CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Hillcats game notes

Published on April 16, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (5-2) vs. WINSTON-SALEM DASH (3-4)

April 16th, 2009 -- 6:05 PM

Calvin Falwell Field @ Lynchburg City Stadium

RHP Ronald Uviedo (0-1, 1.50) vs. RHP Charlie Shirek (1-0, 0.00)

THE HILLCATS: The Hillcats took a two games to one lead in this four-game series with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Winston-Salem last night at City Stadium...The victory kept Lynchburg in sole possession of first place in the Northern Division...Tonight is the final game of this series and the last game of an eight-game homestand to open the season for the Cats...11 of the first 14 games of the year for Lynchburg are at Calvin Falwell Field...

VS. WINSTON-SALEM: Last season when the Dash were the Warthogs, the Hillcats (both then and now) went 6-14 against Winston-Salem...The Dash are in the midst of a 14-game road trip to open the season...

PERFECT TIMING: SS Jordy Mercer hit his first home run as a Hillcats with a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning last night...The initial long ball for Mercer turned a two-run deficit into a one-run lead for the Cats...It was also the first three-run homer of the season for Lynchburg...

FITTING THE PROTOTYPE: Despite entering tonight's contest with a .222 average, INF Jose De Los Santos is doing all of the things you hope for out of a lead-off hitter...In seven games he has gotten on base 14 times, scored nine runs and stolen five bases...His nine runs and five steals are both tied for the best in the Carolina League...The last five times De Los Santos has gotten on base he has scored, including three times last night...He has also reached and scored in the first inning in three of the last four games...

LIVING UP TO THE BILLING: INF Jose De Los Santos has been pegged the fastest base runner in the Pirates Minor League system by Baseball America...In seven games this season he has five stolen bases in as many attempts and he has stolen a base in four straight games...Last year the infielder stole 14 bases with Hickory in 58 games and 14 more with the Hillcats in 56 games...

OUT OF THE 0-FER: After starting his professional career on Thursday with a 3-for-4 performance with a double, a homer, two runs scored and four RBI, 3B Pedro Alvarez had gone 0-for his next-18 until his fourth inning single last night...Still though, he leads the Hillcats with eight RBI and is tied for second in the Carolina League in that category...

WHACK STAT OF THE NIGHT: In LHP Justin Wilson's first start of the season he allowed a second inning, lead off solo home run to Chris Marrero of the Potomac Nationals...In Wilson's second start last night he allowed a second inning, lead off solo home run to Christian Marrero, Chris's brother who plays for the Dash...

EXTRA BASES: INF Matt Hague picked up his first extra base hit of the season last night with his eighth inning double...It was his 11th hit of the year, which is tied for the league lead, but it was his first hit that wasn't a single...Last year at Oklahoma State, Hague hit 18 doubles and 12 home runs in 62 games played for the Cowboys...

LEAVING THEM ON AND LETTING THEM IN: Of the eight runners the Hillcats bullpen has inherited, seven of them have scored (88%)...That includes the two that LHP Michael Felix inherited and allowed to score a night ago...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Charlie Shirek was selected in the 23rd round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft by the White Sox out of the University of Nebraska...He earned Big-12 Freshman of the year honors after his first season as a Cornhusker in which he went 4-2 with a 3.23 ERA in 18 games (eight starts)...As a sophomore in 2007 Shirek went 2-7 with a 6.40 ERA in 13 games (seven starts)...He made his professional debut with Low-A Kannapolis that year and posted a 5.40 ERA in six relief appearances...Last year he stayed with the Intimidators and went 6-6 with a 3.54 ERA in 21 starts...Tonight will be his first appearance against the Hillcats...

Check out the Lynchburg Hillcats Statistics

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



Carolina League Stories from April 16, 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