A Coastal Plain League player had a night he’ll remember forever Sunday in the first game of a doubleheader. In the fifth inning of a seven-inning game, Brady Lester, an outfielder with the Holly Springs Salamanders, drilled a hit to left center, rounded second without hesitation and slid into third for a triple.
Several celebrating Salamanders were frantically hollering for the ball because the hit completed the cycle for the 21-year-old from Fredericktown, Ohio. Lester had singled in the first inning, homered in the second and doubled in the third inning. He ended up with five RBI and three runs in the Salamanders’ 15-6 game 1 victory over the Greenville Gnomes.
Lester, who played two years of college ball at Mount Vernon Nazarene where he batted .335 over 101 games, is listed as a junior at Ohio State. Perhaps he has transferred or perhaps it’s a probable wish after the summer he’s had in Holly Springs. The right-handed thrower and left-handed hitter is batting .336 with 31 runs and 22 RBI in 41 games.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Lester singled and picked up his 12th steal of the season but it was catcher Hodge Williams of Holly Springs, a rising freshman at Pitt Community College, who had the big hit of the game with a two-run double to lead the Salamanders to a 5-4 victory.
First baseman Levi Ham, a sophomore at Queens University, contributed three singles, a run and an RBI as Holly Springs won its seventh game in a row to run its record to 23-20.
The Salamanders, who play at North Main Athletic Complex in Holly Springs, have six games left including three at home. Check out the schedule here.
