Gameday Magazine August

MAGNIFICENT MITCH Mitch Longo also caught fire at the plate in July when he was positioned into the No. 2 spot in the batting order. Longo was hitting lead off for the majority of the year until Ernie Clement took over that role when he joined the team in late June. Longo batted a season-best .326 in July while driving home 14 runs. He also blasted two homers. Since being bumped down in order, he is hitting .313 with two home runs and 17 RBI. Over his last 16 games in July, he went for a .346 mark (27-for-78) with two homers and 13 RBI. He is second in the league in doubles (24), and is tied for third t in the Carolina League in hits (106) and runs scored (57). His .297 average is 8th best in the circuit entering August. ALL ABOARD THE CHU CHU TRAIN Li-Jen Chu went on a tear at the plate in July, going 27-80 (.337), including four home runs, 13 RBI and three doubles. It was his best month of the season. Chu tallied a four-hit game on July 20 against Wilmington, and hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning on July 21 against Carolina. Chu won Player of the Week in the Carolina League during the week of 7/16-7/22. GAV PROVIDING PUNCH 3B/C Gavin Collins returned from the DL on July 12, and has been racking up the extra-base hits. Overall since his return, Collins has gone 13-for-56 (.232), with nine of those 13 hits going for extra-bases. He had six doubles, a triple and two homers in just a few weeks of playing time in July. He also enjoyed a nine-game hitting streak from July 14-24. With Logan Ice promoted to Double-A Akron, Collins is now the second catcher on the roster behind Li-Jen Chu. Gems and Jewels of July: WHAT A FOURTH! As has been the case for the last three decades, the Hillcats hosted their annual Fourth of July game against the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Lynchburg won the game, 6-4, in front of a packed house of 4,521. The Independence Day crowd was the larg- est of the season, surpassing Opening Day when 3,092 fans were at City Stadium. STRASBURG REHABS IN LYNCHBURG On Tuesday, July 10, Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg appeared in a rehab game with the Potomac Nationals at City Stadium. The right-hander fired 3.1 innings, and allowed one run on two hits, while striking out five. Both Dillon Persinger and Conner Capel doubled off of the three-time All-Star. Strasburg’s appearance marked the first time a Major League rehabber played in Lynchburg since Edinson Volquez in 2010, when the Hillcats were a Cincinnati Reds affiliate. 4,472 fans at- tended the game, making it the second-largest home crowd of the year behind the Fourth of July. YOU’RE SUSPENDED The Hillcats game against the Carolina Mudcats on July 23 was suspended in the sixth inning due to rain. After a scoreless five innings, Carolina scored five runs in the top of the sixth to take the lead before the rain started to fall. The game will resume on August 7 in Zebulon because the Mudcats do not return to City Stadium this season. Following the completion of the suspended game, the two teams will play the regular- ly-scheduled nine-inning game.