Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
Published on May 17, 2013 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (21-17) vs. CAROLINA MUDCATS (14-26)
May 17th, 2013 -- 6:05 PM
Calvin Falwell Field at Lynchburg City Stadium
RHP Greg Ross (1-0, 2.53) vs. LHP Shawn Morimando (1-5, 4.24)
THE HILLCATS: Lost to the Frederick Keys 11-7 last night and dropped the series 2-1...The Keys were able to score in every inning except the third and fourth...The Hillcats led 5-3 after the fourth frame, but the Keys scored three in the fifth and never trailed again...DH Robby Hefflinger hit a solo home run in the third, his ninth of the season, tying him for the league lead...Hefflinger finished the night with three hits and scored twice...CF Matt Lipka collected three hits as well and scored twice...The Hillcats remain in first place in the Northern Division at 21-17...
VS. CAROLINA: The Hillcats swept the Mudcats in Zebulon last weekend, and are 4-0 against them this season...Lynchburg dominated Carolina last week scoring 37 runs in four games...They batted .350, while the Mudcats batted .268 and scored 19 runs...The Mudcats committed seven errors but only three runs were unearned against them in the series...Last year, the Mudcats won six of the first eight meetings with the Hillcats, now Lynchburg has a chance to return the favor in 2013...
LOSING SOME BOUNCE: Losing the finale against the Keys last night, and the series 2-1, the Hillcats lost their first rubber match of the season...They are now 3-1 in such games...Overall in three-game sets, the 'Cats are 5-4, getting swept twice but never doing the sweeping...Their only series sweep of the season came in a four-game series last weekend against the Mudcats...
TREND GOING FOR THEM: Lynchburg is yet to allow a losing streak to extend from one series to another this season...Meaning, if they lose a finale, they win the opener of the next series every time...They are 4-0 in such situations...Their longest losing streak of the season is three games...It's happened twice, and both times were three games sweep at the expense of the 'Cats...
CARRY THE ONE: The Hillcats surrendered 11 runs last night, marking the fifth time this year they have given up a double-digit figure...They are now tied with Frederick and Salem for the most such games this season in the league...Lynchburg's ERA is last in the league at 4.41, while Frederick (4.05) and Salem (4.18) come in at fourth and fifth respectively...Lynchburg's ERA was 3.99 in April, but is currently 5.05 in May...They are still 8-7 in May thanks to the offense batting .271 and averaging 5.27 runs per game...The Hillcats have been outscored 88-79 in the first 15 games of May...
PACHECO PUNCH OUTS: LHP Ronan Pacheco sat down eight straight batters Wednesday 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...
MAY I START TO HIT NOW: OF Matt Lipka hit just .205 in April with a .260 on-base percentage...He is currently hitting .383 with a .456 OBP in May...He scored just eight runs in the 22 April games, and has now scored 17 times in his first 15 May games...He also has two home runs this month, as opposed to the one April long ball...Has lifted his season average 72 points to .277...Currently on a season-best six-game hitting streak, batting .500 (13-for-26) during the streak with three doubles, seven runs, and three RBI...Has a hit in 11 of his last 12 games and 13 of 15 in the month of May...
STREAKING QUIETLY: OF David Rohm extended his current hitting streak to a team-best 10 games last night going 1-for-4...It's his ninth straight one-hit game, after beginning the streak with a three-hit effort...He is batting .293 during the hot stretch, and has seen his average dip from .344 after the three-hit game to .318...He has the longest active streak in the league, one 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 the leader in doubles (14)...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: LHP Shawn Morimando was selected in the 19th round of the 2011 draft by the Indians out of Ocean Lakes High School (VA)...Born in Canandaigua, NY, but grew up in Virginia Beach where he still resides...Had committed to play at East Carolina University before deciding to accept a reported $350,000 signing bonus from the Indians...As a senior at Ocean Lakes, he set single-season records for strikeouts in a season (115) and in a game (15)...He also holds the school records for home runs (6) and RBI (31) in a season...Made his pro debut with the Rookie-level Arizona League Indians in 2011...Pitched in just three games (6ip, 5h, 3r, 2er, 2bb, 8k)...Spent 2012 with Low-A Lake County (7-6, 3.59)...Made 22 starts, one complete game...Struck out just 69 and walked 52 in 110.1 innings...This season, after allowing just four runs in his first four starts (20ip), he has surrendered 14 runs, 12 earned, in his last three starts (14ip)...Has suffered four straight losses...The Hillcats scored seven runs off him on seven hits last Sunday in Carolina...He still has 3.38 home ERA versus a 6.30 road ERA...
Carolina League Stories from May 17, 2013
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