Holly Springs, NC- Cam Miller (Ashland) and Brandon Eike (Virginia Commonwealth) hit back-to-back solo home runs in the second inning helping to build a 7-1 lead for the Tri-City Chili Peppers that was squandered in the late innings to the Holly Springs Salamanders resulting in a third straight Chili Peppers loss, in an 8-7 final score Sunday evening at Ting Stadium. Tri-City (7-4) scored six combined runs in the first two innings after being shutout in Martinsville the previous night. The Chili Peppers added a seventh run in the fifth inning but missed an opportunity for much more in the inning, leaving the bases loaded. Holly Springs (2-8) held Tri-City hitless after the first batter of the fifth inning until the first batter in the ninth inning, while scoring seven runs for themselves in the same stretch mostly with the help of St. Joseph’s redshirt Sophomore Ryan Picollo who came up inches short of hitting three home runs in his final three at-bats of the night.
The Chili Peppers quickly left their two-hit shutout from the previous night in the rearview mirror, putting together at two-out rally that produced four runs. Michael Dolberry (Longwood) briefly reclaimed the team RBI lead with a one-run single into right field for his ninth RBI of the season. Then William Bean (Virginia Commonwealth) and Alex Christie (Hanover) followed with back-to-back RBI doubles to give Tri-City and early 4-0 lead.
The Salamanders got one run back in the bottom of the inning against Cole Bramhall (Lenoir-Rhyne), who turned in a useful performance, leaving the game with the lead after pitching six innings, giving up four runs on six hits while striking out two Salamanders.
Miller and Eike went back-to-back with solo homers in the second inning to make it 6-1 in favor of the visitors. It was the first dinger of the year for Miller that extended his personal hit streak to four games while Eike’s blast into the parking lot beyond the left field fence was his second of the season.
Both teams went scoreless until the fifth inning when Danny Estrada (Frostburg State) led off with an infield single to the right side that likely should have been an out if not for a miscommunication by the Holly Springs defense. Estrada ended up stealing third base later in the inning which allowed him to score easily on Bean’s line drive sacrifice fly to the warning track in left field. Thats where the Ryan Piccolo show began.
Piccolo followed up a leadoff double in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-run smash also into the parking lot beyond the left field fence, part of a three-run inning that cut the Chili Peppers’ lead to 7-4. Piccolo came up to bat again in the sixth inning and hit his second two run homer in as many at-bats, this time over the left center field fence to bring the Salamanders within one run at 7-6. Then in the eighth innings Piccolo doubled off the very top of the wall, narrowly missing his third consecutive homer but tied the game at 7-7. Mika Petersen gave the Salamanders an 8-7 lead with an infield single that completed the erasure of a 7-1 deficit.
The Chili Peppers mounted a comeback attempt in the ninth inning with Estrada and Dolberry each knocking singles to put the go-ahead runs on the basepaths with one out but two consecutive strikeouts ended the game. The Chili Peppers extended a dubious streak of recording ten or more strikeouts as a team for the sixth consecutive game, posting 13 on Sunday. All together, 68 of the last 241 Tri-City plate appearances (28.2%) have resulted in strikeouts.
Official Box Score: Holly Springs Salamanders vs. Tri-City Chili Peppers – Coastal Plain League – boxscore | Pointstreak Sports Technologies
Upcoming Games:
Tuesday, June 13 (10:30 AM) vs. Native American National Team
Thursday, June 15 (7:00) vs. Moorehead City Marlins, Thirsty Thursday
Friday, June 16 (7:00) vs. Peninsula Pilots, Girl Scout Night
Saturday, June 17 (7:05) @ Wilson Tobs, Listen on Mixlr
Sunday, June 18 (5:45) vs. Wilson Tobs, Faith Night