CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Hillcats Game Notes for August 15

Published on August 15, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (19-28, 64-52) vs. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (20-27, 45-69)

August 15th, 2009 -- 6:05 PM

Calvin Falwell Field @ Lynchburg City Stadium

RHP Matt McSwain (9-7, 3.57) vs. LHP Cole Rohrbough (4-7, 6.04)

THE HILLCATS: Lynchburg dropped the opener of a three-game series with Myrtle Beach 9-6 last night at City Stadium...Tonight the Hillcats play the middle game of a three-game set with Myrtle Beach and game five of a six-game homestand...They are in the midst of 13 out of 16 at Calvin Falwell Field...After playing seven games on the road at Kinston and Myrtle Beach, the Cats are playing the Indians and Pelicans again in this six-game homestand...

VS. MYRTLE BEACH: The Hillcats are 11-7 against the Pelicans thus far this season and are 4-3 at City Stadium...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 116-101, and they are 53-52 in the Hill City...

ALL NIGHTERS: Last night's series opener was two hours and 57 minutes in length...It was the shortest contest Lynchburg has played in their last five games...Their finale against Kinston on Thursday night lasted three hours and 26 minutes, the longest nine inning game of the season for the Hillcats...It topped the 11-10 loss at Winston-Salem on July 2nd by one minute...Of the three games in the series against the K-Tribe, game two, which lasted two hours and 59 minutes, was the shortest of the set...

WELCOME WATTAGE: C Kris Watts went 2-for-5 last night with a home run, five RBI and a run scored...His five runs driven in were a season-high and one off his career best...His three-run homer in the seventh tied the game at six and it was the first home run for the All-Star catcher since June 13, a span of 121 at-bats...The two-hit night for Watts has put him back atop the Carolina League in batting average (.312) and he still leads the circuit in on-base percentage (.431)...

HEATING UP: UTIL Jose De Los Santos went 2-for-4 last night in the Hillcats 10-8 loss...In his last three games played he is 7-for-13 (.539) with three runs scored...In the month of August he is batting .348 (16-for-46) with eight runs scored in 12 games...

DARN YES: INF Chase d'Arnaud went 1-for-4 with a run, a walk and a stolen base last night...His five RBI on Wednesday night set a new career-high for the former fourth round pick...In his series against Kinston he went 7-for-15 (.467) and his current hitting streak is now up to eight games, his longest with Lynchburg...Over that time he is batting .371 (13-for-35) with four doubles, a homer, six RBI, seven runs scored and three steals...

HARRY AND THE HILLCATS: UTIL Josh Harrison went 2-for-5 last night and has gone 11-for-23 (.478) in his last five games combined...He has hit in six straight games, in 11 of the 13 he has played with Lynchburg and on Sunday night a Myrtle Beach hit his first home run as a Hillcat...Defensively he has already played three different positions, third base, second base and left field...

PRIORITY PACKAGE: Priority reliever RHP Tom Boleska worked three innings on Wednesday night and did not allow an earned run...The right-hander has now not allowed a run since his return from the Disabled List on July 19th...That span now covers 15 and 1/3 innings pitched...On the season he has allowed just one earned run in 21 and 1/3 innings for an ERA of 0.42...

RARITY FROM RODRIGUEZ: RHP R.J. Rodriguez allowed a three-run home run that propelled the Pelicans to their 9-6 win...It was just the second time this season he has allowed a homer...In his last four outings the right-hander has allowed six earned runs in three and 1/3 innings (16.22 ERA) that has raised his ERA from 2.45 to 3.50...He notched his Carolina League leading 25th save of the season on Wednesday night...The all-star closer is just four saves short of tying the all-time Hillcats single-season record...D.J. Carrasco had 29 saves in 2002 to set the record and is the all-time team saves leader with 38...Rodriguez has moved ahead of Rafael Chavez (22) and is now tied for second place in Cats history with Melqui Torres...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: LHP Cole Rohrbough was selected by the Braves in the 22nd round of the 2006 amateur entry draft as a draft-and-follow out of high school in North Medford, Oregon...After a year at Western Nevada College he made his professional debut at the Rookie level with Danville in 2007 and went 3-2 with a 1.08 ERA in eight games (seven starts)...He advanced to Low-A that season and went 2-0 with 1.29 ERA in six starts with Rome...Last season he returned to Rome and went 3-4 with a 4.94 ERA in 13 games (12 starts) before his promotion to Myrtle Beach at the Advanced-A level...With the Pelicans he posted a 2-2 mark with a 3.41 ERA in five starts...This season he returned to the Birds and has pitched 18 games (17 starts) with a 4-7 record with a 6.04 ERA...Tonight will be his third start of the season against Lynchburg, thus far he is 1-0 with a 0.84 (one earned run in 10 and 2/3 innings)...His last start was against the Hillcats on Sunday at Myrtle Beach, he took a no-decision allowing one run in five innings in a game the Cats won 4-2...




Carolina League Stories from August 15, 2009


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