CarL1 Hill City Howlers

Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes

Published on July 16, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release


LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (52-41, 13-10) vs POTOMAC NATIONALS (41-52, 10-13)

July 16th, 2012 -- 7:05 PM

Pfitzner Stadium

RHP Nathan Karns (4-2, 2.43) vs RHP Aaron Northcraft (8-5, 3.45)

THE HILLCATS: The Hillcats were off yesterday...They beat the Salem Red Sox 1-0 last time out on Saturday night...RHP J.R. Graham (9-1) tossed five scoreless innings...He gave up four hits and walked one while fanning six on his way to the win...A trio of relievers comlpeted the shutout of the Red Sox, tossing nine scoreless and striking out 13 as a staff...2B Emerson Landoni drove in the games only run with a sacrifice fly in the second inning...The Hillcats are now 13-10 in the second half and in first place in the Northern Division...

VS. POTOMAC: Lynchburg is 7-5 against the Nationals this year...The home team is 9-3 so far in the season series...Most recently the Hillcats were swept in three games at Pfitzner Stadium June 1-3 in the middle of their season-worst eight-game losing streak...

SHUTOUT THE SOX: The Hillcats recorded their eighth shutout of the season Saturday night, beating Salem 1-0...It was the second straight night the 'Cats blanked the Sox 1-0 at City Stadium...The Red Sox entered Friday's game as the top hitting team in the league, but were held to just eight hits and shutout for the sixth and seventh times this year on consecutive nights...Hillcats pitchers also struck out 27 Red Sox batters in those two games...The Hillcats have now held the Sox scoreless three times...

MARVELOUS MARTIN: RHP Cody Martin (10-6) threw his first career complete game shutout Friday night, striking out a career-high 14 batters...Shattered his previous best of eight strikeouts, and he went nine innings for the first time, after never going past seven before...Today was honored as the Carolina League Pitcher or the Week for the second straight week and for the third time overall this season...Only one other nine-inning complete game shutout has been thrown this season in the Carolina League...RHP Matt Heidenreich threw it for Winston-Salem on June 25 (also against Salem) and has since been promoted to Double-A...Martin lowered his ERA from 3.13 to 2.80, which now ranks third in the circuit...Also ranks first in wins (10), second in strikeouts (101), and tied for third in average against (.229)...

PICK YOUR POISON: Each member of the Hillcats' current five-man rotation ranks in the top 10 in ERA in the league...RHP J.R. Graham (9-1) ranks highest (2nd, 2.63), while LHP Dimasther Delgado (5-4) is 10th (3.62)...The quintet is 41-20 this season, getting credit for nearly 80 percent of the team's 52 wins...Only five pitchers have eight wins in the Carolina League and four don Hillcats uniforms...RHP Aaron Northcraft (8-5) also leads the league in strikeouts (103)...RHP Gus Schlosser (9-4) is second in innings pitched (112.1)...

WEAVER SEEING RED: INF/OF Matt Weaver went 2-for-4 with a home run Thursday...He now has nine homers in just 167 at-bats...Has a home run for every 18.56 at-bats this season, which would be the second-best rate in the league behind Frederick's 1B Aaron Baker (15.50 AB/HR), but Weaver does not have enough plate appearances to qualify...He is batting just .234 on the season...

KNOCK AROUND GUY: 1B Chris Garcia went 1-for-3 Friday night with an RBI-single, driving in the eventual game-winning run in the third inning...Thursday night, he drove in a season-high four runs, which also matched his career-high, which he has done five times...He is hitting .310 (13-for-42) through 13 July games, and already has 11 RBI...This, after hitting just .229 with four RBI in June...His best power numbers came in May (3 HR, 20 RBI, 29 games)...On pace to beat those totals (2 HR, 11 RBI, 13 games)...

COME AND GET IT: SS Nick Ahmed went 1-for-4 Saturday night and now has a hit in 10 of his last 11 games...He did not score a run in the 1-0 win but has scored six times in his last six games...He is the Hillcats leading table-setter with 58 runs scored, which is tied for the second-best total in the Carolina League...He has also swiped his league-best 26th stolen base Saturday night...Hitting .302 (16-for-53) in his last 11 games...Has six doubles during that stretch, and 27 total on the year, tied with Salem 1B Travis Shaw for the league-lead...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Nathan Karns was selected in the 12th round of the 2009 first-year player draft by the Washington Nationals out of Texas Tech University...Previously selected by the Houston Astros in the 10th round in 2006 out of James W. Martin HS in Arlington, TX but did not sign...All-county linebacker in high school...Attended Nort Carolina State University before transferring to Texas Tech...Signed late in 2009, and missed 2010 due to a shoulder injury...2011, went 3-2 with a 2.28 ERA in 13 starts in his professional debut season between the rookie-level GCL Nationals and short-season Auburn (NYPL)...Started 2012 with Low-A Hagerstown...Went 3-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 11 appearances, 5 starts...Went 2-for-2 in save chances, and also threw a seven-inning complete game, striking out 10 May 26...Promoted to Potomac in June...Made his Advanced-A debut June 5...Currently 4-2 with a 2.43 ERA through seven starts...Has struck out 53 in 40.2 innings...Named Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for June 11-17 after striking out 10 over six and two-thirds scoreless innings in Myrtle Beach...Tonight is his first start against the Hillcats...

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Carolina League Stories from July 16, 2012


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