Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
Published on May 7, 2013 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (16-12) vs. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (17-13)
May 7th, 2013 -- 7:05 PM
Ticketreturn.com Field
RHP Greg Ross (0-0, -) vs. RHP Alec Asher (2-2, 3.58)
THE HILLCATS: Beat the Wilmington Blue Rocks 9-4 Sunday afternoon in Lynchburg, and took the weekend series 2-1...The game saw three four-run rallies, first from the Hillcats in the first inning, then the Blue Rocks in the second...Tied 4-4 in the sixth, the 'Cats chased Blue Rock starter LHP John Lamb from the game with another four-run surge...Lamb didn't get an out in the sixth frame...OFs Matt Lipka and David Rohm led the Hillcat offense each with three hits...Lipka hit a home run and a pair of doubles, while Rohm was just a homer shy of the cycle...The Hilllcats remained in first place with the win, but fell behind by a half game as the Frederick Keys won last night during the Hillcats off-day to take a half game lead...
VS. MYRTLE BEACH: The Hillcats are 2-1 against the Pelicans, winning the first series in Lynchburg in April...The first series was dominated by pitching as the Hillcats hit just .209 and the Pelicans posted a .170 clip...The Pelicans only managed to score four runs, only one of which was off the bullpen...Meanwhile the 'Cats plated 12 runs, and again just one off relievers...Both teams were shutout once in the series, and both teams committed three errors, although all Pelican runs were earned...Three Hillcats runs were unearned...
TAKE DOWN THE LIGHTS: Lynchburg had two very slow nights at the plate Friday and Saturday over the weekend, batting just .111 (6-for-54), and scoring just three runs, two of which were unearned...Then, playing in the daylight Sunday afternoon, the 'Cats racked up 13 hits, more than doubling the weekend total...They scored nine runs and improved to 5-1 in day games this year...Their only daytime loss, was a 1-0 blanking at home against the Salem Red Sox April 21...Overall, Lynchburg is batting .261 during the day versus .242 at night, but if you take out their loss to Salem (1-for-28), they are hitting .298 in their five day wins...
MILLER TIME, GOOD CALL: RHP Jarett Miller was starting in Spring Training, but began the 2013 season in the bullpen...He assumed a starting role due to the slow start from RHP Mark Pope, who was 0-1 with an 11.81 ERA through three starts...Since assuming a starting role, Miller is 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA, which spiked Sunday from 1.80 after a four-run second inning...Miller settled in nicely though, and made it through six innings without allowing another score...His overall 2.77 ERA is 12th in the Carolina League right now...He's gone at least five innings in each of his first three starts...
STELLA: 2B Tommy La Stella has been called up to Double-A Mississippi after hitting .550 through seven games with the Hillcats this season...He missed nearly all of Spring Training and almost the entire first month of the season before getting activated from disabled list Monday April 29...He went 0-for-2 with two walks in his first game, but put together a six-game hitting streak after that (along with six more walks and a hit by pitch)...He collected a pair of three-hit games last week...Only three other Hillcats can make the same claim for the entire season...OF David Rohm lead the the team with three games with three hits or more...And only four Hillcats have drawn more than eight walks on the season, like La Stella did in just a week...
TRUSTED HANDS: Lynchburg recorded a third consecutive error-free game Sunday...It is the first string of three games without a miscue on the season for the 'Cats...Prior to this stretch the Hillcats had led the league in errors ever since committing five on Opening Day...Now the Keys and Blue Rocks have more errors than the Hillcats...Lynchburg has recorded five error-less contests in their last seven games...
LIPKA BACK LEADING OFF: OF Matt Lipka returned to the leadoff spot for the first time since April 23 Sunday...He moved down in the order on April 25 and hit for the cycle from the seven slot...ON his first day back in the leadoff role, he had a similarly successful day, going 3-for-5 with a home run, two doubles, two RBI, and two runs scored...He was hitting just .174 in the top spot prior to Sunday, but batted .323 (10-for-31) in nine games batting seventh or sixth...The night he hit for the cycle was the first night he had started in a spot lower than second in the lineup...He has eight hits in his last six games, and has scored seven runs...With three extra-base hits Sunday, his season total is now 14 through 27 games, after tallying just eight in 51 games a year ago...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Alec Asher was drafted out of Polk State College, a junior college in Winter Haven, FL, in the fourth round of the 2012 draft...The 21-year-old Lakeland, FL native spent 2012 with Spokane of the short-season Class-A Northwest League...Pitched in 20 games, all in relief...Went 2-3 with a 3.09 ERA while striking out 50 hitters in 35.0 innings... Allowed 12 total earned runs with nine of them coming in two combined appearances...Was a starter at Polk State, going 13-1 with a 1.38 ERA...Set a school record for wins in a season...Struck out 17 batters in a single start, and 108 batter total...Had Tommy John surgery at the age of 14... Drafted by San Francisco in 2011 and agreed to terms but failed physical with a bone spur in his throwing elbow... Hard thrower with a fastball that consistently reaches mid-90s... Mentioned as one of Baseball America's top fastballs in the Rangers' 2012 draft...Made his first professional start against the Hillcats in Lynchburg April 9...He gave up four runs, three earned, on six hits in 2.2 innings...Has allowed just six runs, five earned, in his four starts since, going at least six innings in each appearance...
Carolina League Stories from May 7, 2013
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- Salem Red Sox Game Notes - Salem RidgeYaks
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