Lynchburg defeated Myrtle Beach 3-2 Sunday afternoon at City Stadium to clinch the first-half Northern Division title. Luis Lugo tied a career high with seven innings and only allowed three hits. The ‘Cats offense rallied in the eighth frame to take the lead and win the contest.
Luis Lugo (2-2) was dominant on the mound in the afternoon contest. He surrendered three hits without any walks. The only miscue during his outing was a solo shot off the bat of Gioskar Amaya in the fifth inning. Lugo struck out six batters, which fell one shy of a season high. Unfortunately, Lugo did not factor into the decision because Myrtle Beach tied the game in the eighth inning.
Lynchburg tallied two runs in the third and another in the eighth to secure the 3-2 win. The ‘Cats opened the scoring in the third. Greg Allenbegan the frame with a walk and advanced to third on a base hit by Taylor Murphy. Allen came home on an RBI fielder’s choice by Anthony Santander for the first run of the contest. Santander stole second base to be in scoring position for an RBI double by Yu-Cheng Chang to push the score to 2-0.
After a pair of Gioskar Amaya solo home runs – one in the fifth and another in the eighth – deadlocked the score, the Hillcats rallied in the eighth to earn the win. A Chang single and Claudio Bautista walk put two on with nobody out. With Daniel Salters batting, Chang andBautista executed a double steal, and an errant throw allowed Chang to plate the decisive run.
Lynchburg secured the Northern Division first-half title for the first time since 2012, which also marks the last time the ‘Cats won a Carolina League Championship…Lynchburg has clinched a playoff spot for the fifth consecutive season.
Lynchburg begins a four-game, three-day series against Carolina Monday at 6:30 p.m. Justus Sheffield (4-2, 3.10) will start for the Hillcats. Fans can listen to the action on 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com, beginning with the Hillcats On-Deck Show at6:15 p.m.
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Chris Graham
