LYNCHBURG, Va. (Interstat) — Luis De La Cruz belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the Hill City Howlers to a 6-4 victory over the Hickory Crawdads on Friday at Bank of the James Stadium.

Hill City trailed 4-1 after five innings before scoring two runs in the sixth on a two-run single by Riley Nelson. De La Cruz then delivered the decisive blow, driving in Dauri Fernandez and Tyler Howard. He finished 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs.

Hickory grabbed an early lead with three runs in the third, highlighted by a solo homer from Paulino Santana and a sacrifice fly by Marcos Torres. Torres added a solo shot in the fifth. The Crawdads outhit the Howlers 11-6 but left runners on base.

Eudry Alcantara (1-0) earned the win with one-third of an inning of relief. J.D. McReynolds (1-1) took the loss for Hickory. Michael Trausch threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts for the Crawdads.

Hill City improved to 11-8; Hickory fell to 14-5. Attendance was 1,746, and the game lasted 2 hours, 38 minutes.