Richmond’s season came down in a rush: a throwing error, a walk and a towering drive into the left-center-field night, the three-run lead at CarMax Park erased before the Flying Squirrels could steady themselves.
Erie scored four times in the sixth inning and added an insurance run in the seventh, handing Richmond a season-ending 5-3 loss Thursday. The Flying Squirrels, held to four hits, went scoreless over the final five innings after Kaeden Kent supplied all of their runs with one swing.
Kent’s three-run homer in the fourth had given Richmond control of the elimination game. Gavin Kilen started the opportunity with a single, and Lisbel Diaz replaced Sabin Ceballos at first on a forceout. Kent followed by driving Kenny Serwa’s offering out to right, sending the ball beyond a retreating Zyhir Hope and putting the Squirrels ahead 3-0.
It was the only hit Kent recorded in three at-bats, but he also drew a walk and accounted for all three Richmond RBIs.
For five innings, that looked like enough. Jackson Flora opened with two scoreless innings and four strikeouts without a walk, setting down all six hitters he faced. Jacob Bresnahan followed by stranding two runners in the third, getting a double play in the fourth and inducing another in the fifth.
The shape of the game changed with the first batter of the sixth.
Seth Stephenson hit a grounder to third, then continued to second when Dayson Croes’ throw sailed high and out of play. Bresnahan struck out Peyton Graham, but Hope walked, bringing Thayron Liranzo to the plate as the tying run.
Liranzo left no suspense about the result. His drive climbed high toward left-center and carried well beyond the wall, wiping out Richmond’s lead with a three-run homer. The blow was part of a 2-for-3 night with a walk for Erie’s designated hitter.
Chris Meyers followed with a double off the left-field wall. Bresnahan recorded another strikeout and walked Luke Shliger before departing, and Marques Johnson walked Izaac Pacheco to load the bases. E.J. Exposito’s groundout brought Meyers home with the go-ahead run.
Bresnahan took the loss after allowing three earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked four, but the sixth-inning traffic proved too much for Richmond to escape.
Erie stretched the lead to 5-3 in the seventh. Stephenson walked, moved along on Graham’s groundout and scored when Hope lifted a sacrifice fly to center. That completed a run of five unanswered Erie runs after Kent’s homer had pushed Richmond in front.
The Squirrels’ best immediate chance to answer disappeared quickly in the bottom half. Diaz reached with a bunt single, then was forced out on Kent’s grounder. Jack Payton followed with a ball to third that Erie turned into an inning-ending double play, leaving Richmond only six outs to extend its season.
One runner reached in the eighth, and two more made it aboard in the ninth, but neither inning produced another hit. Moises Rodriguez retired pinch hitter Zander Darby on a grounder to end it.
Serwa earned the win after working seven innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out four. Erie’s staff yielded only Kent’s homer and three singles, keeping a Richmond lineup that had briefly seized the game from building anything around its biggest swing.
Kent’s drive had supplied the lead, the noise and the possibility of another game. Eight outs later, Liranzo’s had taken all three away.