Four sacrifice flies proved to be the difference Sunday afternoon, with starting pitcher Brian Holliday throwing his third straight quality start, giving Lynchburg a 6-2 win over Wilmington in game two of their four-game series with the Blue Rocks at Frawley Stadium.

The way he pitched in four starts before the first-half break, Hillcats left-hander Daniel Moskos appeared to be turning a corner.

The Hillcats knocked around the hottest pitcher in the league in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday.

The Hillcats and Indians had the opener of their three-game series postponed Wednesday after afternoon rains made the City Stadium field unplayable.

Jamie Romak set 30 home runs as his preseason goal, one that seemed to be out of reach when the Hillcats slugger missed the first month of the season while rehabbing from offseason elbow surgery.

The streaks — yup, both of them — are over.

Hillcats manager Jeff Branson answered before the question was even finished.

With the Pirates’ leading player development personnel on hand this weekend, the Hillcats are bound and determined to show that every batter, no matter where he hits in the lineup, is capable of putting down a bunt when called upon.

For three months, the Hillcats patiently waited for everything — solid pitching, timely hitting and reliable fielding — to come together in one enjoyable, prolonged stretch, even if it was for just a week.

Miles Durham would have been content with a triple. Anything to jumpstart what had been a slow transition from Low A to High A. The slugger was 1 for his first 26 with the Hillcats.

It doesn’t bother Hillcats right fielder Jamie Romak that he tied Frederick’s Matt Wieters for the league’s home run lead a week after the Orioles’ catcher of the future earned a promotion to Double A.

It was a little sloppy, which matched the conditions on umbrella giveaway night, but the Lynchburg Hillcats ral-lied from a 7-3 deficit to pick a 8-7 victory over visiting Winston-Salem on Saturday.

It took the Hillcats more than 50 games to string together their first three-game winning streak this season. Since then, they’ve done it two more times, including three W’s that sandwiched this week’s all-star break.

The Hillcats so enjoyed last week’s walk-off win — their first all season — that they figured they’d try it again Thursday.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Hillcats third baseman Jim Negrych went 2-for-3 and Potomac’s Edgardo Baez broke a tie game with a solo home run in the eighth inning to lead the Carolina League All-Stars to a 3-1 win against the California League All-Stars on Tuesday.

With the all-star break just innings away and the Hillcats rolling to an easy victory, storm clouds perched on the horizon, ready to soak away a perfectly good Sunday afternoon and delay what to that point had been a quick game.

Pomp and circumstance usually accompany a walk-off win.

There was hope that the Carolina League’s one-day first half break would serve as an Etch A Sketch for the woeful Hillcats. Just shake things up a little and voila! Fresh starts all around.

The first half of the Carolina League season is officially over, and to that the Hillcats say good riddance.

Today marks the end of the first half of a Carolina League season that, by all measures, has been mostly regrettable for the Hillcats.

Hillcats outfielder Jamie Romak has never had a tremendous sense of timing when it comes to all-star selections.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of one of the most dominant teams in Carolina League history — a 1983 Lynchburg Mets squad that featured Dwight Gooden and Lenny Dykstra — the Hillcats donned retro L-Mets jerseys for their game against Kinston on Friday.

Jake Cuffman’s pitch came high and tight, and Kinston’s Carlos Rivero twisted to the ground like someone who had just avoided a bruise.

The Lynchburg Hillcats were trying to extend their winning streak to a season-long four, but instead they were battered for 11 hits in an 11-3 loss to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Tuesday night at BB&T Coastal Field.

SALEM — Lynchburg came out on top of its three-game series with the Salem Avalanche, 2-1, thanks to Sunday afternoon’s 8-3 victory.

Mike Steele knows how quickly a career can end. The new Hillcats pitching coach recited this fact from memory: The average pro baseball career is over at age 26.

With 21 hits already on the board, the insult was bad enough. Lynchburg’s blowout loss to Potomac was mercifully almost over, its hopes of winning its first series in nearly a month dashed many innings earlier.

Two nights ago, everything the Hillcats did just to get a single run on the board failed. Baserunners were a rare commodity. Hits didn’t find holes. Nothing came easy.

Lynchburg’s game against Potomac was suspended Tuesday with the Hillcats leading 4-1 in the second inning .

The Hillcats weren’t without their chances Monday night. Pick an inning — practically any inning — and Lynchburg had a runner in scoring position with two outs, a hit away from taking firm control of the series opener against division-leading Potomac.
That hit never came.