The Lynchburg Hillcats are on the verge of clinching a playoff spot with a commanding lead in the Carolina Northern League Division.
For the second half of the season, Lynchburg is (36-22) and leads the division by 6.5 games with 12 remaining to play. Second place Potomac (29-28) and third place Wilmington (29-29) have an elimination number of six.
Lynchburg will face Potomac starting tonight with a three-game series on the road, then head home to host Wilmington for a four-game series.
If everything falls into place, the Hillcats could eliminate the Nationals with a series sweep on Sunday and clinch the division if Wilmington loses its next three games. If not, the Hillcats would have the chance to take care of business with victories at home against the Blue Rocks.
Wilmington had been the division leader in the second half for a large chunk of the season, but the Blue Rocks are on a 12-game losing streak and have lost 13 of the last 14 games.
Meanwhile, the Hillcats have won eight of the last 10 games to take control of the division.
It’s been quite the turnaround in the second half for Lynchburg, which finished the first half of the season in last place (26-38) in the Carolina Northern League Division.
Four clubs will qualify for the postseason, the winners of each half in each division. So at this point, Lynchburg is looking to face Potomac, which won the first half with a record of 37-30.
Both Division Series will open on the second day following the conclusion of the scheduled regular season. They will continue on consecutive days until a champion is determined. The two half winners within each division will face each other in a best-of five series to determine the division champion. The first two games will be played on the grounds of the second half winner, and the remaining necessary game(s) on the grounds of the first half winner.
Weekly transactions: Lynchburg placed RHP Nick Pasquale on the 7-day disabled list, RHP Luis Jimenez was assigned to Lynchburg from the Lake County Captains on Aug. 23; Nick Sandlin was assigned to the Akron RubberDucks from Lynchburg, and RHP Justin Garza was assigned to Lynchburg Hillcats from the Mahoning Valley Scrappers on Aug. 22; Lynchburg placed LHP Sam Hentges on the 7-day disabled list retroactive to August 16, and Lynchburg activated LHP Anderson Polanco from the 7-day disabled list on Aug. 20.
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