Hillcats at Pelicans Tonight
Published on June 15, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release
THE HILLCATS:
Lynchburg completed a three-game series sweep of Kinston yesterday afternoon with a 9-2 win at Grainger Stadium...The victory moves the Hillcats to 21 games over .500 for the first time this season, their new high-water mark for the year...Their lead for first place in the Northern Division is now six games over Potomac heading into today, tied for their biggest advantage of the campaign...Tonight's game is the first game of a four-game series at Myrtle Beach and game four of a seven-game road trip...This trip will end a stretch of 14 out of 16 games on the road for the Green & Gold...Over a longer period, they are closing out out 27 of 38 games away from the Hill City...
VS. MYRTLE BEACH:
The Hillcats have won five out of six against the Pelicans thus far this season and are 2-1 at BB&T Coastal Field...Last year the Pelicans took the season series 13-7...Lynchburg was 6-6 against the Birds until they lost seven in a row to drop the series...Myrtle Beach has the all-time advantage in the series 110-95 and they are 60-44 at home...
MAGIC NUMBER:
The magic number to clinch the Northern Division is down to two for the Hillcats with both Potomac and Wilmington, who begin a three-game series against each other tonight...They lead the division by six games with eight contests left to play in the first half...Lynchburg is attempting to secure their first playoff spot since 2005 when they won the first half crown...
LIFE AT THE TOP:
Lynchburg currently has the best record in the Carolina League and entered today tied for the second most wins in all of minor league baseball with 41 (only behind the Birmingham Barons, 42 wins)...The Hillcats also have the second best winning percentage (.672) amongst all full season minor league teams (only behind Brevard County, .684)...They have been in first place almost every day of the first half of the season...
CRUSHING THE K-TRIBE:
Yesterday the Hillcats finished off a three-game series sweep of the Indians with a 9-2 win...Lynchburg outscored Kinston 31-9 in the three game series...On Saturday night the Cats scored a season-high 16 runs, matched the most runs they have scored in an inning with seven runs in the sixth and matched their biggest margin of victory by winning by 11...Lynchburg also scored seven runs in an inning against Kinston on April 23rd at Grainger Stadium...It was the fifth sweep of the season for the Cats, their second straight and their second on the road...
ABOARD FOR FREE:
Kinston pitchers walked 21 batters and hit five men with a pitch in the three-game series...Of the 31 runs the Hillcats scored, 16 were either walked or hit with a pitch...In the last two games of the set the Cats scored 25 runs on 20 hits...Yesterday they had a three-run inning with five walks in which they did not collect a hit...On Saturday night they scored seven runs on one hit thanks to four walks and two hit batters...
MAKE IT A DOUBLE:
SS Jordy Mercer went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI yesterday...In the three-game series at Kinston he went 5-for-11 with four doubles, four RBI and four runs scored...He is now tied for second in the Carolina League in doubles with 18...His three RBI also tied his career-best and it marked the third time he has accomplished the feat...He had back-to-back multi-hit performances to close out the series after he went 16 games (May 23rd) without more than one hit in a game...
KEY TO TAKING BISHOP:
RHP Harrison Bishop dealt three scoreless innings yesterday in the Hillcats win over the Indians...Frederick has been the one team he has really struggled against this season...Against the Keys in 3 games he is posting an ERA of 18.00 (12 earned runs in six innings)...Against the rest of the league he has a 3.41 earned run average (12 earned runs in 31 and 2/3 innings)...
EDDIE IS OKAY:
UTIL Eddie Prasch went 1-for-5 with his first triple of the season and an RBI yesterday...He drove-in three runs in the last two games at Kinston...He had not driven in a run since April 27th before this series, had just three RBI on the season and entered the set 1-for-34 in his last 11 games...Prasch drove home the first two runs of the game for the Hillcats on Saturday...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER:
LHP Jose Ortegano was signed as a 16-year old in 2003 out of Venezuela...In 2004 and 2005 he was outstanding for the Dominican Braves and was good again in 2006 with the GCL Braves...He advanced to the Short Season Low-A Danville Braves in 2007 and was 6-1 with a 1.48 ERA in 13 games (nine starts)...Last season he spent the majority of the year with the full season Low-A Rome Braves and posted a 2-5 mark and a 4.62 ERA in 17 games (15 starts)...He began this season with Myrtle Beach and has gone 2-5 with 4.25 ERA in 14 games (six starts)...He was taken out of the rotation after Lynchburg scored seven runs (five earned) in an inning and 1/3 against him on April 28th in Myrtle Beach...He took the loss in that game and also worked a scoreless inning of relief against the Hillcats at City Stadium...This is the second start back in the rotation for Ortegano who is 0-1 with a 19.29 ERA against the Cats...
Carolina League Stories from June 15, 2009
- Pelicans pitching shuts down Lynchburg - Hill City Howlers
- Peacock's Pinch-Hit Three-Bagger Propels P-Nats - Potomac Nationals
- Kelly earns first Advanced-A win - Salem RidgeYaks
- Salem routs K-Tribe, 8-1 - Kinston Indians
- Ortegano's Gem Paces Pelicans - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Keys lock door on Dash title with shutout - Winston-Salem Dash
- Blue Rocks Will Attempt To Set World Record On June 19 - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Santiago Named Carolina Pitcher of the Week - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Tribe Talk - Kinston Indians
- First Half's Final Homestand Begins Monday - Potomac Nationals
- Walk Like MADD With the Potomac Nationals - Potomac Nationals
- Matusz Promoted to Double-A Bowie - Frederick Keys
- Hillcats at Pelicans Tonight - Hill City Howlers
- Angle is the Carolina League Player of the Week - Frederick Keys
- Blue Crew Blanks Dash In Rubber Match, 4-0 - Wilmington Blue Rocks
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