CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes

Published on September 2, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


POTOMAC NATIONALS (37-28, 66-68) vs LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (28-36, 58-76)

September 2nd, 2011 -- 7:05 PM

Calvin Falwell Field at Lynchburg City Stadium

LHP Sammy Solis (5-2, 2.92) vs. RHP Caleb Brewer (1-1, 5.28)

THE HILLCATS: Thursday, the 'Cats lost to the Potomac Nationals 5-1...Lynchburg was held scoreless through eight and two-thirds innings last night...C Shawn McGill finally broke up the shutout with a bases empty homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth...Potomac was in control from the start, scoring three runs in the first two frames...LHP Matt Crim lasted five and one-third innings, surrendered four earned runs and took his team-leading eighth loss of the season...The Hillcats are now 28-36 in the second half...They sit in third place in the Northern Division 9.0 games behind the Frederick Keys in first place...

VS. POTOMAC: The Hillcats are 10-9 against the Nationals this season...Tonight is the final game of the season series...The road team is14-5 on the season series...The home team has not won a series between the clubs in 2011, and will not since Potomac has already taken the first three in this four-game set...Last year, Potomac took the season series 11-8 from Lynchburg...The former Braves Advanced-A affiliate, Myrtle Beach Pelicans, fared even worse dropping 14 of 20 to the Nationals a season ago...

WAIT 'TIL NEXT YEAR: The Potomac Nationals clinched their spot in the playoffs Wednesday night with the win over Lynchburg...The Nationals are now one step closer to repeating as Mills Cup Champions...They will face the Frederick Keys in the Northern Divisional Series next week after the regular season closes on Monday...The Hillcats were officially eliminated from playoff contention as Potomac clinched Wednesday and will have to set their sights on next season...

FINISHING STRONG: Lynchburg finished the month of August with a 15-11 record, second-best in the league to Kinston's 16-12 mark...The pitching staff posted a league-best 3.38 ERA...The bats compiled a .278 batting average (3rd) and scored 136 runs (2nd), while hitting 16 home runs, 61 doubles, and seven triples...SS Andrelton Simmons had his best individual month, setting or matching season-bests in average (.324), home runs (1), RBI (14), doubles (11), triples (2), and steals (8)...

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE: C Christian Bethancourt, INF Phil Gosselin, and OF Todd Cunningham are set to play with the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League this year...Bethancourt is regarded by many as the top position player prospect in the Braves organization...He spent the first half with Low-A Rome where he hit .303 and threw out 32 percent of would-be base stealers...He's hitting .271 since joining Lynchburg and has thrown out 47 percent of those running against him...Cunningham and Gosselin have been with the Hillcats all season with the exception of time missed due to injury...They were both drafted last year and were rated as the closest to the majors by Baseball America in the Braves 2010 draft class...

YEAR-END ALL-STARS: SS Andrelton Simmons and 1B Joey Terdoslavich were named to the Carolina League year-end All-Star team today...Simmons leads the league in batting average (.303) and hits (152)...His 12.86 plate appearances per strikeout is a league-best mark as well...His 33 doubles rank second in the circuit to Terdoslavich's 50...Terdoslavich also ranks among the league leaders with 18 home runs (T-4th), 75 RBI (4th), 133 hits (T-4th), a .513 slugging percentage (2nd), 70 extra-base hits (1st), and 241 total bases (2nd)...

BEST OF THE BRAVOS: Eight members of the Hillcats are ranked amongst the top 30 prospects in the Atlanta Braves organization according to Baseball America...That list includes C Christian Bethancourt (12), 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)...

WICKED WILEY: OF Keenan Wiley went 2-for-4 last night...He's now hit safely in six of his last seven games and has multiple hits in four of those games...Hitting .323 (10-31) in that span...On the season, he's hitting .284, which is good for third best in the Carolina League...

HISTORY BOOKS STILL WAITING: INF Joey Terdoslavich hit his 50th double of the season August 25 and is one away from matching the all-time Carolina League single-season record...In his five games since his 50th, he is 5-for-21 with four singles and a home run...He's also struck out at least once in all five contests, eight times total...It's his longest consecutive streak with a strikeout since going six games May 12-17...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: LHP Sammy Solis was selected in the second round of the 2010 draft by the Nationals out of the University of San Diego...First team All-West Coast Conference...Was 9-2 with a 3.42 ERA in his final collegiate season...Made two short starts for Hagerstown in 2010 after signing, pitching a total of four scoreless innings...Enters 2011 as the sixth best prospect in the Nationals organization according to Baseball America...Started the season with Low-A Hagerstown...Went 2-1 with a 4.02 ERA in seven starts for Hagerstown...Missed the first two months of the season with a groin injury...Made his first start May 30...Got the call up to Potomac July 5...Pitched against Lynchburg on July 10, his second start in the Carolina League...Pitched seven shutout innings in win...Currently 5-2 with a 2.92 ERA...

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Carolina League Stories from September 2, 2011


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