High heat cools Hillcats’ bats in opening game of playoffs

Before each game, Hillcats pitching coach Dave Howard shares his plan with the team. Wednesday’s plan: Lay off the high fastball, the specialty of Wilmington starter Eduardo Paulino.

The only problem? The Hillcats didn’t follow the plan. They flailed at high fastball after high fastball, allowing Paulino to dictate. Wilmington won the opener of the Carolina League’s Northern Division championship series, holding Lynchburg to six hits in a 7-1 victory. Game 2 is here today.

Paulino’s success was not unexpected. He was 3-0 with a 2.59 ERA in four starts against Lynchburg this season, and given an early 4-0 lead, he cruised to another win Wednesday in front of a smattering of locals. Announced attendance: 585.

“He’ll have a lot of games like that, where they’ll get a hit here or a hit there, but not many of them are really centered,” Blue Rocks pitching coach Steve Luebber said. “He works along and works along, and next thing you know, he’s in the sixth or seventh inning.”

Such was the case Wednesday, as Paulino worked 6 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and one earned run. He struck out four and walked two, the only damage coming in the sixth when Jordy Mercer belted a fastball over the middle of the plate over the left-field wall.

“You have to give Paulino credit, because he executed his gameplan well,” Mercer said. “We just chased stuff. We didn’t execute our plan tonight. That’s what it comes down to. If we did, we would have put more guys on base and scored some more runs.”

Wilmington pecked away at Lynchburg in the second inning, as the Hillcats committed two errors, leading to three unearned runs. Starter Justin Wilson struck out nine and walked none in five innings, but he threw 33 pitches trying to get out of that second-inning mess.

Eric Hosmer worked a full count before hitting a slow single to left. Wilson forced Nick Van Stratten to hit a ground ball to short, but Mercer misplayed what looked like a sure double-play ball, and both runners were safe.

“It was a chopper, and it popped up a little bit,” Mercer said. “I caught it, and the exchange just wasn’t there.”

Jamar Walton, Anthony Seratelli, Derrick Robinson and Mike Moustakas all hit RBI singles in the second as Wilmington, which has won 16 of the 21 meetings with Lynchburg, took a 4-0 lead.

The Hillcats did bring the tying run to the plate once, in the seventh inning. Alex Presley hit a two-out double and Jose De Los Santos reached on an infield single against reliever Louis Coleman. Chase d’Arnaud quickly fell into an 0-2 hole, though, and took a called third strike on the high, inside corner, ending the threat.

Tonight, left-hander Rudy Owens, the South Atlantic League pitcher of the year, takes the mound for the Hillcats as they try to knot the series before it shifts to Delaware for Games 3 and, if necessary, 4.

“They’ve got to win three games,” Hillcats manager P.J. Forbes said. “One game doesn’t make a series. We’ve got to find a way to be better both offensively and defensively.”