Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
Published on September 4, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (30-35, 59-76) @ MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (31-36, 57-80)
September 4th, 2010 -- 7:05 PM
@ BB&T Coastal Field
LHP Justin Walker (3-2, 7.59) vs. RHP Paul Clemens (0-3, 3.49)
THE HILLCATS: Last night Winston-Salem finished off a four-game sweep of Lynchburg with a 6-4 victory at BB&T Ballpark...Tonight the Hillcats play the series opener of a three-game series with the Pelicans at Myrtle Beach and the fifth contest of a seven-game road trip that will round out the 2010 season...
VS. MYRTLE BEACH: Lynchburg is 9-8 against Myrtle Beach this season and 4-3 on the Grand Strand...Last season the Hillcats went 12-8 against the Pelicans...The Birds holds the all-time advantage in the series with the Cats 122-106...
PRIDE ON THE LINE: The Hillcats were eliminated from playoff contention Thursday with their 11-0 loss to the Dash, but with just one win in this series Lynchburg can avoid the possibility of finishing with the worst record in the Carolina League...The Hillcats are three games ahead of the Pelicans in the composite standings, but if the Birds sweep this three-game set, they will finish percentage points ahead of the Cats...
RIVALRY OF SORTS: Hillcats first year skipper Pat Kelly and Pelicans Manager Rocket Wheeler were teammates in 1979 in the Carolina League while playing for the Kinston Eagles in the Toronto Blue Jays organization...That year Kelly competed with several teammates, including Wheeler, for the CL batting title...PK took home the title with a .309 batting average...This season series between these managers teams' has been about as close as possible, with Lynchburg holding the 9-8 edge in the win column, but Myrtle Beach has a 79-75 advantage in overall runs scored in the series...Out of the 17 games, six have been one-run contests (4-2, LYN) and 12 have been decided by three runs or less (tied at 6-6)...With a series victory in this set, Kelly has a chance to beat out Wheeler again 31 years later...
DONE WITH DASH: Winston-Salem completed a four-game sweep of Lynchburg last night, which was the fourth sweep at the hands the Dash for the Hillcats this season...The 11-0 loss on Thursday afternoon was the biggest margin of defeat this season for the Hillcats, topping the 13-3 loss at BB&T Ballpark on May 21st...Winston-Salem outscored the Cats by a combined score of 33-6 in the recent four-game series...They finished the season 16-4 against the Green & Gold, the Cats worst mark against any opponent in the Carolina League...
AUGUST RUSH: In the month of August Lynchburg went 16-12 to give them their first over .500 month of the season...The Hillcats batted .266 in the month and had a 3.72 ERA...Unfortunately, so far the Cats are 0-3 in September...
TOP SHELF: UTIL Cody Puckett was promoted to Double-A Carolina yesterday...He was named the Hillcats Most Valuable Player and the Most Popular Player by the team Saturday night...The former eighth round selection of the Reds batted .277 with 18 homers (tied for the team lead when he departed), 54 RBI and 17 steals (first on the team) in 125 games for the Cats...Puckett was second in the CL in doubles (40), second in extra-base hits (62), tied for third in home runs and fourth in total bases (233) when he earned the call-up...His 40 doubles puts him alone in second place on the single season all-time Hillcats list...He fell one short of tying the single season record (Ray Navarrette, 2002) and five short of tying the all-time Lynchburg record (45, Scott Cooper, 1988)...
HOTCHKISS'D BY A ROSE: RHP Jordan Hotchkiss was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Year Thursday...The right-hander was 10-4 with a 2.30 ERA in 31 games (15 starts)...He was first in the league in ERA, tied for second in wins, tied for first in WHIP (1.03), third in opponents batting average (.211) and he was tops in the league in winning percentage (.714)...Hotchkiss is also leading the Reds minor league organization in ERA and is tied for second in wins...The award marked the third time in in team history a Hillcat has won the Pitcher of the Year honor...The other two were LHP Sean Burnett in 2002 and LHP Zach Duke in 2004...Hotchkiss was also named by the Hillcats as the Pitcher of the Year for the team...
FALL BALL: The Cincinnati Reds announced their representatives for the prestigious Arizona Fall League and the list includes four former Hillcats from 2010...C Devin Mesoraco, OF Dave Sappelt, LHP Jeremy Horst and RHP James Avery will play for the Peoria Saguaros this fall...Three former Hillcats in the Pirates organization will also play in the Fall League, for the Mesa Solar Sox...Pittsburgh's 2009 first-round draft pick (fourth overall) C Tony Sanchez will play with former Cats UTIL Josh Harrison and INF Jordy Mercer...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Paul Clemens was drafted by the Braves in the seventh round of the 2008 draft out of Louisburg (N.C.) JC...He made his professional debut in 2008 with the GCL Braves and went 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in one game...With Danville that same season he was 3-3 with a 3.39 ERA and one save in 12 games (eight starts)...He finished the season by making one start with Low-A Rome where he lost that outing...Last season he spent the entire year with the R-Braves and had a 6-5 mark with three saves in 26 games (11 starts)...This season he returned to Rome and went 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA in eight relief appearances before getting promoted to Myrtle Beach...With the Pelicans he has gone 0-3 with a 3.49 ERA and two saves in 26 games (seven starts)...He has pitched three times (one start) against Lynchburg and has not recorded a decision with a 2.08 ERA (two earned runs in eight and 2/3 innings)...
Carolina League Stories from September 4, 2010
- K-Tribe Splits Double Dip - Kinston Indians
- One Up, One Down in Salem - Winston-Salem Dash
- Hillcats basher belts two homers, knocks in four to hand Pelicans 4-3 loss - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Rocks Win, But Suffer Elimination - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Superb Soto Slams Cats To Victory - Hill City Howlers
- Blue Rocks Take Opener But Are Eliminated - Frederick Keys
- Sox and Dash Split a Pair - Salem RidgeYaks
- Potomac Takes Game One from K-Tribe - Kinston Indians
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Hill City Howlers
- K-Tribe Playoff Tickets on Sale Tuesday - Kinston Indians
- K-Tribe Game Notes - Kinston Indians
- Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes - Winston-Salem Dash
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