Gameday Magazine

The Hillcats were co-champions of the Carolina League with the Down East Wood Ducks in ‘17, as Hurricane Irma forced the Championship Series to be cancelled. Lynchburg excelled on both sides of the ball throughout the entire season in the midst of their championship run. The Hillcats pitching staff finished with the league’s best team ERA (3.21) and walked the fewest batters (365). On

the offensive side, Lynchburg tallied the third-best team batting average in the Carolina League (.258), finished with the second-most RBIs (577), runs (645), doubles (262) and slugging (.395). Three of the Hillcats most reliable starting pitchers finished in the top-5 in league ERA during the champion- ship season. Hartson, who got his feet wet in Advanced-A with six starts for the Lynchburg in 2016, made 23