Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
September 2, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (25-39, 70-63) @ POTOMAC NATIONALS (39-25, 76-55)
September 2nd, 2009 -- 7:05 PM
@ G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium
LHP Justin Wilson (6-8, 4.50) vs. LHP Will Atwood (8-7, 4.44)
THE HILLCATS: Lynchburg dropped the series opener to Potomac, 4-3 the final at Pfitzner Stadium...The Hillcats have now lost seven out of eight, nine out of 11 and have dropped a season-worst 14 games under .500...Tonight they play the middle-game of a three-game series at Potomac and the fifth game of eight in a row on the road...
VS. POTOMAC: The Hillcats are 9-9 against the Nationals this season and are 3-5 at Pfitzner Stadium...Last season the two teams split the season series 10-10 and the P-Nats were just one of two teams the Cats had a .500 record or better against last year...Lynchburg won the final five games against each other last season...In the all-time series Lynchburg has the edge 151-144 and they are 69-74 in Woodbridge...The Hillcats had won 12 of the last 15 games between these two teams before dropping six of the last eight versus the Nats...
NO EXTRAS PLEASE: Last night Lynchburg lost their fifth straight extra-innings ballgame witha 4-3 loss in 11 innings...After starting the season 6-2 in extras, the Hillcats have
dropped five straight, including three in their last 11 contests...It also marked the sixth time this season the Cats have lost in walk-off fashion...
STREAKING INTO SEPTEMBER: The game on Sunday night finished the month of August for Lynchburg with a 13-16 record...The Hillcats won four out of five twice during the month, but also ended the month by losing eight out of ten to drop a season-worst 13 games under .500...On six different occasions the Cats won or lost at least three games in a row...August was an improvement on July, their worst month of the season, when they posted a 10-18 mark...
CLINCHING AGAIN: The game one win on Saturday night ensures a winning record for the Hillcats in 2009...It marks the first time since 2005 (78-62) that Lynchburg will post an over .500 record...Prior to this season the Cats have had a winning record four times in their 14 seasons played...They have also secured their sixth playoff appearance since the team began play in 1995...
SHIPPING OUT: Yesterday Lynchburg had three players removed from their roster...RHP R.J. Rodriguez (Temporarily Inactive List), RHP Moises Robles (promoted to Double-A Altoona) and C Joel Collins (traded to San Fransisco Giants)...Rodriguez left to play with Puerto Rico in the Baseball World Cup...He was in first place in the Carolina League in saves (27), second all-time in single-season Hillcats history and just two saves shy of tying the top mark...RHP Noah Krol was promoted from Low-A West Virginia and OF Ciro Rosero was activated from the Disabled List to fill the open active roster spots...
RACKING UP THE ACCOLADES: LHP Rudy Owens was recently named the Most Outstanding Pitcher in the South Atlantic League...The left-hander was also named by the SALLY to the post-season All-Star team...This after the southpaw was named the best pitching prospect in the SAL, with the best change-up and best control by Baseball America in their recent best tools article...He has also earned Pitcher-of-the-Week honors three times (twice in the SAL and once in the Carolina League)...And the starter was a mid-season All-Star selection as well...
DARN YES: INF Chase d'Arnaud went hitless last night, but still walked three times and scored a run in the loss...In the series at Wake Forest Baseball Park he went a combined 7-for-11 (.636) with two doubles, a homer, three RBI and three runs scored...His four hits in game one on Saturday night matched the most hits he has had in a single game...In his last 14 games he is still batting .340 (18-for-53) and he has hit in 12 of those contests...The infielder was also recently chosen as one of the six representatives of the Pirates in the prestigious Arizona Fall League this off-season...
DRIVING 'EM IN: INF Jordy Mercer went 0-for-4 last night, but also drove home his team-leading 76th RBI of the campaign...He has driven in 15 runs in his last 19 games played and brought home five in his last four...He still has hit in 16 of his last 19 games and over that time he is batting .297 (22-for-74) with four doubles, two homers, 15 RBI, nine runs scored, seven walks and two stolen bases...He is batting .291 (30-for-103) in August after he hit .226 (26-for-115) in July...Mercer leads the Hillcats with 76 RBI and is second in the league with 34 doubles...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: LHP Will Atwood was selected by Washington in the 12th round of the 2008 amateur entry draft out of the University of South Carolina...In his junior season and his final year with the Gamecocks he went 5-4 with a 5.25 ERA in 16 games (12 starts)...He made his professional debut with Short-Season Low-A Vermont last year and went 2-1 with a 2.41 earned run average in 12 starts with the Lake Monsters...He skipped full season Low-A to begin this season with Potomac...He has posted an 8-7 record with a 4.44 ERA in 24 starts with the P-Nats...He has made four starts against Lynchburg and has gone 1-1 with a 7.23 ERA...In his first six starts this season Atwood went 0-4 with a 9.23 ERA...Since then he has gone 8-3 with a 3.20 ERA in his last 18 starts...
Carolina League Stories from September 2, 2009
- Chisenhall, Phelps and Fedroff are Carolina League All-Stars - Kinston Indians
- Robinson Named To Postseason All-Star Team - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Rally Rocks Magic Number At Two - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Vazquez Grand in 9-5 Salem Win - Salem Red Sox
- Kinston Crushes Keys 14-3 - Kinston Indians
- K-Tribe Blows Out Keys - Frederick Keys
- P-Nats Comeback Stifled in Loss to Lynchburg - Potomac Nationals
- Hillcats Even Series With P-Nats - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Lynchburg Closer Rodriguez Named To Postseason All-Star Squad - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Big Inning Propels Red Sox Past Dash and Into First Place Tie - Winston-Salem Dash
- Keys Players Earn League's Highest Honors - Frederick Keys
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Lynchburg Hillcats
- K-Tribe Notes for Wednesday - Kinston Indians
- K-Tribe Attendance Increases Again in 2009 - Kinston Indians
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