The Shadow
SALEM, Va. – The Salem RidgeYaks (15-18) powered their way to a dominant 13-3 victory over the Delmarva Shorebirds (13-20) on Sunday afternoon at Carilion Clinic Field, using three home runs and a five-run second inning to secure a series split.
After Salem walked it off the night prior, the RidgeYaks carried the momentum into Sunday looking for back-to-back wins for the first time in over a week.
Delmarva jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning when Jose Perez reached on a Salem fielding error that allowed Raylin Ramos to score for a 1-0 Shorebirds advantage.
The RidgeYaks responded immediately in the bottom half. Enddy Azocar sparked the rally with a one-out single before Andrews Opata tied the game with an RBI single to left field. Opata advanced to second after a fielding error by Junior Aybar, and two batters later Luke Heyman lined an RBI single into left to give Salem a 2-1 lead after one inning.
Salem’s offense exploded in the second inning with five more runs. After Avinson Pinto reached and moved into scoring position, Starlyn Nunez crushed a two-run homer to right field, his fifth home run of the season, to extend the lead to 4-1. Azocar later worked a walk and scored on Opata’s second single of the game before Heyman launched a two-run homer to dead center field to cap the inning and make it 7-1.
The Shorebirds trimmed the deficit in the fourth inning when Aybar lifted a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Andrés Nolaya, but Salem answered with its biggest swing of the afternoon in the bottom half.
Ilan Fernandez reached on a walk before Nunez singled and Azocar walked to load the bases for Kleyver Salazar. The Salem first baseman then demolished a grand slam to left field, his third homer of the year, pushing the RidgeYaks lead to 11-2 and blowing the game wide open.
Salem added another run in the seventh inning when Ty Hodge scored on a wild pitch from Brendan Parks. In the eighth, Opata singled and later scored on Skylar King’s RBI double to center field to make it 13-2.
Delmarva scored once in the ninth inning on a DJ Layton RBI single, but the RidgeYaks bullpen closed out the 13-3 victory moments later.
Salem finished with 11 hits and went 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Opata paced the offense with two hits, an RBI, and three runs scored, while Heyman collected three RBIs on his two-run homer and RBI single. Salazar drove in a game-high four runs with his grand slam, and Nunez added two RBIs with his second-inning blast.
On the mound, Leighton Finley (2-0) earned the win after allowing just one earned run over five innings while striking out four. Nicolas De La Cruz followed with 1.1 scoreless innings in relief before Griffin Kilander struck out five over the final 2.2 innings to finish off the win.
The RidgeYaks and Shorebirds split the six-game series as Salem wrapped up its homestand with the victory. Salem now hits the road for an extended 12-game road trip beginning Tuesday with a six-game series against the Fredericksburg Nationals before traveling to Lynchburg for a six-game set against the Hill City Howlers.
Game Notes:
- Salem’s 13 runs mark the second most in a single-game this season
- The 13 runs also mark the most Salem has ever scored against Delmarva in a meeting in franchise history
- Luke Heyman’s 418 foot dead center home run was just the third home run hit to Center Field this season at Carilion Clinic and the furthest hit by anybody this season
- Heyman now has six home runs to lead the RidgeYaks outright and ranks tied for sixth in the Carolina League in home runs
- Heyman has now hit five home runs in his last ten games since April 28
- Starlyn Nunez and Heyman have both homered in back-to-back games
- Kleyver Salazar’s fourth inning grand slam was Salem’s first grand slam as a team since Opening Day 2025 (April 4, 2025) when Kelvin Diaz hit a grand slam against Delmarva
- Salazar’s four RBIs is a season high for the Barcelona, Venezuela native and tied for the second most in a game in his career
- Salazar also started at first base for the first time this season and 24th time in his pro ball career
- Salem pitchers struck out 10 batters marking the 16th time in the last 18 games Salem’s staff as struck out double digits
- Leighton Finley earned his second professional win
- Finley has now gone five innings in each of his last three starts and has allowed just two earned runs over his last 15 innings pitched
- Griffin Kilander tied his season high with five strikeouts for the third time this season
- Ilan Fernandez went 0-for-3 with a walk, snapping his four game hitting streak but extending his on-base streak to an active best of seven games
- Salem is now 4-2 in series finales this season
