CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes

Published on July 7, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (8-9, 42-45) vs. CAROLINA MUDCATS (10-8, 39-46)

Monday, July 7, 2014 -- 7:05 PM

Calvin Falwell Field at City Stadium

RHP Cody Scarpetta (2-2, 2.86) vs. LHP Shawn Morimando (8-2, 2.93)

LAST TIME OUT: The Hillcats lost to the Frederick Keys 6-3 last night and lost the weekend series 2-1...RF Brenden Webb put the Keys on top 1-0 with a solo homer in the second inning, his eighth of the season...The Hillcats answered with two in the third...2B Eric Garcia knocked in a run with a groundout and DH David Nick singled home another to give the 'Cats a 2-1 lead...3B Kevin Ahrens followed with a solo homer, his fourth, in the fourth inning, but that was the last run for Lynchburg...RHP Lucas Sims was great through six innings...He had allowed just one run on five hits, but after retiring the first two batters of the seventh he loaded the bases with a walk, single, and a hit batter...DH Michael Burgess then came up and doubled home three runs giving the Keys a 4-3 lead...Sims (6-7) left the game and eventually took the loss...RHP David Peterson finished the seventh for Sims and pitched a perfect eighth but then gave up two runs in the ninth before LHP Ronan Pacheco came in to get the final two outs...The Hillcats fell to 8-9 in the second half and are still tied for second place in the Northern Division as Potomac and Wilmington both lost yesterday...

VS. CAROLINA: The Hillcats are 2-7 against the Mudcats this season...Carolina has swept the Hillcats twice this year, once May 5-7 in Lynchburg and again last week July 1-3 in Carolina...Lynchburg won the only other series 2-1 in Carolina May 12-14...The Mudcats offense has been incredible against Lynchburg batting .323 (104-for-322) while averaging almost eight runs per game...The Hillcats hold a 7.27 ERA in the season series...C Alex Monsalve terrorized the Hillcats last week going 7-for-12 with two doubles and seven RBIs...INF Eric Garcia has been especially successful against the Mudcats this season batting .300 (6-for-20) in six games with two doubles, a triple, seven RBIs, and six runs scored...

FIRST ROUND TALENT: 3B Kevin Ahrens went 3-for-4 last night lifting his batting average to a new season-high of .293...He hit his fourth home run of the season last night to the opposite field in right, his previous three had been to left...He's now on a three game hitting streak, 6-for-11, with a double, home run, an RBI, and two runs scored...He batted .402 in June and is now batting .333 in July...He has also dramatically improved his contact clip, striking out just nine times since the start of June over 29 games...He had struck out 39 times in April and May over 52 games...Ahrens is playing in his first season in the Braves farm system after seven years in the Blue Jays system after being drafted in the first round in 2007...

THE MAN THEY CALL "YAZ": OF Mike Yastrzemski, the grandson of Carl Yastrzemski, just earned a player of the week honor in the Carolina League thanks in part to his weekend in Lynchburg...He completed the first cycle in the CL since Hillcats OF Matt Lipka did it April 25, 2013 at BB&T Ballpark...Yastrzemski went 8-for-15 against the Hillcats with a home run, a triple, three doubles, six RBIs, and six runs scored helping the Keys win two of three games in Lynchburg...He is currently one of two players in all of Minor League Baseball to have 10 or more doubles (18), triples (11), home runs (11), and stolen bases (16), along with Cubs prospect 2B Arismendy Alcantara...

SERIES PLAY: They Hillcats have now lost three series in a row for the second time this season...They also lost four consecutive series from April 16-28...Their last two losses to Frederick mark the first time the Hillcats have lost consecutive games to a Northern Division team since that same stretch in April...The Potomac Nationals beat the Hillcats six consecutive times at the end of April as part of a 10-game losing streak...

CURSE OF BACK-TO-BACK NO-NOS: Since tossing consecutive no-hitters June 26 and 27, the Hillcats have allowed 73 runs over their last nine games on 105 hits...They have allowed at least nine hits in each game, with their opponents batting .325 (105-for-329) during this stretch...They've also issued 42 walks...The team is 2-7 in the last nine with an ERA over 7.00...Their season ERA is up to 4.64, only better than Potomac (4.70) amongst Carolina League clubs...

WILSON AT IT AGAIN: RHP Alex Wilson tossed 2.1 scoreless innings Friday night extending his scoreless innings streak to 11...It's his second double digit scoreless inning streak this season and the longest current streak for a Hillcat...He also has the longest streak of the season for any Hillcat when he tossed 15 consecutive scoreless frames from May 8 - June 7...He also earned his team-best eighth save of the season last night, which ranks tied four fourth in the league...In 23 appearances this season, he has allowed runs only five times, and is yet to blow a save...In 42 innings he has 41 strikeouts and just 12 walks...

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...Made 27 starts for the Mudcats last year, and went 8-13 with a 3.73 ERA and led the league in losses...Hasn't lost since May 8 when he gave up eight runs, six earned, in 1.1 innings at Salem...He is 5-0 over his last nine starts, which includes two wins against the Hillcats...Allowed just one runs in five innings last Tuesday and three runs in five innings back on May 13...His other seven starts in this nine-game stretch have been quality starts...

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Carolina League Stories from July 7, 2014


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