Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
Published on September 5, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (31-35, 60-76) @ MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (31-37, 57-81)
September 5th, 2010 -- 6:05 PM
@ BB&T Coastal Field
RHP Pedro Villarreal (0-2, 5.40) vs. LHP Brett Oberholtzer (5-6, 4.49)
THE HILLCATS: Last night Lynchburg edged Myrtle Beach 4-3 in the series opener of their three-game series at BB&T Coastal Field...Tonight the Hillcats play the middle game of the set with the Pelicans and the sixth contest of a seven-game road trip that will round out the 2010 season...
VS. MYRTLE BEACH: Lynchburg is 10-8 against Myrtle Beach this season and 5-3 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 123-106...
PRIDE ON THE LINE: The Hillcats were eliminated from playoff contention Thursday with their 11-0 loss to the Dash, but with their win last night Lynchburg has avoided the possibility of finishing with the worst record in the Carolina League...With a three game sweep of the Cats, Myrtle Beach could have moved into seventh place in the CL composite standings...
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 very close, with Lynchburg holding the 10-8 edge in the win column, but Myrtle Beach has an 82-79 advantage in overall runs scored in the series...Out of the 18 games, seven have been one-run contests (5-2, LYN) and 13 have been decided by three runs or less (7-6, LYN)...With a series victory in this set, Kelly has a chance to beat out Wheeler again 31 years later...
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...
SLAMMIN' SOTO: UTIL Neftali Soto went 3-for-4 with a double, two home runs, four RBI and two runs scored last night...He is the only Hillcat this season to have a multi-homer game and now he has done it twice...The former third round draft pick drove-in all four of the Cats runs last night and matched the most RBI in a game by a Cat this season...Soto has now homered three times in the last two games and knocked 21 dingers on the season, a career high...His 21 homers also leads the team, is third in the Carolina League and is third in the Reds minor league system...
TOP SHELF: UTIL Cody Puckett was promoted to Double-A Carolina Friday...He was named the Hillcats Most Valuable Player and the Most Popular Player by the team last weekend at City Stadium...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: LHP Brett Oberholtzer was selected by the Braves in the eighth round of the 2008 draft out of high school in New Castle, Delaware...That same year he made his professional debut with GCL Braves and went 4-1 with a 2.89 ERA in 10 relief appearances...Last season pitched for Rookie Danville and had a 7-2 mark with a 1.89 ERA in 13 starts (two complete games)...This season he began the season with Low-A Rome and went 0-2 with a 1.96 ERA in four starts before he progressed to Advanced-A Myrtle Beach...With the Pelicans he has gone 5-6 with a 4.49 ERA and two saves in 21 games (17 starts)...Oberholtzer has pitched three times (two starts) against Lynchburg and is 1-1 with a 7.15 ERA (nine earned runs in 11 and 1/3 innings)...The lefty began the season as the 13th ranked prospect in the Atlanta Braves system according to Baseball America...
Carolina League Stories from September 5, 2010
- Oberholtzer Outstanding as Pelicans Cruise - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Oberholtzer and Birds Best Cats to Even Series - Hill City Howlers
- Sox Bats Erupt in Doubleheader Sweep of Dash - Salem RidgeYaks
- Win Streak Snapped as Sox Sweep Twin Bill - Winston-Salem Dash
- Frost Proves Triple Threat in Dramatic Win - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Keys Rally Falls Short in 7-6 Defeat - Frederick Keys
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Hill City Howlers
- P-Nats Get No-Hit by Kinston - Potomac Nationals
- Indians No-Hit Potomac in 1-0 Win - Kinston Indians
- Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes - Winston-Salem Dash
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