Hillcats blank Kinston

Zeke Spruill had another dominant outing, and the Hillcats offense had eight extra base hits to beat the Kinston Indians 8-0 Friday night. Spruill pitched eight shutout innings, giving up three hits and striking out eight.

The Hillcats scored first on a wild play in the third inning. Keenan Wiley ripped a ball down the first base line that rolled all the way to the wall in right. Wiley sped around the bases and slid into the third. The relay throw from first baseman Chase Burnette missed third base by a good margin, took a big hop and bounced over the fence. Wiley was awarded home and the Hillcats took a 1-0 lead.

They scored again in the fourth. Joey Terdoslavich led off the inning with a double. Joe Leonard followed right after with a double of his own, scoring Terdoslavich.

Andrelton Simmons led off the fifth inning for the Hillcats with a triple to right-center field. Phil Gosselin lifted a sacrifice fly to right to score Simmons. With the bases cleared after the sacrifice fly, Adam Milligan hit a long fly ball over the batter’s eye in center field to give the Hillcats a 4-0 lead.

Gosselin provided another big blow for the Hillcats in the sixth. With two outs, and runners on first and second, Gosselin hit a bomb out to left field, scoring three runs and giving the Hillcats a 7-0 lead. It was the first home run for Gosselin since April 10, a stretch that spanned 226 at-bats.

The Hillcats scored one more run in the seventh inning. A throwing error by Casey Frawley allowed Leonard to score, and make the game 8-0, which held up for the final score. The Hillcats offense recorded 13 hits, eight of which went for extra bases.

While the Hillcats batters were piling on the hits, Spruill was pitching another gem against Kinston. He pitched eight shutout innings, and only gave up three hits on the night. He didn’t give up a hit until the fifth inning, when Burnette hit a single up the middle with two outs. Spruill (5-7) struck out eight batters, which tied his season high. In his last outing against the Indians, on May 16, he pitched a complete-game shutout.

The Hillcats improved their record to 30-38. The Indians fell to 36-31, and were eliminated from the first half division race when Myrtle Beach beat Frederick.

The Hillcats and Indians will continue their series Saturday night. Lefty Blaine Sims (2-0) will face fellow southpaw T.J. House (4-6). First pitch is at 6:05 pm, gates will open at 5.

If you can’t make it to the game, the Hillcats On-Deck Show presented by Honda/Suzuki of Lynchburg will go on the air at 5:40 pm. Tune in to 105.5 KD Country or go to lynchburg-hillcats.com to listen live to all the action.