Lynchburg Hillcats shortstop Ernie Clement, 22, who played college ball at Virginia, continues his hot streak of play after his promotion to high Class A baseball on June 23.
He is slashing .370/.452/.397 in 18 games for the Hillcats and is hitting 27-for-73 with 17 runs scored, two doubles, nine walks and just three strikeouts.
Clement, who is a fourth-round pick of the Indians in 2017 and is the Indians No. 25 rated prospect, also has two steals in four attempts for Lynchburg.
He was named the 2016 MVP of the Summer Cape Cod League and projects to be a top of the order type hitter with good contact rates. In college, he struck out just 31 times in 841 plate appearances (3.7 percent).
Defensively, Clement played second base and in center during his freshman and sophomore seasons in college, but then moved to shortstop as a junior. He has played some second base and shortstop during his professional career.
Outfielders Mitch Longo, who is the Indians No. 28 rated prospect, and Conner Capel, who is the Indians No. 11 rated prospect, continue to be consistent hitters for the Hillcats this season with Longo slashing .295/.341/.442 and Capel with .274/.367/.419.
After 21 games in the second half, Lynchburg is in a three-way tie for first place in the Carolina Northern League Division.
The Hillcats (12-9) are tied with Wilmington (11-8) and Salem (12-9) after finishing 2-4 during the past week.
During the past week, the Hillcats lost 9-7 on July 7 and won 4-0 against Wilmington. Lynchburg then dropped three in a row to Potomac by scores of 7-4, 2-1, and 6-3 after winning the first game of the four-game series with a 6-3 victory on July 9.
Weekly transactions: Lynchburg released LHP Alsis Herrera on July 9, the Hillcats activated 3B Gavin Collins from the 7-day disabled list and Catcher Logan Ice was assigned to the Akron RubberDucks from Lynchburg on July 12.
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