Flying Boxcars hold off Legends after early five-run burst

Hagerstown’s five-run second inning turned Wednesday afternoon at Legends Field into a long chase for Lexington, and the Flying Boxcars survived a late Legends push for a 6-5 Atlantic League win. The loss dropped the Legends to 24-32 while Hagerstown moved to 36-20 and stayed firmly ahead in the standings.

The early damage came fast. Robert Brooks opened the burst with a solo homer, and Alex Isola followed with a three-run double as the Boxcars seized control before Lexington could settle in. That inning forced the Legends to spend the rest of the game clawing back, even as the middle of the lineup kept giving them a chance.

Nick Senzel got Lexington on the board in the third with a two-run homer, his seventh of the season, driving in Damiano Palmegiani and cutting the deficit to 5-2. The Legends were still trailing after Hagerstown added an insurance run in the seventh, but Palmegiani answered with a two-run shot of his own, his fifth homer of the year, scoring Gabe Howell and pulling Lexington within one at 6-5. The rally stopped there.

Palmegiani finished with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Senzel also delivered two hits and two RBIs. Andy Atwood added an RBI, and Curtis Terry, Tres Gonzales and Howell each had a hit as Lexington put traffic on the bases behind the power production. The pattern mattered as much as the numbers: the Legends got real punch from the middle of the order, but the damage had already been done before those bats fully took over.

Nic Laio took the loss despite striking out eight over six innings, a line that reflected both swing-and-miss stuff and the cost of the second-inning collapse. Aaron Leasher earned the win for Hagerstown after allowing three runs in 5.1 innings, and Clay Helvey closed it out for his seventh save with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth. Isola led the Boxcars with three RBIs, while Jared Carr and Noah Smith each had two hits.

For Lexington, the night fit a familiar tension. Senzel, signed May 24 after the former No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft returned to regional baseball, has now shown enough impact to matter in the heart of the order. Palmegiani, a Venezuelan-Canadian infielder who has played for Canada’s national team and is listed by MLB.com as a right-handed-hitting third baseman, added another jolt. The bats are giving Lexington a chance; cleaner starts and sharper early run prevention would give them a real one.