Hillcats slugger breaks 65-year league record

It took all of two pitches for a 65-year-old Carolina League record to fall Monday at City Stadium.

Hillcats first baseman Joey Terdoslavich rapped the second pitch from Winston-Salem’s Jake Petricka off the top of the left-center field wall. In reality, Terdoslavich could have dug in and tried to reach third base. But Hillcats third-base coach Bobby Moore held both arms in the air, signaling Terdoslavich to stop at second.

The double was Terdoslavich’s 52nd, the most ever hit by a single player during a single season in the league, breaking the mark of 51 that Durham’s Woody Fair set in 1946. He later hit a seventh-inning sacrifice fly that lifted Lynchburg to a season-ending 4-3 victory.

“I didn’t know whether it was going to be a double or a home run,” Terdoslavich said. “I just started running. I wasn’t going to lose another one.”

Last Tuesday, Terdoslavich thought he had hit a home run. Instead, the ball hit off the wall, and with Terdoslavich in a home-run trot around the bases, he was thrown out at second base. He finally tied the league mark on Saturday, with his father in attendance to witness the feat.

“The one I really wanted to get was the 51st,” Terdoslavich said. “I started feeling the pressure a little bit after not getting one for a couple of games, especially after I should have had one. Once I got to 51, it’s not like I didn’t care any more, but I didn’t have any more pressure. … It was like a piano came off my back.”

Terdoslavich, who hit two home runs in 70 career games prior to this season, completed a breakout season in style. He hit .286 with 52 doubles, 20 home runs and 82 RBIs. Earlier this weekend, he was named the Atlanta Braves’ organizational player of the year.

“He’s got a lot of confidence, and he hits the ball with authority from both sides of the plate,” Hillcats manager Luis Salazar said. “He’s come a long way.”

Salazar said that Terdoslavich, who spent most of the year at first base this year, will work on his defense in left field during instructional league play this offseason.

Terdoslavich’s seventh-inning sac fly made a winner out of Hillcats starter David Hale, who had another strong start and finished the season on a high note after consecutive rough outings in mid-August. He took a 3-1 lead into the seventh, but Jared Mitchell tied it for Winston-Salem with a two-run triple. Still, he allowed five hits, three earned runs and one walk and struck out six in seven innings.

In his last three starts, Hale — who entered the year ranked 17th by Baseball America among Braves’ prospects — pitched 21 innings, allowed 17 hits, six earned runs, three walks and struck out 20.

“I feel like I’ve been throwing pretty well,” Hale said. “No matter who you are, you’re going to have a bad start here or there. I was happy that I was able to come back with three strong ones after that. I’m pleased with that.”

Lynchburg shortstop Andrelton Simmons went 2-for-4 Monday and finished the year with a .311 batting average to win the Carolina League batting title. He and Terdoslavich were named to the Carolina League’s post-season All-Star team. Three Hillcats players — catcher Christian Bethancourt, second baseman Phil Gosselin and outfielder Todd Cunningham — will play for the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League.