Bryan Caceres retired the final 15 batters he faced in a win, Jeremy De La Rosa hit a two-run homer, and first-round pick Brady House had three hits and two RBIs in a 6-2 win for the Fredericksburg Nationals over the Carolina Mudcats on Opening Night at Virginia County Credit Union Stadium. 4571 fans took in the FredNats' first home win of the season.
Things got off to a rocky start for Caceres, as the first three batters reached with a single, triple and double to quickly put the Mudcats in front 2-0.
Then, Caceres completely shut Carolina down.
He retired 15 batters in a row, including eight strikeouts, and turned in the longest start of the season for the FredNats. Peyton Glavine had a phenomenal FredNat debut, pitching two perfect innings with two strikeouts. He and Tyler Schoff both got holds after Schoff struck out the side in the 8th inning. Jack Sinclair finished off the win on the mound.
Offensively, the FredNats came to life in the 3rd inning. House doubled home Viandel Pena to make it a 2-1 game, and then the floodgates opened in the 4th.
Pena was involved again, singling in both Sammy Infante and Geraldi Diaz. After a walk, De La Rosa hammered his second homer of the season to right field, and it was 5-2 at that point.
The FredNats got the final tally of the game in the 8th when Brady House got another RBI on an RBI infield single. The Nationals' number 11 overall pick in the 2021 draft is hitting .529 in his first four games as a FredNat.The FredNats and Mudcats will continue their six-game series tomorrow morning at 11:05 a.m. at Virginia Credit Union Stadium.