Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
May 6, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (10-15) @ WINSTON-SALEM DASH (9-18)
May 6th, 2011 -- 7:00 PM
BB&T Ballpark
RHP Zeke Spruill (1-2, 2.25) vs. RHP Andre Rienzo (0-0, 2.36)
THE HILLCATS: Thursday the Hillcats beat the Winston-Salem Dash 3-1 in their series opener...The 'Cats are now 3-1 on their current road trip and 7-7 on the road overall this season...Lynchburg moved into third place in the Carolina League Northern Division with the win, now 10-15 and 5.5 games back of the first place Wilmington Blue Rocks...
VS. WINSTON-SALEM: The Hillcats won game one of the season series last night, 3-1...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...
OUT OF THE CELLAR: After last night's win the Hillcats moved a half game past the Potomac Nationals in to third place in the Carolina League Northern Division...Lynchburg had been in fourth place since April 13th (1-3)...Despite the overall slow start, the Hillcats currently boast the the best divisional record in the Carolina League Northern Division at 8-4, better than first place Wilmington (5-5), second place Frederick (3-5), and fourth place Potomac (3-5)...The 'Cats unfortunately are 2-11 against Southern Division opponents, with a win against the third place Kinston Indians and another against fourth place Winston-Salem...
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 9-5 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 28 earned runs over the past 14 games in 118.0 ip, good a 2.14 ERA in that span...The staff has climbed from eighth to fourth in the league in ERA during the 14-game stretch...The offense in the meantime has been averaging less than four runs per game in that span (3.93, 55 runs/14 games) but that includes a pair of nine-run efforts (4/21 @ FRE, 5/2 @ WIL) and last Tuesday night's 11-run display...Taking those three games out of the equation leaves the 'Cats scoring just 2.36 runs per game since snapping the losing skid, yet still above .500 at 6-5 in those 11 games...
ROCKIN' THE BLUE ROCKS: The Hillcats' bats came alive this week in Wilmington...In three games, the 'Cats scored 23 runs on 41 hits, the most runs and hits in a three game span by the Hillcats this season...Setting season highs was a regular occurrence...Lynchburg batted around the order, sending nine batters to the plate for the first time this season in the eighth inning Tuesday night...The inning resulted in season high marks of six runs and six hits, while tying a season high of two home runs in an inning...The 11 runs scored in the game surpassed the previous high of nine that was matched the night before...Monday's 16 hits for the 'Cats matched the season high mark set in Frederick on April 21st, the day the 10-game losing streak was snapped...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 last night...
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 13 of 14 games since...He has batted second (4), sixth (1), seventh (7), and ninth (2) in his past 14 games, batting .442 (23-for-52) with nine RBI, six runs scored and three stolen bases...He now leads the team in batting average at .344 and ranks fifth in the Carolina League overall...
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 37.5% of base stealers (9 of 24), which is good for fourth best in the league, and he has yet to allow a pass ball in 16 games this season...Lately, however, he has been pulling double duty, delivering on offense as well...Schlehuber has hit safely in five of his last six games...He is 9-for-20 in that span with two three-hit games...He has driven in two including the go-ahead run last night in Wilmington in the seventh inning and has scored three runs in those six games...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER : RHP Andre Rienzo was signed as a Minor League Free Agent out of Sao Paolo, Brazil, on November 17, 2006...Went 8-4 with a 3.65 ERA for Kannapolis in 2010...Had two complete game shutouts...Was ninth in strikeouts in the South Atlantic League with 125...Led all White Sox minor league pitchers in strikeouts...Currently 0-0 with a 2.36 ERA in 2011...
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Carolina League Stories from May 6, 2011
- Offensive Woes Continue In Walk-off Loss - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- C Brian Ward Drives in Game's Winning Run in the Bottom of the Ninth - Frederick Keys
- Erlin's Effort Wasted In 2-1 Friday Loss - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Three Runs in the Final Three Innings Not Enough For 'Cats - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Salem Outduels Myrtle 2-1 - Salem Red Sox
- Mitchell Blast Leads Dash to Win - Winston-Salem Dash
- K-Tribe Game Postponed, Saturday Double Header - Kinston Indians
- P-Nats Rained out in Kinston - Potomac Nationals
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Pelicans Game Notes - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes - Winston-Salem Dash
- Salazar Story Hits ESPN Airwaves - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Third Loss In Four Games Slims Division Lead To 3.0 Games - Wilmington Blue Rocks
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