Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
Published on April 8, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
POTOMAC NATIONALS (0-2) @ LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (2-0)
April 8th, 2012 -- 2:05 PM
Calvin Falwell Field at Lynchburg City Stadium
RHP Adam Olbrychowski (0-0, -) vs. RHP J.R. Graham (0-0, -)
THE HILLCATS: Last night, the Hillcats defeated the Potomac Nationals 7-2 to improve to 2-0 on the season...Hillcats starter, LHP Ronan Pacheco, pitched four scoreless innings but didn't factor into the decision...RHP Cody Martin (1-0) tossed a perfect fifth frame and earned his first win....OF Robby Hefflinger hit an opposite field blast in the second inning...It was his second home run in as many nights...LHP Bobby Hansen (0-1) only lasted two innings in his first start for Potomac and suffered the loss...Surrendered four runs, three earned, on five hits and two walks...Today, the Hillcats have a chance to sweep the opening series over Potomac...
VS. POTOMAC: The Hillcats are now 2-0 against the Nationals this season...Went 9-11 against the Nationals in 2011 and 2-8 at City Stadium...The opening two-game winning streak at home already matches the amount of home wins against Potomac the Hillcats had a year ago...Lynchburg holds the all-time advantage 173-157...Each team swept a four games series against the other on the road last season...
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Lynchburg won it's first game of the season in 2011, a 7-6 extra inning victory over the Nationals in Potomac, but went on to lose their next 10 in a row...Their excruciating slide finally came to an end on the road in Frederick...The 'Cats didn't win a home game until April 26, after losing their first six contests at Calvin Falwell Field....This year they've won their first two games at home, reaching the two win mark a whole 10 games sooner than they did a year ago...
LOSING MORE THAN JUST THE GAME: The sixth overall pick from last year's draft, 3B Anthony Rendon, exited last night's game in the top of the fourth inning after he appeared to injure his ankle rounding third base trying to score on a base hit to center field...Rendon collapsed in the baseline and did not attempt to crawl back to third...After he was eventually tagged out, he was helped back to the locker room by a pair of trainers...No official word has been released to the details or severity of the injury...Rendon signed a $7.2 million dollar contract just before the 2011 deadline and last night was just his second regular season professional game...Went 2-for-4 with a double, triple, and a run scored in his his first two games...
FAMILIAR LEADERS: For the first time in Hillcats history the team will return all members of the coaching staff...Manager Luis Salazar, Pitching Coach Derek Botelho, and Hitting Coach Bobby Moore are all back for a second season in the "Hill City"...Ty Cobbs (no relation) will also return as the team's Athletic Trainer...The only new face on the staff side of the clubhouse will be strength coach Jason Curry, who is in his first year with the Braves Organization...
WHO ELSE IS BACK?: Nine players on the Hillcats Opening Day roster spent some part of the 2011 season with Lynchburg...RHP Andrew Wilson finished with a 2.70 ERA in Lynchburg last season in 36 appearances and earned a promotion to Double-A Mississippi towards the end of the year...OF Robby Hefflinger started 2011 in Lynchburg but was reassigned to Single-A Rome after hitting just .114 through 12 games and finished the season there...C Braeden Schlehuber is also back after bouncing between Lynchburg and Mississippi last year...He played 36 games with the 'Cats, hitting .248 with four home runs including a grand slam and saw 26 games with Mississippi, where he hit .233 with one home run...The rest of the returners are as follows: RHP Caleb Brewer, LHP Dimasther Delgado (DL), LHP Chad Rodgers (DL), LHP Blaine Sims, RHP Ryan Weber, and C Ryan Query...
HOW THE BRAVES STACK UP: The Atlanta Braves farm system was ranked 15th among Major League organizations by Baseball America this year...A pretty steep drop from their second overall ranking in 2011...A large reason for this is the youth movement at the Major League level...Five of their 2011 top ten prospects, Freddie Freeman (2), Randall Delgado (3), Mike Minor (4), Craig Kimbrel (5), Brandon Beachy (8), are currently on the Atlanta roster...Another, Arodys Vizcaino (7), who started 2011 with the Hillcats, would most likely be with Atlanta as well had he not needed season ending Tommy John surgery this spring...Two others, Brett Oberholtzer (9) and J.J. Hoover (10), have been traded...Oberholtzer was part of the package of minor league prospects traded to the Houston Astros for Michael Bourn last season, and Hoover was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds in a two-player deal for third baseman Jaun Francisco this spring...
PROSPECT WATCH: Once again, the Hillcats will start the season with eight of the top-30 Braves prospects...Second most of the Braves affiliates to Double-A Mississippi who have started the year with 10...3B/SS Edward Salcedo (6), RHP J.R. Graham (13), SS/2B/OF Matt Lipka (14), SS Nick Ahmed (15), LHP Dimasther Delgado (18), RHP Cody Martin (19), C Evan Gattis (27), and 2B Tommy La Stella (28) are the eight top-30 prospects on the Hillcats Opening Day roster...
BACK IN ACTION: RHP Juan Jamie made his first regular season appearance in over two years last night...Jamie inherited a runner with two outs in the top of the eighth with two outs...He walked his first batter but retired the next with a line out to center field to escape the inning without allowing a run to score...He came bac out in the ninth and sat down the side in order to finish the game...Jamie had not pitched since he was in Low-A Hagerstown in 2009, playing in the Nationals organization...He was listed on the Potomac roster in 2010 before needing Tommy John surgery in April, which put him on the shelf until last night...The Nationals placed Jamie on waivers in the fall of 2010 and the Arizona Diamondbacks claimed him...He never saw any action with the D-backs as he was released prior to the 2011 season...The Braves acquired Jamie in August of 2011...
SHOWING HE BELONGS: OF Robby Hefflinger began the 2011 season with Lynchburg, but hit only .114 with 19 strikeouts in 12 games...Was reassigned to Low-A Rome for the rest of the season...A year later and Hefflinger has a home run in each of his first two games with the Hillcats, although he has also struck out four times...Currently 3-for-7 with a double, two home runs, three RBI, and two runs scored...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Adam Olbrychowski was selected in the fifth round of the 2007 draft by the Yankees out of Pepperdine...Began his career as a starter, but was converted to a reliever going into the 2009 season...Made it as high as Double-A with the Yankees...Traded to the Nationals for outfielder Justin Maxwell in February, 2011...Went 5-7 with a 4.16 ERA in 31 appearances, 15 starts last season with Potomac...2-1 with a 3.63 ERA in five appearances, three starts against the Hillcats...He last pitched at Lynchburg City Stadium on August 31, 2011...He completed 7.1 innings allowing just one run, earned, on two hits and a walk, while striking out six on August 31 last year...
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