Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
Published on June 12, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release
CAROLINA MUDCATS (30-33) @ LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (33-30)
June 12th, 2012 -- 6:05 PM
Calvin Falwell Field at Lynchburg City Stadium
RHP Will Roberts (3-2, 5.15) vs LHP Dimasther Delgado (4-2, 4.14)
RHP Michael Goodnight (2-6, 4.55) vs RHP J.R. Graham (7-1, 2.58)
THE HILLCATS: Last night, the Hillcats were rained out and will play a doubleheader tonight...Sunday, the 'Cats beat the Frederick Keys 5-0...RHP Gus Schlosser went eight innings scoreless, allowing just three hits, while striking out five on his way to his seventh win...SS Nick Ahmed and DH Adam Milligan both homered in the game...Lynchburg took three of five from the Keys over the weekend, after getting swept in a doubleheader Friday and sweeping a doubleheader Saturday...The Hillcats are now 33-30 and remain in first place in the Northern Division by four games with seven to play...
VS. CAROLINA: Lynchburg is just 2-6 against the Mudcats this season...They have played two four-game series and lost three out of four each time, once on the road and most recently at home...The Mudcats have outscored the Hillcats 44-34 this season...Only one game has been decided by more than three runs...
SEE YA IN WINSTON: The Carolina League announced their All-Star selections today...The Hillcats will have five representatives, RHP J.R. Graham, 1B Chris Garcia, 2B Tommy La Stella, SS Nick Ahmed, and C Braeden Schlehuber...Graham is tied for the league-lead in wins (7) and ranks third in ERA (2.58)...Garcia ranks sixth in the league in batting (.320), second in on-base percentage (.435) and second in walks (40)...La Stella is the only Hillcat in the starting lineup...He leads the Hillcats and all second baseman in RBI (36), also is tied for fifth most in the circuit...Ahmed leads the league in stolen bases (20) and leads all shortstops in chances, assists, putouts, and double plays...Schlehuber is hitting .305, which would rank ninth in the league, but he is 23 plate appearances short of qualifying...He also has a career-high six home runs already this season...
ABRA KADABRA: The Hillcats lead the second place Potomac Nationals by 4.5 games with just seven to play...Their magic number is three, but since they own the tie-breaker over Potomac, it is essentially two...The Hillcats have three games against the Carolina Mudcats at home this week followed by a four-game set over the weekend in Frederick against the Keys...
UNDER PRESSURE: Lynchburg lost a season-worst eight games in a row from May 29 - June 5...They watched a 4.5 game lead over the Wilmington Blue Rocks fall to just a half game...The Hillcats snapped the slump on June 6 in Myrtle Beach with an 8-1 victory and are 5-2 since...The team is hitting .297 in that seven-game stretch after hitting less than .170 during the eight-game slide... The 'Cats were limited to two runs or less in six of those eight games...
TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE: SS Nick Ahmed and OF Adam Milligan both hit solo homers Sunday against Frederick...Ahmed hit his fourth, and Milligan hit his third...It was the first time the Hillcats had mulitple home runs in a game since hitting a season-high three at home against Potomac on May 26...The 'Cats have hit 52 homers this season, which is second to Winston-Salem (56) in the league...The Hillcats have now hit 24 of their 52 long balls at home...OF David Rohm is the only player on the team with more than 10 games played without a home run...
JONES'N TO GET ON BASE: OF Mycal Jones went 1-for-2 with three walks Sunday in the leadoff spot, but did not score a run...It was the first time he'd reached base four times in one game with the Hillcats this year...He has now drawn five walks in his last three games while going 3-for-7 at the plate in the same stretch...His on -base percentage is .667 in those three games bringing his season clip from .294 to .331...
TEAM EDWARD: 3B Edward Salcedo went 1-for-4 with an RBI Sunday...Has now hit safely in six of his last seven with four multi-hit games...He is 11-for-22 (.500) in that span with two doubles, four RBI, and three runs scored...Prior to this hot streak, he was just 7-for-44 in his previous 13 games (one PH appearance)...His averaged dipped from .265 to .243 after that slump, but is now back to .268...
SCHLE' RIDE: C Braeden Schlehuber went 2-for-4 with a double Sunday...Has now hit safely in seven of his last eight games, he is 12-for-26 (.462) in the stretch with three doubles, a triple, a home run, five RBI, and five runs scored...Has raised his batting average 38 points, from .267 to .305 in that stretch...Has his season clip above .300 for the first time since April 25, when he was hitting .324, ten games into the season...The home run was his sixth of the year, which is a new single-season career-high, and the triple was just the second one of his five-year career...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Will Roberts was selected in the fifth round by the Indians in the 2011 draft out of the University of Virginia...Born in Salem, VA, he now resides in Richmond, VA...Was originally drafted in the 49th round by the Los Angeles Angels in 2008 out of high school but did not sign...Made his professional debut with Short-season Mahoning Valley (NYP) in 2011...Went 1-3 with a 3.27 ERA in nine games, eight starts...Struck out 29 in 41.1 innings, and walked only seven...Began 2012 with Low-A Lake County...Went 2-1 with a 2.90 ERA in five starts...Struck out just 13 and walked eight in 31 innings...Promoted to Carolina on May 4...He is 3-2 with a 5.15 ERA through seven starts with the Mudcats...Tonight will be his first start against the Hillcats...
GAME TWO OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Michael Goodnight was selected in the 13th round in 2010 out of the University of Houston...Went 0-2 with a 4.05 ERA in four starts with Short-season A Mahoning Valley in his rookie season...Moved up to Low-A Lake County in 2011...Went 5-12 with a 4.15 ERA in 27 starts...Named to the Midwest League All-Star Team...Finished third in batting average against (.219), third in starts (27), and 12th in strikeouts (117) in the league...Earned a call-up to Hi-A Kinston (2011 Hi-A Cleveland Affiliate)...Made one start against the Potomac Nationals...Went five and one-third innings, gave up one run, earned, on three hits and struck out six en route to the win...Also hit two batters...This season he is 2-6 with a 4.55 ERA through 12 appearances, 11 starts...Has struck out 43 and walked 29 in 61.1 innings...His seven wild pitches are one shy of the most in the league...At Houston, named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team in 2009, after going 5-5, with a 4.43 ERA and striking out 58 in 65 innings...
Carolina League Stories from June 12, 2012
- Elements Can't Stop Hillcats in Divison Quest - Hill City Howlers
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- Buckel Remains Unsolved Puzzle - Frederick Keys
- Dash Game Suspended Tuesday Night - Winston-Salem Dash
- Rain Suspends P-Nats and Dash in Fourth - Potomac Nationals
- Rocks and Sox Washed Out - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Tuesday's Salem-Wilmington Game Postponed - Salem RidgeYaks
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Hill City Howlers
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