Gameday Magazine August

JUly recap HILLCATS FLEX MUSCLES IN THE MONTH OF JULY, PICK UP MOST WINS OF ANY MONTH THIS SEASON The Hillcats picked up 14 wins in July, and excelled away from City Stadium. Despite going just 5-9 at home, Lynchburg went 9-4 on the road last month. Lynchburg boost- ed a team batting average of .278 in July, the best of any month this season. Their previous team-high was a .252 mark in May. Additionally, the Hillcats put together their best pitching performance of the season, sporting a team ERA of 3.62. Despite all of the success, the Wilmington Blue Rocks put together a 19-8 record in July, push- ing Lynchburg to 4.5 games back of first place entering August. THEY’VE GOT THE POWER! After belting just 25 home runs in the first half of the season, the Hillcats have already hit 30 long balls in the club’s first 37 games of the second half, including 24 in July. The Hillcats previous high for home runs in a month was 12 in May. Lynchburg hit a season-high five home runs in the July 2 win against the Keys, including three in one inning, which also marked a season-best. Additionally after tallying just six multi-hom- er games in the first half, they have already accounted for five in the second half. CLOSE CALLS The Hillcats string of losses in July came down to the wire. Eight of Lynchburg 13 loses in the month, including eight of their last 11 overall were by two runs or less. The defeats dropped the club to 12-18 in one-run games this season, yet they are 9-7 in two-run contests. TAPIA TIME: Emmanuel Tapia surged for the Hillcats offensively in July. After hitting .149 in May and .148 in June, the 22-year-old hit .321 in July, with two home runs and 12 RBI, the most he’s had in any month. He had a six-game hitting streak snapped in his second- to-last game of the month, which was his second-longest hit streak of the year. Tapia cracked 17 hits in July, as well as four doubles, which are also the most he has had in any month this year.