Hillcats take advantage of a misjudged fly ball

By Chris Lang
Sports writer
Published: July 22, 2008

Jarrod Dyson should have had the ball. That much was made clear when his Wilmington infield teammates made no move to back him up with two outs in the first inning. But Dyson misjudged the ball as it came off Jim Negrych’s bat, and it landed in short left field for a bloop double.

That seemingly innocuous play opened the floodgates for the Hillcats. Jamie Romak and Kent Sakamoto followed the gaffe with doubles, and Miles Durham cranked a two-run home run, giving Lynchburg an early four-run cushion in Tuesday night’s 11-3 victory.

“It was a good two-out inning,” Negrych said. “Before you could blink, it was 4-0. That’s just the way this game is. That’s happened to us plenty of times. It’s good to have it go for us.”

The 11 runs matched a second-half high for the Hillcats, who moved back to .500 and regained a half-game lead over the Blue Rocks in the race for the Northern Division’s second playoff spot. Lynchburg ripped 10 extra-base hits, including nine doubles. Twice, Negrych, Romak and Sakamoto hit consecutive doubles during the four-run first and the three-run fifth.

The Hillcats roughed up Wilmington starter Ed Cegarra, who was named Carolina League pitcher of the week Monday after throwing eight scoreless innings against Salem last week. Cegarra hasn’t fared well against Lynchburg, however. He entered the game at 0-1 with a 9.31 ERA in two starts against the Hillcats and allowed nine hits and six earned runs in a 4 1/3 innings Tuesday.

“We were getting in hitters’ counts,” Hillcats manager Jeff Branson said. “Any time you get hitters’ counts, you’re apt to do some damage. … We capitalized on their mistakes, and that’s what you’ve got to be able to do.”

Romak tied a career high with four hits, rapped three doubles and drove in three runs. Negrych and Sakamoto had three hits apiece. Negrych, Sakamoto, Durham and Jose De Los Santos drove in two runs each.

“You’re going to go out there every day with the same plan,” Negrych said. “Sometimes the balls are going to fall, sometimes they’re not. You just kind of stick with it and hopefully they fall in.”

The teams rushed through the final three innings as a thunderstorm threatened the area. The wind picked up, whipping the warning-track dirt into a frenzy as paper flew onto the field from the stands. Moments after the game ended, the skies opened.

More rain is in the forecast for today. If the teams get the game in (it’s the last scheduled meeting between the two this season), it will mark the home debut of Brad Lincoln, the Pirates’ 2006 first-round draft pick who is coming back from Tommy John surgery. Lincoln made his first start last Friday at Potomac, allowing seven hits and five earned runs in four innings. He struck out one and walked two.

“He’s aggressive,” Branson said. “He comes after hitters and he’s not going to give in to any hitter. He’s going to pound his fastball.

“It’ll be exciting for him to be able to pitch here. People around here have been waiting a long time to see him. He’s excited and ready to go. Hopefully he’ll give them a good show.”

NOTES: Hillcats pitcher Michael Crotta allowed nine hits and two earned runs in six innings to move to 8-7. He’s 3-1 against Wilmington in five starts. … RHP Derek Antelo left Monday night’s game with cramping in his forearm, Branson said. He’s day-to-day. … The Hillcats finally reigned in Wilmington’s Brad Correll, who was 7-for-10 with three home runs and eight RBIs in the first two games of the series. Corell went 1-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.