How the North was won

Last week, when Frederick made its final first-half visit to City Stadium, the Hillcats beat the Keys twice, each game decided by a single run, including one game in which Frederick out-hit Lynchburg 16-5.

Adam Pohl, the Keys’ radio broadcaster, marveled in the display. You know it’s your year when every break seems to go your way, Pohl noted, and that’s exactly what’s happened for the Hillcats, who clinched the first-half title in the Carolina League’s Northern Division Tuesday in Myrtle Beach.

There’s no doubt, luck has bounced the Hillcats’ way this season. They won a game last week against Frederick on a bases-loaded wild pitch in a driving rainstorm. They’re 15-7 in one-run games. But it’s not just luck. The Hillcats’ first half success boils down to three “C”s — control, chemistry and clutch.

Control

Several weeks ago, pitcher Chi-Hung Cheng was struggling with his command. Though the Hillcats lefty didn’t walk a lot of batters, he consistently fell behind in counts and labored to get through five innings.

Asked if he was concerned at all when Cheng got behind in nearly every count, Hillcats pitching coach Wally Whitehurst shook his head.

“No, not concerned,” he said. “I get (ticked) when we walked people.”

Actually, Whitehurst used a word that rhymes with “missed” to explain his displeasure.

The Pirates’ organizational mantra when it comes to pitching is simple — throw strikes. It doesn’t matter if you give up ground-ball hits; just don’t walk people. Whitehurst is adamant about his pitchers keeping the ball down in the zone.

As a result, the Hillcats’ pitching staff has issued fewer walks than any other Carolina League team, and by a wide margin. Entering Thursday’s game against Kinston, the Cats had issued 144 walks. The next lowest total was Potomac, with 184 walks issued. With fewer men on base, Hillcats pitchers have had less trouble to work out of, as evidenced by a team ERA of 3.73, second best in the league, behind Wilmington’s 3.46.

The best of the bunch has been reliever Michael Dubee, who has struck out 50 this season and walked just three.

“It’s kind of a competition between guys (in the bullpen),” Dubee said. “Who can go out there and put up the most zeroes? Who can one-up the other guy? We just have a great time with it.”

That bullpen has been a big reason for Lynchburg’s success. Hillcats relievers are 19-6 with 21 saves, a 3.26 ERA, 221 strikeouts and 68 walks.

Chemistry

Dubee and pitcher Jeff Locke came to the Hillcats from other organizations, Dubee in a trade with the White Sox and Locke in a trade with the Braves. The first thing they noticed was how free and loose the Lynchburg clubhouse was.

“It was evident on the flight over from spring training,” Hillcats third baseman Pedro Alvarez said. “It was a good group of guys, and everybody knew where we were going. So we started hanging out. You could just tell the guys liked each other.”

Once that group started having early-season success, that sense of camaraderie grew. It’s helped that the chemistry of the team hasn’t been disturbed, either. While many of the Carolina League’s top prospects — like Kinston’s Matt McBride, Salem’s Ryan Kalish and Winston-Salem’s Jordan Danks — have already moved up a level, Lynchburg’s roster has remained mostly intact.

“One of the main focuses this year, coming out of spring training, is that everybody wanted to win,” catcher Kris Watts said. “We wanted to do the little things, on and off the field, that were going to help us win ball games. Kind of selfless acts. Whether guys were struggling individually, everybody was doing the little things to help us win games, sacrificing at-bats, diving for ground balls.”

Clutch

The Hillcats entered Thursday’s game with the Carolina League’s second worst batting average (.246), but they lead the league with 338 runs, 21 more than Winston-Salem. In short, the Hillcats are very good at putting pressure on opponents and manufacturing runs. Before Thursday, Lynchburg had successfully stolen 62 out of 78 bases, the best in the league by far. Manager P.J. Forbes is a major advocate of old-school small ball, and in the first half, he rarely met a situational sacrifice bunt he didn’t like.

Chemistry helps here, as well. The Hillcats established early an ability to come back from deficits. Nine times, they’ve won when trailing after five innings, and three times, they’ve won when trailing after eight. They have four walk-off victories and won eight of their first nine one-run games.

“We have that tough, scrappy mentality,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez, in particular, has shown a flair for the dramatic. Twice, he’s pounded game-ending home runs at City Stadium.

Said Alvarez: “The game’s not over until it’s over.”

And for the first time in four years, the Hillcats’ season won’t be over in early September.