CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Hillcats Game Notes

Published on May 19, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


THE HILLCATS: Lynchburg and Wilmington split a double header last night, with the Hillcats taking game one 5-1 and the Blue Rocks capturing the night cap 5-4...The game one win snapped a season-long five game losing streak for the Hillcats...Tonight is game three of a four-game series with Wilmington and the sixth contest of a seven-game homestand for the Cats...

VS. WILMINGTON: The Hillcats are now 2-4 against the Blue Rocks this season after the two split the double header last night...The Cats went 5-15 against the Rocks during the regular season last year, 3-7 at City Stadium and 2-8 at Frawley Stadium...Wilmington was the only team in the Carolina League with a winning record versus the Hillcats last season...In the post-season though, the Cats topped the Rocks three-games-to-two in a best of five series to win the Northern Division Championship and advance to the Mills Cup...Wilmington has the all-time advantage over Lynchburg 183-123 and they are 64-86 at City Stadium...

IT AIN'T EASY BEING GREEN: In the 5-4 loss last night, Lynchburg wore their alternate green jerseys for just the fourth time this season, and they dropped to 0-4 in those games...

SIGN OF LIFE: Last night Lynchburg won game one of the double header to snap a season-long five game losing streak...After winning six out of seven games to pull back to an even .500 mark at 13-13, the Hillcats have since gone 2-11 in their last 13 games and had lost eight out of their last nine before their win in game one last night...

REALIGNMENT: RHP Curtis Partch tossed six innings last night in game one against the Blue Rocks and only gave up one run in earning his second victory of the season...In his previous four starts he had gone 0-2 with a 5.94 ERA (11 earned runs in 16 and 2/3 innings)...His last start was also against the Rocks last week in Wilmington, and he gave up seven runs (two earned) and walked four batters in just one and 2/3 innings of work...Partch had walked nine in his previous three starts (12 and 2/3 inning), but last night he did not issue a base on balls in his six innings of action...RHP Jeff Jeffords dealt a scoreless inning last night in game two of the double dip...He has not allowed a run in his last three outings (six innings) to lower his earned run average from 12.71 to 6.17...This is Jeffords missed all of last season after having Tommy John surgery...

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: On Monday C Devin Mesoraco was named the Carolina League Player of the Week (May 10-16)...During the week he batted .406 (13-for-32) with two home runs, two triples, two doubles and seven RBI...On Monday night of that week he went 4-for-5 with a double, a triple and a run scored...It was just the second time this season a Hillcat has collected four hits in a game (the other UTIL Neftali Soto on 5/1 vs. POT)...The next night he went 3-for-5 with a triple, a home run, four RBI and two runs scored...It was the first time this season a Hillcat has had four RBI in one game...He is the first Hillcat to garner the award since 2008 when OF Jared Keel and OF Jamie Romak (now playing for Wilmington) both won received the honor...

UP THROUGH THE QUAD TO THE GYMNASIUM: Last night C Devin Mesoraco reached safely in both games of the doubleheader to keep alive his consecutive on-base safely streak...He has now reached safely in his last 24 games (and hit in 20 of those)...Over that time he is batting .348 (31-for-89) with five doubles, two triples, six homers, 18 RBI, 16 runs scored, 13 walks and an OBP of .448...His on-base streak is the longest by a Hillcat this season, the second longest by a Carolina Leaguer and is two shy of the longest streak this year in the CL (OF Brandon Short, Winston-Salem)...Mesoraco is now tied for eighth in the league in batting average (.328), tied for third in home runs (8), fifth in on-base percentage (.418) and second in slugging percentage (.608)...

BATTLING BUCK: INF Alex Buchholz went a combined 2-for-6 with an RBI, a run and a walk in the double header last night...He has now hit in a season-best eight straight games...Over that time he is 11-for-29 (.379) with three doubles, a home run, seven RBI, three runs and two walks...He has raised his average over that stretch from .250 to .278...He had another hit with a man in scoring position last night and he is now batting .459 (17-for-37) with 19 RBI in that spot this season...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHERS: RHP Alex Caldera was drafted in the 13th round of the 2007 draft by the Royals out of the University of California-Irvine...He made his debut at the Rookie League level that year with the Burlington Royals and went 1-2 with a 3.40 ERA and two saves in 12 games (seven starts)...In 2008 he advanced to Low-A with the Burlington Bees and posted a 12-6 record with a 2.90 ERA in 25 starts...Caldera moved to Advanced-A last season and with Wilmington he went 5-10 with a 4.77 earned run average in 27 starts...This year he has returned to the Blue Rocks and gone 2-2 with a 3.32 ERA in seven games (six starts)...Caldera is the reigning Carolina League Pitcher of the Week after he tossed seven and 2/3 scoreless innings in a win at Potomac last Friday...He has made five starts against the Hillcats during the regular season and has gone 2-1 with a 2.90 ERA (10 earned runs in 31 innings)...He also started against Lynchburg in the post-season last year, giving up two runs (one earned) in five and 2/3 innings of action and he took a no-decision for his effort...The Comeback Cats rallied for the victory at Frawley Stadium to fend-off elimination in game four of the Northern Division Championship Series...

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Carolina League Stories from May 19, 2010


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