Alex Amalfi stood on the mound in the sixth inning while two drives disappeared toward right-center field, one well beyond the warning track and the other crashing off the video board. In the span of five Harrisburg batters, the Fisher Cats’ one-run deficit became seven.
The Senators scored five times in the inning, all charged to Amalfi, and pulled away for a 9-3 victory over New Hampshire on Saturday night at Delta Dental Stadium.
Eli Willits delivered the decisive swing. After Kevin Bazzell doubled and Devin Ortiz singled, Willits hammered a breaking ball over the wall in right-center for his first Double-A home run. The three-run shot stretched Harrisburg’s lead to 7-2.
Devin Fitz-Gerald followed with a single, and Branden Boissiere drove another breaking ball toward the same part of the park. Carter Cunningham could only watch from right field as it struck the video board for a two-run homer.
Amalfi was charged with seven earned runs over 2 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking one. He had inherited a 2-0 deficit from Fernando Perez and kept it there briefly, striking out the first batter he faced before Bazzell homered in the fourth.
For a moment, the Fisher Cats appeared ready to erase that deficit.
With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Cunningham sent a fly ball beyond left fielder Sam Brown and toward the wall. Dub Gleed scored from first, and Cunningham pulled into second with his 14th double.
Tucker Toman followed with a shallow fly to center. Elijah Green charged but could not reach it before it dropped, allowing Cunningham — running with two outs — to score and trim Harrisburg’s lead to 3-2.
New Hampshire kept the inning alive when Cutter Coffey singled and advanced on a throwing error, then Peyton Williams walked to load the bases. Luke Young replaced Jarlin Susana and escaped when J.R. Freethy grounded out.
The Senators needed only one pitch in the fifth to reclaim some room. Fitz-Gerald drove Amalfi’s first offering of the inning to deep center, where Victor Arias ran out of space at the wall. The solo homer made it 4-2.
The Fisher Cats threatened again in the bottom half. Gleed and Aaron Parker singled with two outs, and Cunningham walked to load the bases, but Toman grounded out. New Hampshire went scoreless in the fifth despite filling every base, and Harrisburg broke the game open in the sixth.
Amalfi remained in after the two homers long enough for Green to reach on New Hampshire’s second error. Jonathan Todd entered with one out and shut down the inning, beginning 2 2/3 scoreless frames in which he struck out four and walked one.
By then, the damage was complete. Harrisburg had turned New Hampshire’s fourth-inning push into a distant memory, riding four home runs and an 11-hit attack. Willits finished 4-for-6 with a homer and a double.
Williams gave the announced crowd of 5,102 one final jolt in the eighth. With Coffey aboard and two outs, he drove a ball into the left-center-field gap and off the base of the wall for an RBI double, cutting the margin to 9-3.
He also took the mound for the ninth, working around a leadoff walk with a pitcher-to-second-to-first double play before retiring Willits on a popup.
New Hampshire finished with eight hits but left nine runners aboard. Cunningham went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, while Toman had one hit and drove in a run. Perez took the loss after allowing two earned runs across three innings, with three strikeouts and three walks.