After dropping 6 in a row to the Wilmington Blue Rocks in the first sweep recorded against the Hub City Spartanburgers landed them out of contention for the South Atlantic League first half championship, they took to the road looking to finish strong and possibly play the role of spoiler against the first-place Bowling Green Hot Rods.
The series, originally slated to be a 6-game set, ended up being just five games with the cancellation of game two of the series on Wednesday night due to inclement weather. That very same night, thanks to the Greenville Drive losing a second straight game to the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the Hot Rods did clinch their spot in the 2025 SAL postseason. But, the playoff race was not the only storyline Hub City was involved in this week.
The Spartanburgers roster saw a lot of movement as well, beginning with their first major call-up news. Monday afternoon, the Frisco Roughriders – the Rangers’ double A affiliate announced the news via a post on X (formerly twitter) that Hub City ace David Davalillo was being promoted. That news was made official on Friday, with left hander Mason Molina – a 2024 7th rounder drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers – being called up from the Low A Hickory Crawdads in a corresponding move.
There were also a couple of key players added to the injured list. Shortstop Theo Hardy was placed on the 7-day IL back on the Saturday of the series with Wilmington while fellow infielder Danyer Cueva is now doubtful to return this season after being placed on the 60-day list retroactive to June the 10th after initially being added to the 7-day back on the third. Only one corresponding addition was made – outfielder Chandler Pollard, who came up from Hickory on the 17th.
All that news aside, here is how the series transpired.
Tuesday night’s game was a pitcher’s duel most of the way between Hub City’s Leandro Lopez and Bowling Green’s Garrett Edwards. The Hot Rods struck first in the bottom of the 2nd after the Burgers left a runner on in each of the first 2 frames. That first run came on a 2 out home run from second baseman Ryan Spikes. The Burgers managed to answer with a 2-out clutch hit – something they had not seen much of over the week prior– on an Anthony Gutierrez double that scored Keith Jones II, who reached on a 1 out 2 bagger.
No more blows were delivered between the two until the bottom of the 6th when a 1 out walk, a fielding error on HC shortstop Luis Marquez, and a sacrifice fly from Kentucky product and Hot Rod 2nd baseman Emilien Pitre put them back on top 2-1. After Lopez was taken down for Joey Danielson with 2 out, another run was added to his line on a balk, making it 3-1 in favor of Bowling Green heading to the 7th, which started with some promise for the Burgers.
Casey Cook drew a leadoff walk, and would come home on a game-tying 1 out homer from Julian Brock. In the end, Hub City left the go-ahead and an insurance run in scoring position, sending the game to the stretch knotted at 3. Both squads squandered 2 golden scoring chances in the late innings, leading to the fate of the game resting on Willian Bormie – who came on in relief of Seth Clark after he failed to record an out in what was intended to be his 2nd inning of work. A single, a double, and a walk to the first three hitters of the frame loaded the sacks and prompted the change. Bormie struck out his first hitter looking, but paid the price to second baseman Ryan Spikes, hanging a slider that went for a heartbreaking walkoff grand slam and a 7-3 defeat for the 8th straight loss.
After the cancellation of game 2, fortunes improved a bit on Thursday night as the Spartanburgers ended both the losing skid and the first half of the 2025 season on a high note. The Hub City bullpen was fantastic in relief of Dylan MacLean, who went just three innings with a strikeout, no walks, and 1 earned run on 2 hits. Anthony Susac notched his second victory of the season to up his record to 2-2, tossing 2 shutout innings in relief of MacLean in which he fanned three, walked one, and gave up just 2 hits. Eric Loomis and Mailon Felix both added a hold to their stats despite some threats from the Hot Rods, hanging a goose egg each with no hits and three strikeouts while working around 4 combined walks.
The offense got a key blow from Dylan Dreiling in the top of the 5th inning when he launched a 2 run shot clean out of the ballpark property to break a 1-1 tie. That would end up being all the Burgers needed as Adonis Villavicencio went the final 2 innings and kept the string of zeros alive in his third save of the season.
Friday night, Kolton Curtis got the nod from interim manager Jay Sullenger (who is filling in while Chad Comer is on vacation). Unfortunately, he did not have his best stuff, surrendering a 5 spot in the bottom of the first. The Spartanburgers chipped away with a single run in the top of the 2nd and a pair of two-spots in the 6th and 7th – the 2nd of which tied the game at 5. Among the highlights of the comeback were home runs from Gleider Figuereo – a 2 run blast in the 6th, and a solo bomb from Keith Jones II in the 7th.
But the difference in the game came in the ensuing half inning when DJ McCarty tried to work a third full inning in relief of Curtis, but got burned with a huge 2 out rally that started with a hit by pitch to Horvath. Three straight base knocks, a walk, and 2 runs later, McCarty was taken down for Victor Simeon. His first hitter, DH Raudelis Martinez, cleared the bases with a double to cap a 2nd 5 spot on the scoreboard. Horvath would later add on with a 2 run shot in the bottom of the 8th to make for the final 12-5 margin.
Saturday’s penultimate game could not have gotten off to a better start for Hub City as Keith Jones II took the very first pitch of the game from TJ Nichols out of right field for a quick 1-0 lead. Bowling Green responded with an unearned run on a double steal coupled with an errant throw to 2nd from Cal Stark and an interference call on the same play against Casey Cook.
The 1-1 deadlock held through the next 3 and two-thirds innings. In that span, newcomer Mason Molina settled in nicely, exiting after 4 complete with just 1 unearned on 4 hits with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. He gave way to Josh Mollerus, who got a quick out before giving up a ground-rule double to Pitre. After rebounding with a K of Horvath, former USC Upstate Spartan and South Carolina Gamecock center fielder Noah Myers drew a walk. Spikes followed with a ground ball to 3rd that was fielded by Figuereo, but the throw bounced and went past Arturo Disla for an E5, scoring a 2nd unearned run. Myers tried to score on the play, but was gunned down on a nice rebound and throw to the plate by Disla.
After his game one struggles, Seth Clark made consecutive bad outings with 5 straight walks in the bottom of the 7th, pushing across 2 more Bowling Green runs without the benefit of a hit. He gave way to Willian Bormie, who also in deja vu fashion to Tuesday night, struck out his first hitter before Catcher Daniel Vellojin singled off the first base bag to plate another. Bormie walked one more before finally ending the inning with a third K. Fortunately for Willian (and subsequently not so fortunate for Clark), all 4 runs in the inning went on Seth’s line. But, heading to the 8th, the Burgers were down 6-1.
The offense could not pull any closer while Bowling Green added another on Hub City’s 4th error of the night in the bottom of the 8th, making for the 7-1 final.
In Sunday’s finale, Jose Gonzalez turned in his 3rd quality start in his last 4 outings, this time putting together his best performance of the season with 6 shutout innings, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk, and three hits. He got some run support in the top of the third when Quincy Scott led off with a solo shot out of left center. That 1-0 lead held until the bottom of the 7th when Bowling Green took the lead on a 2 out 2-run double from first baseman Blake Robertson off of Villavicencio. But, the Spartanburgers struck right back in the ensuing half inning.
After Luis Marquez started the frame with a double and Figuereo walked with 2 out, Anthony Gutierrez came through in the clutch with a double to center, scoring both to reclaim the lead. Cook followed with an RBI single to double the lead. Hub City added on in the top of the ninth when Dylan Dreiling launched a grand slam into the bullpen in right center field to make it 8-2, which would be the final score as Joey Danielson finished the game with a scoreless frame, following a goose egg bottom of the 8th from Eric Loomis.
The Burgers dropped the series 3-2, but there is little doubt that snapping the 8-game losing skid and finishing the series with a late comeback and some clutch hitting is a huge confidence booster as they make the trek back to Spartanburg.
With the standings now reset for the 2nd half, everyone’s records have also reset, meaning Hub City is now 1-2, currently in a three-way tie for 4th place in the Southern Division with the Drive and the Rome Emperors. The current division leader three games in is the Asheville Tourists, who are 3-0 after a 5-game sweep of Wilmington. Bowling Green and Winston-Salem are tied for 2nd, both at 2-1.
The Burgers will look to begin climbing back up the standings starting Tuesday morning as they begin a 6-game home stand with the Aberdeen Ironbirds from the North division. Game one is set for an 11:05 first pitch with pitching matchups yet to be announced, though it is most likely Hub City will send Leandro Lopez (2-4, 2.01 ERA) to the bump.
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