CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Cats Trounce Dash in Series Opener

Published on July 10, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


Lynchburg routed Winston-Salem 12-6 in the opener of a three-game series at Wake Forest Baseball Park Friday night. The Hillcats will take on the Dash in game two on Saturday night. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m.

The Cats struck first with a run in the opening frame. Alex Presley ripped a one-out double off Dash starter Justin Edwards. Jordy Mercer knocked in Presley with an RBI double, which gave Lynchburg a 1-0 advantage.

Lynchburg extended its lead with three runs in the top of the second. Eric Fryer singled to start the frame and advanced to third when Edwards made an errant throw to first on a botched pickoff attempt. Jared Keel laced an RBI double down the left-field line to plate Fryer. Jose De Los Santos followed with an RBI double that enabled Keel to score. De Los Santos later scored in the inning to put the Cats in front 4-0.

After Cats starter Matt McSwain retired the Dash in order in the bottom of the second, Lynchburg broke the game open by scoring five runs in the third.

Edwards gave up consecutive singles to Kris Watts and Jamie Romak to begin the inning. Following a sacrifice by Fryer, Keel drew a walk to load the bases. De Los Santos delivered an RBI single that scored Watts from third.

After Wander Perez replaced Edwards, Chase d'Arnaud blasted the first pitch from Perez over the left-field wall for a grand slam, which gave Lynchburg a commanding 9-0 lead.

Winston-Salem got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third when Kyle Shelton scored on an RBI single from Jimmie Gallagher to make it a 9-1 contest.

The Dash cut into the lead again the fourth. McSwain plunked Seth Loman to begin the frame and Salvador Sanchez doubled to put runners at second and third with no outs. Loman scored on Tyler Kuhn's infield single and Sanchez took third.

John Curtis drove in Sanchez with an RBI single and Shelton followed with an infield single to load the bases. Two more runs scored on back-to-back RBI groundouts by Dale Mollenhauer and Greg Paiml, which reduced the Lynchburg lead to 9-5.

Winston-Salem drew closer with a run in the fifth on Kuhn's RBI double that scored Loman, who had doubled earlier in the inning.

But the Cats tacked on three insurance runs in the eighth, highlighted by Matt Hague's two-run home run to seal the 12-6 victory.

All nine Lynchburg batters recorded a hit as the Cats pounded out 15 hits off Winston-Salem pitching. Four Lynchburg hitters - Presley, Mercer, Fryer and De Los Santos - tallied multiple hits in the game.

McSwain (8-4) earned the win for Lynchburg and Edwards (2-1) took the loss for Winston-Salem. Lynchburg relievers Harrison Bishop, Chris Cullen and Harvey Garcia combined to pitch four scoreless innings in relief of McSwain.

The Cats and Dash will meet in the second game of the three-game set on Saturday night at Wake Forest Baseball Park. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Tune in to FM 105.5 KD Country, 96.9 FM Roanoke or online at www.kdcountry.com for all the live action beginning at 6:40 p.m. Saturday.

Check out the Lynchburg Hillcats Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from July 10, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central