CarL1 Hill City Howlers

Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes

Published on May 16, 2013 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release


LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (21-16) vs. FREDERICK KEYS (20-18)

May 16th, 2013 -- 6:05 PM

Calvin Falwell Field at Lynchburg City Stadium

RHP James Hoyt (2-1, 3.64) vs. LHP Tim Berry (2-2, 2.95)

THE HILLCATS: Beat the Frederick Keys 3-2 with a walk-off home run from DH Kyle Kubitza in the bottom of the ninth...The Hillcats trailed most of the game after giving up two runs in the top of the second inning...Kubitza drove in Lynchburg's first run in the bottom of the second with an RBI-single, but the 'Cats were down 2-1 until the eighth, when CF Matt Lipka doubled in a run to tie the score 2-2...Then, a solo Kubitza blast ended the game in the ninth...RHP A.J. Holland turned in his third quality start (6ip, 3h, 2er, 5bb,3k) but took a no-decision...The Hillcats remain in first place and dropped the Keys to third...

VS. FREDERICK: The Hillcats are 2-3 against the Keys this season, losing their first series on the road in Frederick April 15-17...Lynchburg lost the first two, but avoided the sweep with a 7-1 win in the finale...Tonight the 'Cats have the chance to take the second series...Frederick or Lynchburg have been in first place since the start of the season...

ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS TURN LEFT: Three left turns and oh ya, a solo blast to right field from 3B Kyle Kubitza last night won the game for the Hillcats...It was the second walk-off of the season for the Hillcats, but first walk-off hit...The first walk-off win came on May 4th when OF David Rohm scored on a wild pitch to beat the Wilmington Blue Rocks 3-2...Last season, the Hillcats had seven walk-off wins, two of which came from home runs...

DOWN, NOT OUT: Trailing 2-1 heading to the eighth the Hillcats came away with a 3-2 win last night...It was the Hillcats' league-best third win when trailing after seven innings this year...making the walk-off victory all that much sweeter...Three of the seven walk-offs from last season were comeback wins after trailing in the seventh or later...

WHEN IT COULD GO EITHER WAY: With a 3-2 win last night, the Hillcats are now 5-4 in one-run ball games this season...The Hillcats have now won three games in scoring the game-winner in their final at-bats, two walk-offs and another game-winner in the bottom of the eighth at home (not batting in the ninth...All three finals have been 3-2...The Hillcats have played five games (4-1) with a 3-2 final score, making it the most frequent final line in the first 37 games...The only other score that has come up more than twice is 6-4......

PACHECO PUNCH OUTS: LHP Ronan Pacheco sat down eight straight batters last night tossing a perfect 2.2 innings of relief while striking out five...He has now struck five in each of his last two outings, his season-high...He has now fanned 21 batters in 19 innings, including 10 over his last 6.2 frames...Last night's appearance also extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to five, which is the longest active streak on the team...Pacheco began his career as a starter before getting moved to the bullpen last season...In addition the role change, this offseason he became a side-armer...Lefties are 0-for-25 against him this season, and overall he is 1-1 with a 1.89 ERA...

FROM WALKS TO WALK-OFF: 3B Kyle Kubitza hit his first home run of the season last night, coming through with the team's first walk-off hit...He went 2-for-4 with the blast and an RBI-single, driving in two runs...Coming into the game, he had not driven in a single run in his previous 10 May games...It took him until his eighth May game to record his first hit of the month...He entered last night's game batting just .040 (1-for-25) but had an on-base percentage of .353 in May, walking 12 times in 10 games...The home run was his first since July 4, 2012 with Low-A Rome...He hit nine bombs by July 4 last year, before going 82 games and 284 at-bats without another until last night...

STREAKING QUIETLY: OF David Rohm extended his current hitting streak to a team-best nine games last night going 1-for-4...It's his eighth straight one-hit game, after beginning the streak with a three-hit effort...He is batting .297 during the hot stretch, and has seen his average dip from .344 after the three-hit game to .320...He has the longest active streak in the league, two game shy of the league record (11) set by both Salem's Garin Ceccini and Winston-Salem's Mark Haddow...Rohm currently ranks fifth in the league in batting,and is tied for second in doubles (13)...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: LHP Tim Berry was selected in the 50th round by the Orioles in the 2009 draft out of San Marcos High School (CA)...He was committed to play at the University of Oregon...He underwent Tommy John surgery his senior year...He didn't appear in a professional game until June 22, 2010 with the Gulf Coast League Orioles...Completed 20 innings that summer...Went 0-1, with a 1.35 ERA, never throwing more than three innings in an appearance...Spent 2011 with Low-A Delmarva (3-7, 5.17)...Returned in 2012, but saw a promotion to Frederick and to Double-A Bowie last year...Went 5-5, with 4.32 ERA for the Keys in 15 appearance, 13 starts...Was ranked the 20th-best prospect in the system in 2012, and moved up to 11th this season...Throws three pitches, with a fastball in the low to mid 90s...Pitched against Lynchburg once last season, in relief (3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K)...This season, he faced the 'Cats April 17...He gave up four runs on four hits including a home run to OF Will Skinner and lost, but he also struck out 11, which is still the most by a starter against the Hillcats this season...

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