Hillcats officially eliminated from playoff chase

By Chris Humphreys
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: August 27, 2008

It was another soggy, miserable night for the Hillcats as Frederick scored seven runs before Lynchburg got its first hit and the Keys cruised to a 7-3 victory Tuesday at City Stadium.

The loss eliminated the Hillcats from playoff contention.

“They way we’ve been playing we should (be eliminated),” Lynchburg manager Jeff Branson said. “They are playing for jobs right now.”

Keys starting pitcher Brandon Erbe, a third-round pick in the 2005 draft from Baltimore, dominated Lynchburg.

He worked the first seven innings, allowing no runs, two hits, a walk and struck out nine.

The only time the Hillcats (25-39) got a base runner to second against Erbe was in the fifth inning when Chris Jones singled and went to second base on an error by left fielder Paul Winterling.

“We didn’t swing the bats worth crap the last two nights. Guys have been going up there and hitting like they’ve never hit before,” Branson said.

The Hillcats were held to just one hit on Monday by the Keys, giving them a total of two hits in the first 16 innings of the homestand against Frederick.

While Erbe was blowing throws by the Lynchburg lineup, the Keys were building a comfortable lead with a some help from two Hillcats errors.

Brandon Tripp doubled home Brandon Synder, who had doubled with two outs, in the first to put the Keys up 1-0.
Justin Johnson plated Chris Amador, who had led off the inning with a double and stole third, with a groundball to second.

But it was in the fifth inning that the Keys really did their damage.

Frederick pushed across five unearned runs and the inning was capped by a grand slam to left center by Amador.

“They were lackadaisical errors that were inexcusable,” Branson said. “(The grand slam) is what happens when you make errors and give teams extra outs.”

Lynchburg put together a rally in the eighth but it was too little too late.

Jones led off with his second hit of the night, Danny Bomback drew a walk, James Barkdale doubled to score Jones, Brian Friday scored Bomback and Barksdale eventually scored on a throwing error by Keys catcher Johnson.
Amador went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and scored twice.

Snyder finished the night 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.

“Our main focus is that we aren’t getting any base runners,” Branson said. “We aren’t even putting any good swings on the ball.”