CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Hillcats vs. Dash Game Notes

Published on May 7, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


THE HILLCATS: Friday the Hillcats lost to the Winston-Salem Dash 6-5 evening the series at one game a piece...The ‘Cats are now 3-2 on their current road trip and 7-8 on the road overall this season...Last night the Hillcats had the tying run at second base with nobody out in the ninth, however, the tying run would wind up stranded at third base as the ‘Cats fell by a run...Lynchburg remains in third place in the Carolina League Northern Division after the loss, now 10-16 and 5.5 games back of the first place Wilmington Blue Rocks...

VS. WINSTON-SALEM: The Hillcats are 1-1 this season against the Dash, winning 3-1 Thursday and losing 6-5 last night...Winston-Salem took the season series 16-4 against the Hillcats in 2010...However, the Hill-City has welcomed a new affiliate in the Atlanta Braves this year...Last season the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (2010 Braves Advance-A affiliate) nearly split the season series with the Dash taking nine games of 20...

GOT TO ADMIT, IT'S GETTIN' BETTER: Lynchburg opened up the season with the worst start in Hillcats history at 1-10...Dropping 10 games in a row after winning their season opener...The ‘Cats are 9-6 since snapping the losing streak on April 21st in Frederick...Credit for the turn-around can be given in large part to the pitching staff...Hillcats' hurlers have allowed just 34 earned runs over the past 15 games in 126.0 ip, good a 2.43 ERA in that span...The staff has climbed from eighth to fifth in the league in ERA during the 15-game stretch...

HITTIN' THE ROAD: The Hillcats' bats have caught fire during their current road trip hitting .339 (62-for-183) as a team over the past five games of their seven-game road trip...Lynchburg has collected 10 or more hits in all five games and scored 31 runs, averaging 6.2 per game...Tuesday's 11-run effort set a season high this season for the Green & Gold...Included in that 11-run showcase, was a six-run eighth frame on six-hits which each set season highs for a single inning...All nine batters came to the plate in that eighth inning, marking the first time the ‘Cats have batted around the order all season...As a team now hitting .253 on the year, the Hillcats boast the third best clip in the Carolina League...Individually, OF Adam Milligan was the first Hillcat this season to have four hits in a single game as he homered, doubled, and singled twice in five chances Tuesday...OF Todd Cunningham, just a day later, matched the four-hit effort, going 4-for-4 Wednesday night in Wilmington...

BEST OF THE BRAVOS: Eight members of the Hillcats are ranked amongst the top 30 prospects in the Braves organization according to Baseball America...That list includes RHP Arodys Vizcaino (7), SS Andrelton Simmons (15), RHP David Hale (17), RHP Dimasther Delgado (18), OF Todd Cunningham (20), OF Adam Milligan (22), INF Joe Leonard (23) and 2B Phil Gosselin (25)...Vizcaino was tabbed the 93rd best prospect in all of baseball by BA as well...

REMOVE FROM LEADOFF AND LET ‘SIMM'ER: SS Andrelton Simmons batted leadoff for the Hillcats in 10 of the first 11 games of the season, getting one day off...The team was 1-9 in his starts while he hit just .211 (8-for-38) in that span...Simmons was dropped from the leadoff spot on the twelfth game and has thrived hitting safely in 14 of 15 games since...He has batted second (5), sixth (1), seventh (7), and ninth (2) in his past 15 games, batting .439 (25-for-57) with 10 RBI, six runs scored and four stolen bases...He now leads the team in batting average at .347 and ranks second in the Carolina League overall behind just Wilmington's Rey Navarro (.374)...

ENTER TODD CUNNINGHAM: OF Todd Cunningham has batted leadoff the past three games for the Hillcats, welcoming the roll Simmons seems to be happy to relinquish, posting a .667 clip (8-for-12) during the stretch...The Hillcats record hasn't reflected Cunningham's succes as they ar 1-2 over the last three...Cunningham began the season as the everyday three-hole hitter, a spot in which he hit just .231 (15-for-65) in 17 games...He has also his second five times, batting .176 (3-for-17)...L.V. Ware acted as leadoff for the 12 games between Simmons' tenure and the recent stretch for Cunningham...Ware has hit .302 (16-for-53) while batting first, so the revolving door at the top of the order may still be spinning...

PLEASE PASS THE GRAVY: C Braden Schlehuber will tell you that he is a defensive oriented catcher and that anything he does offensively is just gravy...Well, he has thrown out 38.5% of base stealers (10 of 26), tying him for third best in the league with Frederick's Brian Ward, and he has yet to allow a pass ball in 17 games this season...Lately, however, he has been pulling double duty, delivering on offense as well...Schlehuber has hit safely in six of his last seven games, and is currently on a five game hitting streak...He is 11-for-24 in his last seven games with two three-hit games...He has driven in four including the go-ahead run Wednesday night in Wilmington in the seventh inning...He blasted his first home run of the season last night and drove in a run in the ninth bringing the Hillcats within one...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER : LHP Hector Santiago was drafted in the 30th round of the 2006 draft by the White Sox out of Okaloosa-Walton (FL) Community College...This is his third season with Winston-Salem...Last year went 4-5 with a 4.15 ERA in 37 appearances...was 1-0 with a 0.87 ERA in 2010 against Lynchburg, and 0-0 with a 2.16 ERA against Myrtle Beach, when Myrtle Beach was the Braves Advanced-A affiliate...

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Carolina League Stories from May 7, 2011


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