Hillcats pull it out

By Andy Bitter

Published: July 3, 2008

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.

When home plate umpire A.J. Johnson ruled Durham’s triple a home run, well, all the better.

Durham’s controversial 12th-inning walk-off home run on Thursday gave Lynchburg a 7-6 win against Salem and lifted the Hillcats to their first four-game winning streak of the season.

“It just feels good to contribute the way I did today,” said Durham, who had never hit a walk-off home run. “I played with all these guys my first year. So hopefully now they know I’m capable of doing things.”

It ended a wild back-and-forth game in which the Hillcats (8-6) rallied from a three-run, ninth-inning deficit, failed to score the game winner with runners on third base in the 10th and 11th and appeared to be the beneficiary of a bad call in the 12th.

Lynchburg looked to ruin its 12th-inning rally when James Barksdale was picked off first following a bunt single.

That brought up Durham, who was called up from Low-A Hickory after an all-star first half in which he batted .348 with 14 home runs and 57 RBIs.

But his first week with Lynchburg hadn’t gone so well. Entering Thursday, Durham was 0-for-21 with nine strikeouts. He broke that streak with a second-inning double, but wanted to make a bigger impression.

He got his chance against Salem reliever David Qualben (2-9) following Barksdale’s baserunning blunder. Durham crushed a Qualben offering to left. The ball sailed high toward the wall and bounced back into play. Durham, hustling out of the box, rounded second and easily cruised into third.

Moments later, Johnson came down the third base line, twirling his right index finger in a circle to indicate a home run.

The ruling? It hit the light pole just behind the left field fence and bounced back into play.

Salem manager Jim Pankovits sprinted on the field to argue, contending the ball hit high off an advertisement on the wall and was still in play. After a brief meeting with field umpire Matt Arcovio, Johnson again gave the home run signal.

Pankovits was irate, following the umpiring duo down the baseline and to the locker room, letting loose with a string of expletives.

As they came off the field, a few Hillcats remarked it was the worst call they’ve seen.

Johnson and Arcovio called a game on April 29 in which Salem lost on a controversial checked swing call in extra innings.

Lynchburg had been 1-41 when trailing after eight innings this season.

Derek Antelo (2-0) earned the win, striking out three in two scoreless innings. Jake Cuffman blanked the Avalanche for the two innings before that.

Lynchburg trailed 6-3 heading into the ninth but mounted a furious rally off Salem closer Jason Dominguez despite being down to its last strike on two occasions.

With two outs, Jose De Los Santos lined a 3-2 offering to left-center, scoring Alex Presley to cut the Avalanche’s lead to 6-4. Angel Gonzalez followed with a single to right, putting runners at first and second.

That brought up Jim Negrych, the league’s leading hitter. With a 2-2 count, he ripped a line drive down the left field line that was inches foul. After taking ball three, he laced a double to right-center, scoring De Los Santos and Gonzalez to tie things at 6-6.

It was Dominguez’s sixth blown save in 11 chances.

Lynchburg had opportunities to end things the next two innings but failed.

Presley lined out to right to end the 10th with the potential winning run on third base.

In the 11th, Romak failed to get down a suicide squeeze with one out, leaving Kris Watts hung out to dry for the second out. Romak then struck out to end the rally.

NOTES: Negrych led off the third with a double to right to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, the longest of any Hillcat this season. He finished 2-for-5. … Salem’s Jordan Parraz was 4-for-5 with three doubles and reached base six out of seven times. … Hillcats starter Jared Hughes gave up four runs (two earned) in six innings.