Wieters wrecks Hillcats' night

There are plenty of people — mostly Orioles fans — who wouldn’t mind seeing Frederick catcher and prized prospect Matt Wieters make a quick ascent through Baltimore’s minor league system.
Count the Hillcats pitching staff among them.
Wieters continued to terrorize Lynchburg pitching, hitting two home runs and driving in three in the Keys’ 8-1 win at City Stadium on Friday.
The smooth-swinging catcher, who the Orioles took with the fifth overall selection in last year’s draft (one pick after the Pirates), has shown himself worthy of being ranked by Baseball America as the 12th overall prospect in the minor leagues.
“I don’t put any (pressure) on myself,” he said after his 3-for-4 night. “Once you step across the lines, it’s just nine guys going against nine guys, trying to get a win. That’s pretty much what I like to look at it as: just playing baseball. Just like when you were little.”
He’s putting up Little League-like numbers against the Hillcats (15-19) this season. In five games, Wieters is 7-for-15 with four home runs, seven runs and seven RBIs. Friday marked the second time he hit two home runs in a game against Lynchburg, matching his heroics in the season opener, when he did it in his first two at bats.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder didn’t waste any time getting to work Friday. Batting right-handed in the first inning, he smacked the first pitch he saw from Brian Holliday (1-1) out to the opposite field in right-center to put the Keys (19-15) on top 1-0.
“He’s hot right now,” Hillcats catcher Steve Lerud said. “You just hope he doesn’t do too much damage.”
He did. In his next two at bats, Wieters flew out to the warning track in center and lined an RBI single to right, helping Frederick jump out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth.
In the seventh, with Lynchburg reliever Jeff Sues pitching, the switch hitter flashed some power from the left side. This time he crushed a high fastball to dead center, putting it in the netting just beyond the double-high wall that serves as the batter’s eye.
It tied him with teammate Brandon Tripp for the Carolina League lead with seven home runs.
“He’s one guy that you’ve got to execute your pitches on,” Hillcats manager Jeff Branson said. “You can’t leave anything up elevated in the zone or he’ll hurt you, as we saw tonight.”
Lynchburg’s only run came on a Lerud home run in the fourth. He now has six on the year, third most in the league and halfway to a career high.
Frederick starter Jake Renshaw (5-2) gave up one run on three hits in six innings, striking out four to earn the win.
His counterpart, Holliday, who was back after making a spot start at Double-A Altoona, gave up six runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, leaving after issuing a solo homer to Brandon Snyder.
As for Wieters, he seems to have the Carolina League down. He’s batting .355 (second in the league), with 21 RBIs (fourth) and a .598 slugging percentage (first), prompting many to think he’ll make the leap to the next level in the not-so-distant future.
“For the type of strength that he has in his first year out of the draft and being able to handle the pitching that he’s seen,” Lerud said, “it’s something else.”
NOTES: The Hillcats will wear pink jerseys tonight for the second annual Breast Cancer Awareness night. The jerseys will be auctioned off during the game and the proceeds given to the Susan G. Komen For the Cure foundation. Last year, the team donated $7,500. … Jared Keel was the only Hillcat with two hits.