CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Salem Clicks in Sweep of Hillcats

Published on May 30, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


Lynchburg, VA- It was double dose of disappoint as the 'Cats were handled by the Red Sox in each game of the doubleheader. Game one went the way of Salem by a score of 6-3. Game two wasn't as pretty, Lynchburg dropped the game 7-1 with the sole run coming in the ninth. Michael Almanzar and Xander Bogaerts highlighted game one. Drake Britton and Travis Shaw were game two's standouts.

Game one of the doubleheader got started with a rousing start for the hometown Hillcats. With Mycal Jones at second base, Tommy La Stella hit a soft dribbler with one out to the first baseman, Travis Shaw. Covering first was starter, Matt Barnes who took a flip play at first to win the foot race. Jones broke for home with Barnes back to first and beat a throw that ended up sailing over Christian Vazquez's head behind the dish.

Salem came back with authority in the top of the third with back-to-back two RBI doubles off of Aaron Northcraft. Michael Almanzar gave a pitch a ride off of the left-center field wall to score Matt Marquis and Matty Johnson to give the Sox a 2-1 lead. Xander Bogaerts hit a mistake pitch down the left field line off Northcraft that scored Shaw and Almanzar to extend the lead to 4-1.

The Red Sox would add another in the top of the fourth. Sean Coyle started the inning off with a double, headed home on a Marquis single to make it 5-1.

Lynchburg answered back in the bottom half of the frame. Braeden Schlehuber was at second thanks to a single and Barnes' first ever wild pitch. La Stella hit a flair to shallow center that was relayed home by Jackie Bradley Jr. in center. Schlehuber would beat the throw by a step or two on a throw that skipped in front of the plate. The score was cut to 5-2, but not for long.

The top of the fifth would be the last time the Sox would add a run. Almanzar got to second after a single and ground out from Bogaerts. It would be Vazquez turn to come through in the clutch, this time with a single that scored Almanzar on a semi-close play at the plate.

A leadoff double nearly went to waste from Edward Salcedo. However, with two outs, Matt Weaver worked a walk and Schlehuber added his second of the day. This hit would score Salcedo to cut the lead to 6-3. However, that's where scoring would end after a dominate performance by Ruben Flores.

Ruben Flores (1-0) picks up the win after three perfect innings that saw him fan five. The loss goes on Aaron Northcraft's record(4-4). The righty was roughed up for six earned in 5.0 innings. Northcraft also allowed eight hits with walking two and striking out seven.

The second game started off about as poorly as it could for Ronan Pacheco during his spot start. An error on Nick Ahmed led to Sean Coyle being aboard, however, it wouldn't matter how Coyle was on as Travis Shaw hit the longest homerun that City Stadium has seen this year--maybe ever - to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Drew Hedman missed a two-run blast of his own by just inches two batters later. A fastball was crushed off the center field wall past a leaping Mycal Jones, rounding the bases was Michael Almanzar to extend the lead to 3-0, and Hedman cruised to third with a triple. The next hitter was Blair Carson who got on the board with his first hit of the day with a liner to the outfield. Hedman jogged home and the score was 4-0. After another single and strikeout, Felix Sanchez joined the hit parade with a RBI single scoring Blair for the fifth run of the inning.

The day for Shaw just kept getting better. The top of the second started with his second bomb in as many at-bats.

Drake Britton, starter for the Red Sox, would cruise through his six innings of work, keeping the Hillcats guessing in the batter's box. Pacheco would be replaced after two and Blaine Sims would steady the ship for his four innings of work.

In the top of the seventh, Caleb Brewer entered for the 'Cats. Again, it was Shaw it was in on the offensive action. This time we worked a walk and had his teammates push him along the bases until Blair was able to get him home on a sac fly to make it 7-0.

The 'Cats would need the assistance of an Coyle error to get their lone run of the game to avoid the a "zero" in the run column.

Drake Britton's solid start moves his record to 3-5. He went 6.0 strong innings on five scattered hits andsat down seven.Ronan Pacheco (0-4) gets a loss for his efforts. It was a tough2.0 innings for the lefty. He allowed eight hits, which led to six runs, four were earned. Pacheco also walked two and struck out four.

The finale with the Salem Red Sox is scheduled for tomorrow at 6:05 pm. The stadium gates will open at 5:00 pm. Gus Schlosser (6-2, 3.78) will look for his league leading seventh victory. RightyBrandon Workman(2-2, 6.69) will take the mound for Salem. If you can't make it to the field, tune in and listen live to all the action on 105.5 FM KD Country and online at lynchburg-hillcats.com starting with the Hillcats On-Deck Show coming on the air at 5:40pm with Erik Wilson and Mike Viso.

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Carolina League Stories from May 30, 2012


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