a pitching change, Fayetteville first baseman Carlos Cauro followed up by hitting a solo home run to center field for a 12-5 lead. It was his second home run of the season. With two outs, a groundout by Hector Salas ended the inning.
Brandon Cassedy pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the ninth inning. He allowed two walks, throwing 23 pitches, of which 12 were strikes, to get the final three outs of the game. The Woodpeckers defeated the RidgeYaks 12-5 for their third straight win.
Fayetteville finished the night with 12 hits, committed one error, went 5 for 11 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base. Anthony Huezo went 2 for 4 with a walk, an RBI, and three stolen bases, while Xavier Neyens went 1 for 2 with three walks and two stolen bases. The win went to Fayetteville pitcher Ryan Mathiesen (3-0), and the loss went to Salem starter Leighton Finley (3-2).
The Woodpeckers and RidgeYaks play game four on Friday at 6:35 pm on the MLB App. Javier Perez (4-3, 2.82 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Brady Tygart (0-1, 13.50 ERA) of Salem.
