Small ball lifts ‘Cats

The biggest crowd of the season filled City Stadium to watch the Hillcats face the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Independence Day. The crowd went home happy, as Zeke Spruill pitched a complete game and the Lynchburg hitters showed off their ability to play small ball to win 4-1.

For the first time in this series, the Pelicans drew first blood, scoring in the first inning. Leury Garcia led off with a walk. He advanced to second on a groundout by Jared Prince, then Travis Adair singled to center, scoring Garcia.

The Hillcats immediately got the run back. Marcus Lemon tripled to lead off the bottom of the first inning, and the next batter, Andrelton Simmons, singled him home to tie the game at one.

Lemon was the catalyst for the second run of the game as well. He led off the third inning with a double. Simmons bunted him to third and Phil Gosselin lifted a shallow fly to right field. Lemon tagged and made an acrobatic slide around catcher Zach Zaneski, reaching out with his right hand to touch the plate and give the Hillcats a 2-1 lead.

A heads-up play by Gosselin on the bases led to the Hillcats third run. With Gosselin on third and Joey Terdoslavich on second with two outs in the sixth inning, a pitch from Justin Grimm (2-2) hit the dirt, and rolled only a few feet to the right of Zaneski. Zaneski couldn’t find the ball, and when Gosselin saw the confusion, he sprinted home and scored to make it 3-1.

The Hillcats showed off their ability to play small ball in the seventh. Two bunts, including a suicide squeeze by Simmons, helped move Keenan Wiley around the bases to score. The second squeeze by the Hillcats in three nights put Lynchburg up 4-1.

Spruill did not allow a run after the first inning. He got into some trouble, allowing a runner to reach scoring position in five innings but was able to get out of each jam. Spruill (6-7) went the distance, pitching his Carolina League-leading fourth complete game of the season. He tied the Hillcats record for complete games in a season, sharing that record with three other players, the last being Sam McConnell in 1999.

Lynchburg won their third straight to improve to 5-6 in the second half. Myrtle Beach fell to 5-7.

The attendance for the game was 5,360, which was a season-high for the Hillcats. The previous high was for the home opener, when 5,170 packed the stadium.

The homestand ends on Tuesday night when the Hillcats and Pelicans face off for the final time this season at City Stadium. Lefty Blaine Sims (2-2) will take the mound for the Hillcats, and righty Barret Loux (7-3) will pitch for the Pelicans. 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.