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July 27, 2010
Lynchburg-Hillcats.com
Lynchburg matched their season-high with nine runs in a 9-3 win over Frederick on Tuesday night at Harry Grove Stadium.
With the aid of a pair of errors, Lynchburg started early again with a run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.
Frederick responded though with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 advantage. Billy Rowell and Buck Britton both singled in a run with two outs in the inning.
The Hillcats would tie the game in the third inning with an RBI groundout by Denis Phipps. An inning later they tacked on three more runs to take a 5-2 lead.
Kevin Coddington singled in run and Josh Fellhauer and Brodie Greene both hit sacrifice flies in the frame.
The Cats weren't done though, as they followed their three-run fourth inning with a four-run fifth inning to make it a 9-2 contest.
Frederick would plate a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to close out the scoring. Britton drove-in his second run of the ballgame with a sacrifice fly.
The win went to starter Chase Ware (1-2) for Lynchburg (14-17, 43-58) and the loss went to starter Ryan Berry (2-2) for Frederick (15-16, 56-45).
Ware picked up his first win at the Advanced-A level and his first win as a starter this season.
The Hillcats go for the series sweep on Wednesday night in a 7:00 p.m. start at Harry Grove Stadium.
Right-hander Lance Janke (3-8, 6.66) will get the call for the Cats opposite righty Oliver Drake (2-5, 4.62) for the Keys.
July 26, 2010
HokieSports.com
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Virginia Tech was the choice of the media assembled for the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Football Kickoff to win the ACC's Coastal Division and defeat Florida State for the 2010 ACC Football Championship in voting which was announced Monday at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro.
A record number of ballots were cast at the Kickoff with 98 media members voting.
Virginia Tech was chosen on 50 ballots to win its fourth ACC football title in just its seventh year in the league.
Florida State finished second with 26 votes, followed by Miami (10), Georgia Tech (8), Boston College (2) and North Carolina (2).
The Hokies were tabbed to win the ACC's Coastal Division with 532 points and 62 first-place votes outdistancing Miami (444 points, 20 first-place votes), Georgia Tech (408), North Carolina (379), Duke (169) and Virginia (126).
Florida State compiled 565 points and 78 first-place votes to claim the Atlantic Division title over Clemson (479), Boston College (389), NC State (283), Wake Forest (203) and Maryland (139).
Virginia Tech was previously chosen as the preseason ACC gridiron favorite in 2007 and 2009. The Hokies captured the 2007 ACC title, but finished in the Coastal Division second to ACC champion Georgia Tech last year.
Florida State senior quarterback Christian Ponder, who led the ACC in total offense in 2009 (321.8) after nine games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, was a runaway selection as the ACC's Preseason Player of the Year.
Ponder garnered 45 votes to finish ahead of Virginia Tech tailback Ryan Williams (16) and quarterback Tyrod Taylor (11), NC State senior quarterback Russell Wilson (6) and North Carolina defensive end Robert Quinn (6). In all, 12 ACC players received votes for ACC Preseason Player of the Year, including Tech's Darren Evans.
July 26, 2010
Lynchburg-Hillcats.com
Lynchburg homered four times in a game for the first time this season en route to a 7-4 victory at Frederick. Neftali Soto smacked a three-run homer in the first and now leads the team with 15 homers and 54 RBI.
The Hillcats wasted no time jumping all over the Keys with a five-run first inning. The first five Cats that came to the plate all got hits and all scored. Neftali Soto started the scoring with a three-run home run.
It was his team-leading 15th of the season and it was his first three-run shot of the campaign. After a single by Denis Phipps, Chris Richburg followed with a two-run homer, his first as a Hillcat to make it a 5-0 game with still no outs recorded in the ballgame.
In the third inning the Green & Gold added to their lead with another long ball, this one a solo shot by Phipps, his fifth dinger in 12 games with the Hillcats.
That homer gave Phipps seven straight hits, which tied Pedro Powell for the most consecutive hits in Hillcats history.
The Keys plated their first run of the evening in the bottom of the frame with an RBI single by Kyle Hudson to make it 6-1.
With the bases loaded later in that inning with one out, Billy Rowell hit a sharply hit ground ball down the third base line that appeared to be headed into the left field corner. But Shane Carlson made a diving stop, got to his feet, stepped on third base and threw to first in time for the inning ending double play.
The next half inning Carlson started things off by hitting his first homer as a Cat to up the lead to 7-1.
Frederick got back within striking distance in the bottom of the seventh inning with three runs to pull within three at 7-4.
Bobby Stevens, Xavier Avery and Hudson had three straight doubles to plate a pair of runs and chase Hillcats starter James Avery from the contest. Ronnie Welty singled in another run in the inning to finish the scoring in the frame and on the night.
The win went to Avery (6-3) and the save was notched by Donnie Joseph (11) for Lynchburg (13-17, 42-58) and the loss went to starter Nathan Moreau (3-1) for Frederick (15-15, 56-44).
The Hillcats will look for their fourth straight win on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. at Harry Grove Stadium.
Right-hander Chase Ware (0-2, 3.66) will get the call for the Cats opposite righty Ryan Berry (2-1, 2.67) scheduled to start for the Keys.
July 25, 2010
Lynchburg-Hillcats.com
Kevin Coddington had two extra base hits including his first triple of the season and the Lynchburg Hillcats took the finale 6-5 over the Salem Red Sox. Lynchburg and Salem split the four game series.
The Cats jumped on starter Michael Lee in the first inning. Josh Fellhauer was hit by a pitch and Cody Puckett doubled to left field. With runners at second and third, Neftali Soto struck out and Denis Phipps walked.
Then Kyle Day hit a two-run single to put Lynchburg in front 2-0. He extends his hitting streak to 11, tied for the longest by a Hillcat all season.
In the second, Coddington led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch during Jose Gualdron's at-bat. It was Coddington's first triple of the season in Lynchburg.
Salem scored one in the third, and a Will Middlebrooks home run pulled the Sox within one. But Lynchburg scored one more in the fifth. Phipps drove in Fellhauer with a single. Fellhauer singled to lead off the frame.
In the sixth, Lynchburg scored again. Brodie Greene singled, stole second and scored on Coddington's double.
Salem struck for two in the top of the seventh to pull the Red Sox within one. Dan Butler walked then scored on Jon Hee's double.
That spelled the end of starter Jordan Hotchkiss. Reliever Dan Guerrero entered the game and surrendered a double to Ryan Dent that scored Hee. Salem was back within one once again, 5-4.
But the cats added some insurance in the seventh. Soto and Phipps led off with two singles. After a pitching change, Chris Richburg pinch hit and hit a sac fly that drove in Soto. Richburg notched his first RBI with the Hillcats.
After scoring one more in the eighth, the Red Sox put the tying run on first base. Dan Butler singled to lead off the inning and was pinch run for by Luis Segovia.
Hee then singled to put the tying run at second. After a Dent sacrifice bunt, Mitch Dening was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Peter Hissey flew out to left field, and Oscar Tejeda grounded out to the mound to end the game.
Jordan Hotchkiss threw a solid six and one-third innings. He gave up four runs and struck out two and gets the win, his seventh of the season. Justin Freeman earns his seventh save.
Lynchburg heads on the road for six games starting tomorrow night at Frederick for a 7 p.m. start.
James Avery (5-3, 3.05) starts for the Cats against Nathan Moreau (3-0, 1.89).
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Johnson Races into Record Books 11/23/09 - All Jimmie Johnson ever wanted was a chance to race with the best in NASCAR. Maybe even win a race or two. Never did he expect to be a champion. Especially four times over.
Johnson bulldozed his way into the record books by becoming the first driver in NASCAR history to win four consecutive championships, finishing fifth in Sunday’s season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where former Chesterfield resident Denny Hamlin won the race ahead of South Boston native Jeff Burton. Johnson joined Richard Petty (seven), Dale Earnhardt (seven) and teammate Jeff Gordon (four) as the only drivers to win more than three titles.
 “To do something that’s never been done in the sport, and love the sport like I do and respect it like I do and the greats—Petty, Earnhardt, Gordon—to do something they have never done is so awesome,“ Johnson said. “And to win four championships in eight years, what this team has done—this is unbelievable.“ Hamlin established himself as a strong prospect for the 2010 championship with his career-high fourth victory this season. “I promise you the next couple of years we’re going to win a championship,“ Hamlin said. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had his share of bad races in the Chase. Back-to-back poor finishes at California and Charlotte (37th, 42nd) all but ended his title hunt and he finished fifth in the standings, 317 points behind Johnson. “There’s 10 races and you have to perform really good and be flawless in those ten,“ Hamlin said. “It looks like the trend has been you get one bad race if you want to be a champion.“ Consistency has been the hallmark of Johnson, who now stands atop NASCAR as a one-man dynasty, much like Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Lance Armstrong in their sports. Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports team rules NASCAR the way UCLA once dominated the hardwood or Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls reigned supreme. Johnson’s title gave a record 12th overall championship to team owner Rick Hendrick, who was in North Carolina with a niece who’s awaiting an emergency liver transplant. In his absence, the team took the top three spots in the final standings. Mark Martin wound up with his fifth runner-up finish in the standings, while Gordon was third. “I feel really, really blessed to have had a chance,“ Martin said. There’s seemingly plenty of chances left for Johnson’s tag-team with crew chief Chad Knaus to keep the No. 48 in the title hunt for another decade. The 34-year-old Californian on Friday signed a five-year contract extension to drive for Hendrick through 2015, and Knaus has insisted the No. 48 team can keep this pace for the next several years. “He’s not done yet,“ teammate Martin said. Johnson never let up in pursuit of the championship, even though he needed only to finish 25th or better to get it yesterday. But he pushed for all 400 miles and even threatened to try to run down the leaders to better his eventual fifth-place finish. “History, boys!“ he shouted as he crossed the finish line. “How about some history!“ Upon leaving his car in victory lane, Johnson first thanked the fans, tears sparkling in his eyes. “Man, it’s going to take a while to sink in,“ he said. Johnson, who won seven races this season, grabbed four in the Chase and played it safe only once, at Talladega when he ran near the back of the field most of the day to avoid the trouble at the Alabama track. Only the joke was on him when his problems popped up a week later, at Texas, where he was wrecked on the third lap and lost 111 points from his cushion over Martin. It still left him with a cozy 78-point margin headed into last weekend’s race at Phoenix, where he probably could have laid back and protected his lead. “Jimmie is an incredible, incredible talent. He is the most underrated driver in this garage,“ Knaus said. “That guy can do things in a race car that I’ve never seen before. I hope this proves it to everybody.“ His competitors insist time will take care of Johnson’s legacy, but they continue to marvel at his success. “If you would have told me four years ago that someone would win four championships in a row, I would have told you you were crazy,“ said Burton said. -Jenna Fryer |
