Eli Willits kept finding barrels Saturday night, first with two singles, later with a double and, at the center of Harrisburg’s biggest inning, with his first Double-A home run. His four-hit performance powered the Senators to a 9-3 victory over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Delta Dental Stadium.
Willits went 4-for-6, but the defining swing came in the sixth. Harrisburg led 4-2 when Kevin Bazzell doubled and Devin Ortiz singled, putting runners at the corners with nobody out against Alex Amalfi.
A changeup stayed up over the plate, and Willits drove it high toward right-center field. The ball carried beyond the wall for a three-run homer, stretching the lead to 7-2 and turning a competitive game into a comfortable one.
The Senators were not finished. Devin Fitz-Gerald singled, and Branden Boissiere sent another ball deep into the night toward right-center. His two-run homer struck high off the video board, completing a five-run inning and giving Harrisburg a 9-2 lead.
The outburst capped an evening in which the Senators hit four home runs, one each from Willits, Fitz-Gerald, Boissiere and Bazzell. They finished with 11 hits, and the production ran through the top and bottom of the order.
Willits had been involved from the start. He singled in the first, then singled again in the third before scoring the game’s first run on Boissiere’s line drive through the left side. Harrisburg added another run in the inning and carried a 2-0 lead into the fourth.
Bazzell made it 3-0 with a solo shot to left, driving the ball back to the warning track and beyond it for his second homer of the series. He finished 2-for-4 with a homer, a double and a walk.
New Hampshire briefly tightened the game in the bottom of the fourth. Jarlin Susana hit Dub Gleed with a pitch, and Carter Cunningham later drove him home with a double to left. Tucker Toman followed with a single to center that scored Cunningham and cut Harrisburg’s lead to 3-2.
Susana left after Cutter Coffey’s single and a throwing error put runners at second and third. Luke Young entered, walked Peyton Williams to load the bases, then induced a groundout from J.R. Freethy to preserve the lead.
Susana allowed two earned runs over 3⅔ innings, striking out six without issuing a walk. Young covered the next 1⅓ innings without allowing a run and earned the win, improving to 4-1.
Fitz-Gerald gave the Senators breathing room in the fifth. He attacked Amalfi’s first pitch and drove it straightaway to center, where it sailed over the wall for a 4-2 advantage. Fitz-Gerald went 2-for-4 with a walk before his sixth-inning single helped extend the decisive rally.
Boissiere supplied the bookends to Harrisburg’s scoring. His third-inning single brought home Willits for the opening run, and his sixth-inning homer closed the five-run surge. He finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored.
Willits added a double in the seventh, completing a night that included hits to center, right and right-center. By then, Harrisburg’s bullpen had taken control. Sandy Gaston and Jhancarlos Lara each worked a scoreless inning, and New Hampshire managed only a run-scoring double by Williams in the eighth after Harrisburg broke the game open.
Kyle Luckham struck out two in the ninth to finish it. The Senators’ pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts, while the bullpen allowed one run across 5⅓ innings.
The final innings required little drama. Willits and Harrisburg’s four-homer attack had already supplied plenty.