Weather Doesn't Stop Hillcats From Winning Two
April 27, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
Lynchburg, VA- The Lynchburg Hillcats battled through the elements for the better part of two days, but in the end it paid off, as they took two games from the Wilmington Blue Rocks, 3-2 and 5-2 Wednesday night.
The game that was suspended on Tuesday resumed Wednesday evening in the bottom of the third inning. Neither team would score for the first two frames of the day, but the Hillcats made their move in the bottom of the fourth.
Todd Cunningham led off the inning by reaching first on an error. He scored when the next batter, Adam Milligan, doubled to right-center. Two batters later, Joe Leonard drove Milligan home with a double. Andrelton Simmons followed Milligan with a single, moving Milligan to third. A curveball bounced off of Wilmington catcher Jose Bonilla's glove, which allowed Milligan to score, putting the Hillcats ahead 3-0.
Wilmington got a run back in the fifth. With runners on first and third, Deivy Batista lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Tim Ferguson from third, making the score 3-1.
In the top of the seventh, play was delayed again while Batista batted with two outs and an 0-2 count. After about an hour and a half delay, Andrew Wilson came into the game to relieve Willie Kempf. Wilson threw one pitch to strike Batista out and end the inning.
Both teams would exchange scoreless innings until the top of the ninth. Jason Lowey came in to close out the game, and gave up a first pitch home run to John Whittleman to cut the lead to 3-2. He was able to get through the rest of the inning unscathed, and the Hillcats won their first game at home.
Willie Kempf, who came in for relief to start the day, picked up the win to move to 1-1. Lowey earned his second save.
Wilmington jumped out to an early lead in the second game of the night. After receiving a walk, Whit Merrifield advanced to second on a balk, and over to third on a sacrifice bunt, before scoring on a groundout by Nick Francis.
Lynchburg took the lead in the bottom of the second. After two quick outs were recorded, the Hillcats got four straight hits. Leonard singled to right, and then scored as Simmons followed with a double. Simmons scored as the next batter, Matt Weaver, singled to give Lynchburg a 2-1 lead.
The Blue Rocks tied it up in the top of the third when Adam Frost reached base, and then stole second and third before scoring on a sacrifice fly. The Hillcats took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth. Joe Leonard walked, and Simmons came through again with a big hit, knocking a triple to right field to score Leonard.
Joey Terdoslavich added insurance runs in the fifth when he hit a two-run home run, his seventh of the season out to left field. Eliecer Cardenas pitched the last two innings to pick up his second save of the year.
Starter Chris Masters worked five innings to earn his second win, moving to 2-0 on the year. Justin Marks took the loss for Wilmington, and he is now 1-1.
The two wins move the Hillcats to 6-12 this season, while the Blue Rocks fell to 12-7. The series concludes at a special time Thursday morning, an 11:05 a.m. start. Lefty Matt Crim (1-1) is scheduled to make his second start of the year for the Hillcats, while the Blue Rocks will send righty Jake Odorizzi (0-0) to the mound.
If you can't make it to the game in person, the Hillcats On-Deck Show presented by Honda/Suzuki of Lynchburg will go on the air at 10:40 a.m. Tune in to WKDE AM 1000 or go to lynchburg-hillcats.com to listen live to all the action.
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