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CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes

September 11, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


NORTHERN DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GAME THREE

LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (1-1, 73-66) @ WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (1-1, 84-55)

September 11th, 2009 -- 7:05 PM @ Frawley Stadium

LHP Jeff Locke (5-8, 4.59) vs. LHP Michael Montgomery (4-1, 2.25)

THE HILLCATS: Lynchburg blanked Wilmington 1-0 last night at City Stadium to even the best of five Northern Division Championship Series at a game a piece...Tonight the Hillcats play game three of the NDCS against the Blue Rocks...Their win last night was their first post-season victory since 2003...

N.D.C.S.: Tonight is the third game of the best of five Northern Division Championship Series between Lynchburg (45-24, 28-42, 73-66), the first half champions, and Wilmington (38-31, 46-24, 84-55), the second half champs...It is a 2-2-1 format with Lynchburg hosting, meaning games one, two and five (if necessary) will be at City Stadium with games three and four at Frawley Stadium...The Hillcats have been to the NDCS five times in their history and most recently in 2005...They are 4-1 at this stage of the playoffs thus far...That includes victories over Wilmington in 2002 and 2003, the only two times these two teams have previously met in post-season play...This is Lynchburg's 19th trip to the post-season in the Carolina League and the sixth for the Hillcats...Wilmington was in the NDCS last season and got swept 3-0 by Potomac in three one-run games...That was the third straight season the Blue Rocks have lost playing for the Division Championship...The Rocks have now made the playoffs 14 times and this is their eighth trip in the last nine years...They have won four Mills Cup Championships, most recently in 1999...The Cats batted .239 against the Rocks and had a 4.01 ERA...The Rocks batted .261 against the Cats and had a 2.41 ERA...In the last four series between these two teams the Blue Rocks pitching staff is posting a 1.63 ERA (22 earned runs in 14 games)...Seven times in the regular season the Cats have scored one run or less against the Rocks and they have scored one run in each game thus far in this series...

VS. WILMINGTON: The Hillcats went 5-15 against the Blue Rocks this season, 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 this season...Wilmington has the all-time regular season advantage over Lynchburg 177-121 and they are 92-58 at Frawley Stadium...Lynchburg was up 4-3 in the series this year, but the Rocks won 12 out of 13 and the last nine games to close out the season series...After July 24th, the Blue Crew went 33-10 after they started the second half 13-14...Last night's win for the Cats snapped a 10-game losing streak to Wilmington...

UNFRIENDLY FRAWLEY: Lynchburg went 2-8 this season at Frawley Stadium and are 58-92 in the regular season all-time...The Hillcats won two of the first four games in Delaware this year, but lost the last six, including a three-game sweep at the end of July...In those last six games the Cats scored a combined six runs and were shutout three times...

RUDY RED: LHP Rudy Owens dealt six scoreless innings last night and picked up his first playoff win for Lynchburg...It was the 12th time this year the lefty has picked up a win, his longest start as a Cat and he matched his most strikeouts while donning the Green & Gold...This season he was 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...

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: RHP Matt McSwain and RHP Ronald Uviedo were in the starting rotation to start the season and into the second half...Both have switched to a bullpen role and both worked a scoreless inning last night, McSwain to earn a hold in the seventh inning and Uviedo to notch the save in the ninth...It was McSwain's fifth appearance in relief this year (made 25 starts) and Uviedo's sixth (started 18)...Out of McSwain's 90 games pitched in the regular season, 44 of them have been in relief...Uviedo has pitched 139 regular season games and 109 of them have been in relief...The right-hander has recorded 31 saves in the regular season, including three this season for the Hillcats...

REINFORCEMENT: RHP Ramon Aguero pitched a scoreless eighth inning last night to earn the hold and preserve a 1-0 lead...Aguero returned from Double-A Altoona the day after the season ended, after he was promoted from Lynchburg on August 13th...In eight games with the Curve he went 0-2 with a 2.84 ERA with four saves...

SIGH OF RELIEF: Last night the tying run for Wilmington moved to third base on a throwing error by C Tony Sanchez and nearly scored on another mistake on the play when UTIL Jose De Los Santos over ran the ball backing up in center field...Fortunately for Lynchburg, the runner ( OF Derrick Robinson) did not see the third base coach and Blue Rocks manager Brian Rupp waving him home and slid into third base instead of coming home...The next batter was retired and the threat did no damage...This a night after the Hillcats committed two errors in the four-run second inning by the Rocks that gave them the lead for good...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: LHP Michael Montgomery was a supplemental first round selection of the Royals in the 2008 draft out of Hart high school in Newhall, California...He made his debut in the Royals system in the Rookie level Arizona League last year where he went 2-1 with 2.11 ERA in 12 games (nine starts)...He was named the top prospect in the league by Baseball America...This season he started the season with Low-A Burlington and went 2-3 with 2.17 ERA in 12 starts in the Midwest League before his promotion to Wilmington...With the Blue Rocks he has gone 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA in six starts at the Advanced-A level...He was ranked as the fourth best prospect in the Royals farm system prior to the start of the season...In his only start this year against Hillcats he tossed six innings, allowed two runs and took a no-decision in a game the Blue Rocks won 5-3 in 11 innings on August 26th at Lynchburg......

HOPING FOR DEJA VU: In 2002 Lynchburg lost the season series to Wilmington 15-5 and lost game one of the NDCS by six runs (9-3), before winning the next game with a shutout en route to taking the best of three series...This season the Blue Rocks went 15-5 against the Hillcats and won game one by six (7-1) before the Cats came back and won game two with a shutout victory...The 2002 season was the last time Lynchburg won the Carolina League...

ATTENDANCE TOPPING: On Wednesday night the Hillcats broke their all-time attendance record that was set in 2007...Two years ago 164,413 fans filed through the gates to set the mark...After last night the 2009 attendance now sits at 164,998...The Cats have drawn more than 148,000 every season since the renovation of City Stadium was completed in 2004...

TIMING IS EVERYTHING: In the second half of the season Lynchburg batted 13 points higher than they did in the first half of the season (.259, .246 in the first) to raise their overall batting average to .253...However, after batting .267 with men in scoring position in the first half, they hit just .231 with RISP in the second to lower their season average to .248...Last night the Hillcats were 0-for-9 with men in scoring position...In the series the Cats are 1-for-16 with RISP, and the only hit was an infield hit that did not plate a run...

IT'S A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT: Lynchburg scored three runs in their first three innings on Monday to jump out to a 3-0 lead...In the last seven games of the season the Hillcats outscored their opponents by a combined score of 20-4 in the first three innings of play, but did not score a single run in the last three frames and allowed 10...Thus far in this series Lynchburg has only scored two runs, one in the second and one in the sixth...

FIRST TO WORST: Lynchburg went 45-24 en route to their first half Northern Division Championship, the best record in the Carolina League in the opening half...In the second half though, the Hillcats went 28-42, which put them in last place in the division and tied them for the worst record in the league...Frederick in 1997 was the last team to go from first to last, they went two and out in their best of three series...

FOR THE GOOD OF THE TEAM: Over the last 10 games of the season Lynchburg collected 11 sacrifice hits (six sacrifice flies and five bunts)...All six of the sac flies came off the bat of INF Jordy Mercer, who led the team with 14 sac flies and 17 sac hits on the season...He had six sac flies in his last nine games played...The Hillcats had 98 sacrifice hits on the season, second most in the Carolina League...Their 52 sac flies were the most in the circuit...

BATTERED AND BRUISED: The Hillcats were hit by a pitch nine times in the last five games...On the season Lynchburg was hit by a pitch 97 times, the most of any team in the Carolina League...The next closest in the circuit is Winston-Salem with 72...

PLEASE, NO EXTRAS: The Hillcats lost six straight extra-inning games at the end of the season...Lynchburg started the season 6-2 when playing free baseball, before falling in the last six...

FILLING THE CUPBOARD: This season Lynchburg had six different players from six different trades the Pirates made...INF Josh Harrison came from the Cubs, RHP Nate Adcock from the Mariners system, LHP Jeff Locke was moved from the Braves to the Pirates, C Eric Fryer came to the Cats from the Yankees system, OF Lastings Milledge spent a few games with Lynchburg after coming to the Pirates from the Nationals and RHP Michael Dubee was acquired from the White Sox...

THIRTY SOMETHING: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette updated their top 30 prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates system toward the end of the season with significant input from four of the top people in baseball operations...Of those thirty, seven are currently on the Hillcats roster, RHP Bryan Morris (9), LHP Jeff Locke (10), INF Chase d'Arnaud (11), LHP Rudy Owens (14), INF Jordy Mercer (23), UTIL Josh Harrison (26), RHP Nate Adcock (27)...Former Hillcat 3B Pedro Alvarez is still rated as the number one prospect in the system...

SLIPPING AWAY: Entering the seventh inning on Monday, Lynchburg led 5-1 before allowing five runs in the final three innings...The Hillcats relinquished an advantage of four runs or more in two of the final three games of the season...The six-run lead they blew on Saturday night was the biggest lead they lost this season...In the first half of the season the Cats only lost after leading nine times in 69 games...In the second half they blew a lead 21 times in 70 contests...They also came back to win 23 times in the first half and only rallied to win 14 times in the second part of the campaign...

QUITE THE CATCH: With three games left to play in the regular season Lynchburg added C Tony Sanchez and OF Starling Marte to their roster, both promoted from Low-A West Virginia...The two went a combined 3-for-6 with a double, two RBI and a run scored in their Advanced-A and Hillcats debut on Saturday night...Unfortunately, Marte left the game with an injury and was placed on the Disabled List...Sanchez was the fourth overall pick by the Pirates out of Boston College in this year's draft and was batting .316 with 15 doubles, seven home runs and 46 RBI in 41 games played for the Power...Marte was signed in 2007 out of the Dominican Republic and was hitting .312 with nine doubles, five triples, three homers, 34 RBI, 41 runs scored and 24 steals in 54 games played with the Pirates Low-A affiliate...Sanchez is the third fourth overall pick and the fourth top five overall pick to play for Lynchburg in the last two seasons (Pedro Alvarez, Daniel Moskos and Brad Lincoln)...

LOCKED IN: LHP Jeff Locke tossed six and 2/3 scoreless innings on Sunday night to earn his fifth win of the season and his fourth win for the Hillcats...In his last eight starts the southpaw was 3-0 with a 2.58 ERA (13 earned runs in 45 and 1/3 innings)...In those eight appearances Locke has allowed one run or less six times...His last start was his first outing this season with Lynchburg that he didn't allow a run in...

GETTIN' ON AND GETTIN' IN: INF Chase d'Arnaud went 0-for-4 in the season finale with a walk and a steal...He finished the season with 30 runs scored in his last 30 contests and had a .430 OBP (58-for-135) in those games...He hit in 25 of his last 30 games and batted .331 (40-for-121) over that time...The infielder was also 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 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored on Monday afternoon...He drove in 22 runs in his last 24 games of the season and brought home a run in eight straight games (12 in those contests) prior to the final game of the campaign...He hit in 21 of his last 24 games and over that time he batted .304 (28-for-92) with six doubles, three homers, 22 RBI, 12 runs scored, seven walks and two stolen bases...He batted .303 (30-for-99) in August after he hit .226 (26-for-115) in July...Mercer led the Hillcats, finished fifth in the Carolina League and is currently second in the farm system with 83 RBI...He also was first in the league with 36 doubles...

EXTRA WATTAGE: C Kris Watts batted .444 (24-for-54) in the month of April and finisshed the season with a .291 average, fourth in the Carolina League...He was named to the Mid-Season All-Star game...

MAC ATTACK: RHP Matt McSwain was named Carolina League Pitcher of-the-Week for the week of August 17th-23rd...It marked the second time this season a Hillcat hurler has garnered the award (LHP Rudy Owens, August 3rd-9th)...The right-hander now led the team with 11 wins and 144 and 1/3 innings...He tied for second in the league in wins, was third in innings pitched and sixth in earned run average (3.43)...McSwain was the Hillcats first 11-game winner since 2002...

RUSTED ROMAK: After returning from the Disabled List on August 11th, OF Jamie Romak batted .190 (19-for-100) with 28 strikeouts in 26 games played...The former Atlanta Braves farmhand has spent parts of three season with Lynchburg and his 36 home runs as a Hillcat sits three homers shy of Josh Bonifay for the most homers in team history...He is also 3rd in team history in doubles with 55 two-baggers...Romak did have four hits in his last three games played (4-for-12), three of which were doubles...

PUT IN A PICKLE: RHP Harrison Bishop held opposing batters to a .184 batting average with the bases empty this season...With men in scoring position batters hit .373 versus the right-hander...Wilmington was 1-for-1 against him with RISP last night...

LOOKING FOR THE REAL THING: In the first three months of the season (31 and 1/3 innings) RHP Mike Colla only allowed three earned runs and was sporting a 0.86 ERA...After that though he had a 7.56 ERA (28 earned runs in 33 and 1/3 innings) the rest of the season to up his overall earned run average to 4.31...

BORN TO RUN: UTIL Jose De Los Santos stole 53 bases this season in 61 attempts (87% success rate)...Last year he stole 28 bags in 48 tries (58%)...He led the team in swipes, was third in the Carolina League and it was the fourth most stolen bases in a season in Hillcats history...His 67 steals in his career for Lynchburg places him third on the all-time list...

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Carolina League Stories from September 11, 2009


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