Lynchburg has ridden a six-game winning streak to propel the Hillcats into first place in the Carolina Northern League Division.
Lynchburg (32-20) is 2.5 games ahead of Wilmington (29-22), which has lost five of its last six games to drop down into second place. The Hillcats have also won eight of its last 10 games.
Shortstop Ernie Clement who was activated from the 7-day disabled list on August 9 has continued to impress in a limited amount of time spent with the Hillcats this season. He was 3-for-7 including a double in two games this past week with a run scored and an RBI.
Clement has slashed .346/.425/.421 (.846 OPS) in 33 games for Lynchburg. He’s hitting 46-for-133 with one home run and seven doubles along with 15 walks and just seven strikeouts.
Clement, who started the season at Lake County, has seen his status within the organization grow quickly. He was promoted to the Double-A Akron on August 14 and promptly went 3-for-9 in his first two games for the RubberDucks. He is considered to be the Cleveland Indians 26th ranked prospect.
Catcher Li-Jen Chu, 24, who was born in Taichung, Taiwan, and signed in 2012 as a non-draft free agent by the Indians, also has had a fine season with the Hillcats. He was promoted to Akron on August 15.
The catcher has slashed .278/.351/.434 (.785 OPS) in 81 games for Lynchburg. He’s hitting 82-for-295 with eight home runs and 20 doubles along with 32 walks and 68 strikeouts. In three games with Akron, Chu is hitting 3-for-10 with three RBI.
Left-handed starter Sam Hentges (6-6, 3.27) is putting a bow on his first season with the Hillcats. Hentges, 22, is listed at 6 feet 6 inches, and was a fourth-round pick of the Indians in 2014 out of high school from Mounds View, Arden Hills, Minnesota.
He had Tommy John surgery in June 2016 when pitching in Lake County. He returned in 2017 to play in the Arizona League and the New York-Penn League and made 11 starts and pitching 30.2 innings. He was promoted to Lynchburg to start the 2018 season and has looked good in his first full healthy season after the surgery.
Hentges has made 23 starts for the Hillcats in 2018 and has pitched 118.1 innings averaging just a bit more than 5 innings per outing. He has struck out 122 and walked 53 hitters. He has given up 114 and four home runs.
During his five seasons of professional baseball, Hentges is averaging 9.93 strikeouts and 4.17 walks per nine innings. Hentges has given up 272 hits in 278 innings in his career and allowed 19 home runs. He is considered the Indians No. 8 ranked prospect.
Weekly transactions: C Gianpaul Gonzalez was assigned to Lynchburg from Akron, 3B Tyler Friis was assigned to Lynchburg from Lake County, and 3B Erlin Cerda was assigned to Lake County from Lynchburg on August 14.
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