Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
Published on May 2, 2006 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release
TONIGHT'S GAME:
The Hillcats continue a week-long homestand with the second of four games against Southern Division front-runner Kinston...The Indians defeated the Hillcats 9-3 in the opener last night...The Cats have now dropped a season-high 4 consecutive games...Over a longer stretch, the team is 2-9 in their last 11 games...Lynchburg has scored just 37 runs (3.36/game) over that stretch...Despite the loss, the Cats remain only 3.0-games out of first place in the Northern Division...Kinston enters this series after taking 2 out of 3 games on the road from the Salem Avalanche....The K-Tribe are winners of 7 of their last 10 games and post a 6-4 road mark entering tonight's game...The Indians lead in the Southern Division is 2.0-games over Myrtle Beach...
TONIGHT'S MATCHUP
- RHP Derek Hankins (see page 4) looks to stop the Cats four-game losing streak against LHP Chuck Lofgren, who was handed his first loss of the year in his last outing against Lynchburg.
- Lofgren, 20, is a 6-3, 205-pound left-hander selected by Cleveland in the 4th round of the 2004 draft out of Junipera Serra HS. The Redwood City, CA native spent 2005 with Lake County (A, SAL) and compiled a 5-5 record with a 2.81 ERA (93.0 ip, 73 h, 31 r, 29 er, 43 bb, 89 k). In his first full season of professional baseball, he went 0-0 with a 6.04 ERA with Burlington (R, Appalachian). Prior to the 2006 season, he was rated as the 8th best prospect in the Cleveland Indians system by Baseball America.
- Lofgren is 3-1 with a 1.33 ERA this season (20.1 ip, 17 h, 5 r, 3 er, 5 bb, 20 k)
- Hankins has gone 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 1 G, 1 GS vs. KIN in 2006 (5.0 ip, 6 h, 1 r, 1 er, 0 bb, 2 k, .300)
- DH @ KIN, 4/26 (W, 2-1): W, 5.0 ip, 6 h, 1 r, 1 er, 0 bb, 2 k (Unscored upon until 6th; B. Finegan RBI-1B scored Reyes in 6th; Left up 2-1) - Lofgren has gone 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA in 1 G, 1 GS vs. LYN in 2006 (4.2 ip, 6 h, 2 r, 1 er, 0 bb, 3 k, .316)
- CL vs. LYN, 4/26 (L, 2-1): L, 4.2 ip, 6 h, 2 r, 1 er, 0 bb, 3 k (Leadoff 2B in 2nd led to Schwartzbauer Sac Fly; u/er in 5th proved to be winning run)
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
3B Vince Rooi was named Carolina League Player of the Week after going 8-20 (.400) with a HR and 2 RBIs during the six-game stretch. The Amsterdam native raised his average .052 percentage points to .290 during the week of 4/24-30. It marks the first time a Hillcats player was named Offensive Player of the Week since Hillcats SS Javier Guzman was awarded the honor (4/25/05).
NEWS AND NOTES:
The Hillcats have posted an above .500 record in the month of May just 3 times in their history (11 seasons)...The Cats are 2-8 against the Southern Division...Vince Rooi has hit safely in a season-high 7 straight games (10-24, .417-1-2)...In addition, he has posted consecutive multi-hit games for the first time this season...Nyjer Morgan has also hit safely in a seasonhigh 7 straight games (9-26, .346-0-0) and has reached base safely in each of his last 10 games (12-35, .343-0-3)...The speedster leads the Carolina League with 16 steals (T-2nd in all of minor league baseball)...Dan Schwartzbauer has hit safely in each of his last 3 games (4- 11, .364-0-4)...He had been hitless in 4 straight games (0-for-13) prior to the streak...
2006 SERIES WITH KINSTON
Kinston leads the season series, 3-1. The Kinston Indians won the 2005 season series, 12-8. The Indians also won the 2004 season series, 11-8. However, the Hillcats won the 2003 matchup, 13- 7. Lynchburg also dominated the 2002 series, 17-3, and then took the Mills Cup Series, 3-1. Overall, Lynchburg leads the lifetime series, 116-104 (.527).
MILB STEALS LEADERS: 1. Todd Donovan 17 (AKR, EL)...T-2. Nyjer Morgan 16 (LYN, CL)...T-2. Ovandy Suero 16 (ROM, SAL)
Carolina League Stories from May 2, 2006
- Keys complete comeback, beat Warthogs 5-4 - Frederick Keys
- Indians take 7-3 win in Lynchburg - Kinston Indians
- Blue Rocks Drop Second in a Row - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Hill City Howlers
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