P-Nats roll in Lynchburg
The Potomac Nationals continued their winning ways on Thursday in Lynchburg. Led by an outstanding start by Paul Demny, the P-Nats surged to an early lead and never looked back, taking their third straight game over the Hillcats. With the win and Frederick’s loss in Kinston, the Nationals move within half a game of the Keys for the second half title in the Northern Division.
Destin Hood drove in Cutter Dykstra in the top of the first inning to stake the Nationals to a lead they would never relinquish. Dykstra singled to open the game, and in the same stadium where his father stole 103 bases in 1983, swiped a pair of bases to move to third base with one out before Hood knocked him in.
Demny encountered his only difficulty in the first. A pair of softly hit infield singles opened the inning against the righthander. But a made-to-order double play helped Demny escape unscathed. From there, he locked in and dominated. Over the next six innings, he allowed just three more hits, all of which were ground balls and only one of which left the infield. Demny struck out six and walked one to earn his tenth win.
Zach Walters continued his offensive surge with a double to lead off the second inning. Walters, who had three hits on the evening, scored the first of his two runs when Sean Nicol singled to left with two outs. Eury Perez then laced a single to center to push Potomac in front 3-0.
Potomac added single runs in the sixth and eighth innings. In the sixth, Brian Peacock singled and stole second base. He scored on Sandy Leon’s RBI single to right field. Leon struck again with a sacrifice fly in the eighth that scored Walters and made it 5-0.
On the night, Potomac stole a season high six bases to run their 2011 total to 199.
The Nationals were one out away from their fifth shutout of the season. But Shawn McGill hit a towering home run to left field to give Lynchburg its only run of the game with two outs in the ninth.
Potomac looks for a four-game sweep on Friday with Sammy Solis on the mound against Caleb Brewer at 7:05. The P-Nats return to Woodbridge on Saturday for the final regular season series of the year, a four-game set with the Kinston Indians. On Saturday the Nationals will raffle off a new car to a lucky fan and fire off the last Fireworks extravaganza of the year. Monday is Fan Appreciation Day, and the P-Nats will have exciting prizes and giveaways for all those in attendance. To get your tickets and to reserve your playoff package now, call the ticket office at 703-590-2311 or visit the club online at
Sox rock Dash
The Salem Sox followed their two-day hiatus by erupting for a season-high 19 hits in a 16-10 victory over Winston-Salem on Wednesday evening to begin the final road trip of 2011 with a bang. At one point, the Red Sox rolled off 14 consecutive runs, erasing a 7-1 second-inning deficit with a five-run third, a three-run fifth, and a four-run sixth. Salem added two more runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth to match their season high in runs scored. Four different Red Sox registered three-hit nights, led by the #9 hitter Zach Gentile, who went 3-4 with a season-high five RBI from the bottom of the lineup. Matt Spring, just back with Salem after spending time with Triple-A Pawtucket, delivered two doubles and a solo homer, driving in three runs in the ballgame.
A 1-1 draw after one inning was abruptly broken by Winston’s six-run bottom of the second. Both Mike Blanke and Ian Gac belted homers against Salem starter Stolmy Pimentel, and the Dash appeared en route to the rout. But Pimentel settled down and retired 11 of the next 12 he faced to give the Sox sticks a chance to respond. His shutdown performance in the middle innings was the unsung hero for Salem’s offensive onslaught.
In the top of the third, six of the first seven batters mustered base hits against Winston starter Jake Petricka, who was chased from the contest with two outs in the third. Four different Red Sox drove in runs in the five-run frame that inched Salem back within a run at 7-6.
With the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, Gentile slammed a hard ground ball inside the first base bag and into the left field corner, clearing the bases to surge Salem into the lead at 9-7. In the sixth, Spring and Miles Head each launched solo homers off Dash reliever Santos Rodriguez to make it 11-7. Later in the inning, two walks and a hit-batter loaded the bases, and Heiker Meneses singled home two more to give Salem a 13-7 edge. Peter Hissey contributed an RBI single in the eighth, and Gentile drove in his fifth run two batters later, surging Salem to its largest lead of 15-7.
Blanke belted his second homer of the night for the Dash in the ninth, a two-run bomb off reliever Manny Rivera, but Salem’s 16-10 advantage stood when the final out was recorded two batters later. Rivera dealt the final three and a third innings to earn his second save, while Pimentel picked up the victory, improving to 5-4 with five and two-thirds innings, allowing seven runs on ten hits.
Offensively, Gentile, Spring, Padron, and Head each connected for three hits, while Meneses, Hissey and Bryce Brentz added two apiece. Salem finished 9-for-20 with runners in scoring position, while Winston went 3-for-11.
Salem hopes to build upon their scintillating offensive performance as the series continues on Thursday night. Ryan Pressly will square off again Ryan Buch, with the first pitch slated for 7 PM.
P-Nats rally past ‘Cats
Despite Barrett Kleinknecht hitting a home run for the third time in the homestand, the Hillcats could not overcome four unearned runs in the eighth inning and fell 6-3 to the Potomac Nationals Wednesday night.
The Nationals got a spark with two outs in the third inning to score the first run. After starter David Hale pitched the first two and two-thirds innings without giving up a hit, he gave up three in a row, including an RBI single by Destin Hood, and Potomac took a 1-0 lead.
Barrett Kleinknecht continued his hot homestand in the third. With two outs, he hit a solo home run to left-center, tying the game at one. It was his third home run in four nights.
Starter David Hale pitched very well for the Hillcats. Hale pitched six innings, giving up just one run and striking out a career-high nine batters.
The pivotal play in the game came in the top of the eighth. With two outs and runners on second and third, Sean Nicol hit a grounder to Andrelton Simmons at short. Simmons made a short throw to first and Joey Terdoslavich was unable to handle the hop. Four runs went on to score in the inning, putting the Nationals ahead 5-1.
The Nationals added one more in the top of the ninth, and despite Joey Terdoslavich hitting a two-run home run, the Hillcats fell 6-3.
The win clinched a playoff birth for the Nationals, and in turn, eliminated the Hillcats from the playoff hunt.
Nationals starter Adam Olbrychowski (5-7) earned the win. Eliecer Cardenas (4-3) took the loss despite not giving up an earned run. Cameron Selik recorded the last out of the ninth inning to earn his first save of the season.
The Hillcats and Nationals continue their series Thursday night at City Stadium. Matt Crim (2-7) will pitch for the Hillcats and Paul Demny (9-10) will pitch for Potomac. First pitch will be at 7:05 pm and the gates will open at 6.
The Hillcats On-Deck Show presented by Honda/Suzuki of Lynchburg will go on the air at 6:40 pm. Tune in to 105.5 KD Country or go to lynchburg-hillcats.com to listen live to all the action.
Hillcats lose tempers, game
A collision at the plate and a retaliation hit-by-pitch caused the benches to clear in the fifth inning of a two-run ballgame Tuesday night. Three Hillcats were ejected after the altercation. Lynchburg came back to tie the game but fell 5-4 to the Potomac Nationals in 10 innings.
Each team scored in the first inning. Destin Hood hit a two-out solo home run in the top of the inning to give the Nationals the lead. The Hillcats responded by manufacturing a run. Todd Cunningham walked to lead off the inning. Lynchburg executed a perfect hit-and-run, with Andrelton Simmons singling out to right, sending Cunningham to third. Christian Bethancourt followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at one.
The Hillcats took advantage of a Potomac error in the third to take the lead. With Cunningham on second and one out, Bethancourt hit a grounder back to the pitcher, Evan Bronson. Bronson made a low throw to first, that rolled all the way to the Potomac bullpen. Cunningham came in to score and the Hillcats took a 2-1 lead.
The Nationals tied the game on in the fourth inning. With Zach Walters on first and Steven Souza on third, Chris Masters threw a pitch that hit the dirt. The ball skipped slightly away from Bethancourt, and Walters started to head towards second. Bethancourt quickly got to the ball and threw down to second, Walters stopped and Souza took off from third. The throw came back to the plate, and when Souza got there, he leveled Bethancourt, knocking him off his feet and knocking the ball out of his glove. Souza scored and Bethancourt, who didn’t move for nearly a minute, had to leave the game.
The game got wild in the fifth inning. The Nationals scored two runs to take a 4-2 lead, but the story was the action in between plays. Early in the inning, catcher Shawn McGill, who entered the game for Bethancourt, was hit in the head on an accidental backswing by hitter Francisco Soriano. McGill had to leave the game and the third catcher of game, Ryan Query had to come in.
Souza came to the plate with a runner on after the two runs came in. Masters threw a fastball that hit him, and Souza took a step towards Masters and said something. Masters started yelling back, walking off the mound towards the plate, and the benches and bullpens cleared. No punches were thrown, but several players had to be physically restrained. When players were finally separated, both Masters and Hillcats reliever Eliecer Cardenas were ejected from the game, and no Nationals players were ejected. After a long delay where all three Lynchburg coaches were arguing, reliever Ryan Buchter sprinted down from the bullpen and got in the face of home plate umpire John Bacon, and was ejected as well.
Despite the altercation, there was still a game to be played, and the Hillcats cut into the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Andrelton Simmons doubled, and then stole third. Query, making his first at-bat of the game, hit a sacrifice fly to center to cut the lead to 4-3.
Query again came through in the bottom of the seventh. He singled home Marcus Lemon to tie the game at four.
Both teams squandered chances until the top of the tenth, when Zach Walters singled home Brian Peacock, giving the Nationals a 5-4 lead. Hector Nelo came in to hold the Hillcats scoreless in the tenth, picking up his 18th save of the season and preserving the win for the Nationals.
Joe Testa (6-2) earned the win in relief for Potomac and Andrew Wilson (2-4) took the loss for Lynchburg.
The Hillcats fell to 28-34 in the second half. Potomac improved to 35-28 and their magic number to clinch a playoff birth dropped to one.
The series between these two teams continues Wednesday night. David Hale (3-6) will pitch for the Hillcats and Paul Demny (9-10) will pitch for the Nationals. First pitch is at 7:05 pm and the gates will open at 6.
The Hillcats On-Deck Show presented by Honda/Suzuki of Lynchburg will go on the air at 6:40 pm. Tune in to 105.5 KD Country or go to lynchburg-hillcats.com to listen live to all the action.
Back-to-back jacks win it for ‘Cats
In a pitchers duel, sometimes it comes down to a couple of hits in the game. For the Hillcats, the couple of hits came in the seventh inning, as Barrett Kleinknecht and Geraldo Rodriguez hit back-to-back home runs to lead Lynchburg to a 3-2 win over the Kinston Indians Sunday night.
The Hillcats took the lead in the bottom of the second. Barrett Kleinknecht led off the inning with a double. Two batters later, Marcus Lemon laced a double down the left field line, scoring Kleinknecht and giving the Hillcats an early 1-0 lead.
The Indians only managed two hits against against Hillcats starter Gary Moran, but made them count, with both coming in the top of the third. Delvi Cid started it off with a bouncer to the hole between short and third. Andrelton Simmons was able to field it deep in the hole, but had no play to first, so Cid reached with an infield single. He stole second, and Tyler Holt dropped a bunt down the third base line. He just beat the throw to first from Joe Leonard, and with two infield hits, runners were at the corners with no outs. Jordan Casas grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, but Cid scored to tie the game at one.
Jeremy Haynes entered the game in the seventh inning and ran into some trouble, he gave up a hit and walked two batters before a sacrifice fly before Doug Pickens hit a sacrifice fly to center to break the tie and put Kinston ahead 2-1. Haynes (2-1) was able to get out of the inning without any more damage.
Kinston went to the bullpen as well in the seventh inning. After Francisco Jimenez allowed just four hits, he left and Kyle Landis (8-2) entered the game. The leadoff batter, Kleinknecht, hit a shot to left that cleared the wall for his second home run in as many nights. Right after him, Geraldo Rodriguez hit a line drive that just hooked inside the foul pole for back-to-back home runs and gave the Hillcats the 3-2 lead.
Andrew Wilson worked a perfect eighth in his return to Lynchburg and Eliecer Cardenas pitched a perfect ninth to earn his seventh save of the year.
The Hillcats improved to 28-33. The Indians fell to 32-29.
Lynchburg continues their season-ending homestand on Tuesday as the Potomac Nationals come into town for a four-game series. Chris Masters (9-5) will take the mound for the Hillcats and face Evan Bronson (5-4) for the Nationals. First pitch is at 7:05 pm and gates will open at 6.
The Hillcats On-Deck Show presented by Honda/Suzuki of Lynchburg will go on the air at 6:40 pm. Tune in to 105.5 KD Country or go to lynchburg-hillcats.com to listen live to all the action.
‘Cats unable to weather storm
After Hurricane Irenetore through North Carolina, the series between Indians and Hillcatswas moved to Lynchburg. In the first game on Sunday night Kinston won 9-2 over Lynchburg.
Hillcats pitcher Caleb Brewer had a rough start to the game. He walked the first three batters he faced, then gave up a grand slam to Jeremie Tice. He walked two more batters in the inning, but was able to get out of the inning with Kinston leading 4-0.
Barrett Kleinknecht stepped up to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the second. He swung on the first pitch he saw, launching it over the left field wall for a solo home run to cut the lead to 4-1.
Over the next three innings, the Indians score four unanswered, all off of singles. One run scored in each of the third and fourth, and then Adam Abraham hit a two-run single in the fifth to put the Indians up 8-1.
The Hillcats got one back in the bottom of the eighth. With Todd Cunningham on first base, Christian Bethancourt doubled to center, scoring Cunningham and making the score 8-2.
Kinston scored one more in the ninth, to give the Indians a 9-2 victory over Lynchburg.
Brewer (1-1) took the loss, only pitching two and two-thirds innings and giving up five runs. The winning pitcher was Clayton Cook (8-8).
The Hillcats fell to 27-33 in the second half. The Indians improved to 32-28.
The final game this season between the Hillcats and Indians will be played Monday at 5:00 pm at CityStadium. Gary Moran (1-1) will pitch for the Hillcats and Francisco Jimenez (3-3) will take the mound for the Indians. Gates will open at 4 pm and admission will be free for all fans.
The Hillcats On-Deck Show presented byHonda/Suzuki of Lynchburg will go on the air at 4:40 pm. Tune in to105.5 KD Country or go to lynchburg-hillcats.comto listen live to all the action.
Salem drops home finale
A manufactured run in the top of the ninth inning fractured a 4-4 tie, surging the Blue Rocks into a lead that they would not relinquish in the final game of the season at LewisGale Field. Wilmington’s 5-4 victory was a byproduct of opportunistic baserunning and opposition miscues, as the Sox made three errors, including one pivotal one in the decisive ninth. Whit Merrifield drew a one-out walk from Jeremiah Bayer and advanced to second after an errant pick-off attempt skipped past first. Two wild pitches later, Merrifield touched home plate to put the Blue Rocks on top.
With the score even at two through six innings, both teams plated a pair in a wild and scary seventh, in which Salem right fielder Bryce Brentz was carted off the field after backing into the wall in pursuit of a fly ball. With Merrifield at first, Carlo Testa’s deep drive to right pushed Brentz to the track. The ball bounced off Brentz’ glove and rolled into the right-field corner, while Brentz drilled the wall, fell down, and laid motionless on the ground. Both Merrifield and Testa rounded the bases, providing Testa with an inside-the-park two-run homer. Meanwhile, Brentz remained on the ground as Salem Athletic Trainer Brandon Henry charged onto the field.
Brentz sat up, stood up on his own, and took a few steps to a cart that helped him off the field. Brentz said that he felt a very sharp pain in his back when it happened, but he appeared to be alright after the game, walking around the clubhouse with his teammates.
In the last of the seventh, Salem rallied to even the score, with Heiker Meneses bringing the spark with a one-out single, his third hit of the ballgame. Zach Gentile singled Meneses to third, and the incoming throw bounced away, allowing Meneses to score. Later in the frame, Miles Head smashed a single to center to score Gentile and tie the game at four.
Both teams made three errors, leading to four unearned runs in the ballgame, three of which were scored by Wilmington. All three Salem errors were charged to the pitchers. Starter Anthony Ranaudo made two errors, one fielding and one on an errant pick-off attempt, while Bayer’s miscue in the ninth also cost the Sox dearly.
Salem also lost third-baseman Kolbrin Vitek early in the game. Vitek aggravated an oblique injury and departed in the middle of his second at-bat. Gentile took over for Vitek with a 1-1 count in the third inning, and Gentile flew to left to end that frame.
Ranaudo dealt four innings, allowing two runs (both unearned) on three hits, while striking out six and walking four. He received a no-decision, and it was Bayer who was saddled with the setback, falling to 7-3.
The Salem Sox will take two days off before returning to the diamond on Wednesday in Winston-Salem for the final six-game road trip of the season.
