Gameday Magazine May

left-handed hitter also was tops on the team in hits (27) RBI (13) doubles (7) OBP (.394), and stolen bases (9). Capel had an 11-game hitting streak from 4/14-4/27. Another outfielder, Mitch Longo, finished the month with a team-best 13-game hitting streak, in which he hit .327. Longo reached base in all 19 games he played in last month. He hit .288 overall, but batted .328 since being inserted into the leadoff spot in the order. Hillcats starter Justin Garza won back- to-back Carolina League Pitcher of the Week awards for the first two weeks of the season. The right-hander did not allow an earned run through his first 18.1 innings of the year. The weekly awards were the first Garza has earned in his career, after missing a majority of the last two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. Left-hander Sam Hentges earned the Opening Day start for the Hillcats, and went 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA through five starts in April. The former fourth round pick had a dominant 10 strikeout performance against the Frederick Keys on April 17, when he tossed six scoreless innings.

Relief pitcher Ben Krauth had a domi- nant April, striking out 23 batters in 12.1 innings pitched. The lefty had a 0.73 ERA and had the second most strikeouts in the league for a pitcher who had not started a game. Hitters batted just .053 against him in April, the lowest mark in the league. He also ranked first in the league in highest strikeout/9 IP ratio (16.87), and second in fewest baserunners/9 IP ratio (5.06). Krauth, as well as reliever Henry Marti- nez and infielder Alexis Pantoja, were- members of the Hillcats Opening Day Roster who were already promoted to Double-A Akron this season. Krauth was transferred back to Lynchburg af- ter one Double-A appearance, in which he tossed two scoreless innings. As of the end of April, Martinez and Pantoja are still playing in Akron. In May, the Hillcats have just one off day, playing 30 games in 31 days. Lynchburg will play host in 12 of those games, with 18 road contests sched- uled after a home-heavy April. The Hill- cats will face Salem, Myrtle Beach and Carolina for the first time this season after not seeing them in the first month of the year.