Hillcats balanced out tragedies with some success stories

Joey Terdoslavich offered a fitting end to the Hillcats’ season Monday, hitting a seventh-inning sacrifice fly to help Lynchburg secure a 4-3 victory. It was an up-and-down game, a total battle, much like the 2011 season was for the Hillcats, who started slowly in April and never got on the sort of roll that allows a team to make it to the postseason.

The Hillcats won as many as four games in a row only twice, once in each half of the season. Every little hot streak seemed to be matched by a maddening cold streak. Awful starts plagued the team in each half. They lost 10 of their first 11 games in April. With a young team featuring a core group of athletes playing their first year of full-season baseball, that was somewhat understandable.

That same core returned in the second half, though, and the results were similar. Lynchburg started 2-7 in the second half and was never really in contention for the Carolina League Northern Division’s second playoff spot. The Hillcats played the entire 140-game season below the .500 mark.

"Talent-wise, we have one of the best teams in the league," pitcher David Hale said. "But with injuries, and people moving up … minor-league baseball is kind of like that."

Despite the poor on-field results, there were plenty of positive developments as the Hillcats played for the first time as an Atlanta Braves affiliate. Unlike the last two offseasons, there will be no uncertainty in regards to who will be Lynchburg’s parent club next season. The Hillcats will be a Braves’ affiliate for at least the next three seasons.

* On May 15, Terdoslavich was hitting .252 with five doubles. So it would have been hard to predict the sort of extra-base hitting prowess the former Long Beach State and Miami standout would show the rest of the season. From May 16 on, he hit 47 doubles. He finished the year with 20 home runs and hit .286 and earned Braves organizational player of the year honors. Not bad for a guy who wasn’t even among Atlanta’s Top 30 prospects entering the season.

"If before the season, somebody told me I would have done that, I would have been very happy with that," Terdoslavich said. "Fifty-two doubles is a record, and it’s tough to hit 20 home runs in this league. It’s been known as a pitcher’s league for a very long time. It’s not an offensive league like the California League. … I’m very happy with the type of season I’ve come up with, and just the relationships I’ve made with my teammates and the growth we’ve made as a team."

* Andrelton Simmons would play strong defensively at shortstop. That was a certainty. The question was whether or not he could hit enough to stay in the lineup.

All Simmons did was win the Carolina League batting title, quieting many questions heading forward about his bat. Pitching has always been a fallback for Simmons, who can throw in the high 90s and closed games at Western Oklahoma when he was in junior college. His success at the plate this season makes it more and more likely that his future is in the infield.

"Don’t be surprised if he’s in the major leagues at some point next season," manager Luis Salazar said.

* Phil Gosselin had a four-game stretch in mid-April in which he made an error in each game. After that, the former UVa star settled down at second base and began to play the position with more confidence. As a Cavalier, he played mostly in the outfield, so adjusting to an everyday job at second base took some time.

Before ending the season on the disabled list, Gosselin settled in as the Hillcats’ No. 3 hitter and recorded nine three-hit games.

* Arodys Vizcaino, who opened the season in the Hillcats’ rotation, ended the year in Atlanta’s bullpen, a huge rise for a young pitcher whom the Braves deemed untouchable in trade-deadline talks.

* Weather wise, luck was on Lynchburg’s side. The Hillcats only lost one opening to rain, and that was on the Say No To Drugs Day in April, a game in which the franchise has very little expectation of gate revenue since it’s a morning game geared toward school children.

* The inspiring story of manager Luis Salazar, who lost his left eye when hit by a line drive in spring training, brought a lot of national attention to the club. Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, The New York Times, ESPN and many others covered Salazar’s comeback. When Salazar made his debut on April 15, more than 5,000 fans were in attendance at City Stadium. Salazar said that night remains the highlight of his entire baseball career.

* The American flag in center field flew at half staff for the last few weeks of the season at City Stadium after the death of Calvin Falwell, who was instrumental in bringing Carolina League baseball to Lynchburg.

Falwell, who was 90, formed and became president of Lynchburg Baseball Corp. in 1966 and continued as the chairman of the board of the corporation until his death. Under his watch, Lynchburg was affiliated with several major-league clubs, including the New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves. He also played a key role in the 2004 renovation of City Stadium.

His legacy will live on forever at the ballpark. The field was named Calvin Falwell Field at City Stadium in 2004.