In 65 years of Carolina League play, no hitter had broken the single season doubles record, standing at a whopping 51 two-baggers. Countless future Major League All-Stars, MVPs, and Hall Of Famers passed through the league, but none of them could hit that many doubles. When you put things in that context, Joey Terdoslavich's 2011 season for the Lynchburg Hillcats goes from simply amazing to historically astonishing. The 22 year old first baseman rapped out his 52nd double of the year in the 1st inning of today's season finale, putting him alone at the top of the record book. Congratulations to Joey on his historic season and we can only hope it's the first of many phenomenal years for him in his career.
Gwinnett Braves - Rained Out
Rained caused a two hour delay to Gwinnett's season finale, and after only 4 innings of play the downpour was so consistent it caused the game to be called. International League rules prevent a game from being made up after the last day of the regular season, but the game didn't matter much anyways as Lehigh Valley won their game in a rain shortened 6 innings, officially eliminating Gwinnett from the post season before the even took the field. The g0Braves finished with a 78-65 record, second place in the IL South Division.
Mississippi Braves 4, Carolina Mudcats 0
- Sean Henry LF 3-4, 2 2B, .277 AVG
- Ernesto Mejia 1B 2-4, 2B, HR (26), 3 RBI, .297 AVG
- Cory Harrilchak RF 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, .266 AVG
- Marcus Lemon 2B 2-4, .247 AVG
- Chris Masters 7 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA
- Andrew Wilson 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 2.13 ERA
- Yeliar Castro 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 3.25 ERA
Ernesto Mejia hit his 37th homer of the year and his 26th double of the year. He finishes the season with a .297 average and a .906 OPS, and set Mississippi single season records for hits (148), homers (26), and RBI (97). Cory Harrilchak reached on a double and a walk, and in the 5 game series near his hometown of Cary, NC, he went 7-18 with 4 doubles, a triple, a homer, 2 RBI, and 3 walks. After hitting .234 with a .675 OPS in 214 at bats before the All-Star break, the 22 year old hit .298 with a .797 OPS in 215 at bats after the break, to finish the year with a .266 average, a .737 OPS, 26 doubles, 5 triples, 7 homers, 56 RBI, and 10 steals. Chris Masters made his AA debut and was fantastic, striking out 4 while allowing 5 hits and a walk over 7 shutout innings. He finshes his year with a 10-5 record, a 3.19 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP in 155.1 innings between Lynchburg and the 1 game with Mississippi. His 148.1 innings with Lynchburg led the Carolina league, and impressive feat considering he started the year in the bullpen.
Mississippi finished the second half with a 36-34 record in the second half, good for second place in the Southern League South Division. The team's overall record was 61-79, which put them last in the South Division, the second worst record in the league.
Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Winston-Salem Dash 3
- Andrelton Simmons SS 2-4, .311 AVG
- Shawn McGill C 3-4, .289 AVG
- Joey Terdoslavich 1B 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, .286 AVG
- Gerry Rodriguez DH 3-4, 2B, RBI, .219 AVG
- David Hale 7 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K, W (4), 4.10 ERA
- Blaine Sims 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 3.66 ERA
- Ryan Buchter 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K, SV (15), 3.59 ERA
Tersoslavich not only had his historic double, but walks and drove in 2 runs. He finishes the year with a .286 average, a .867 OPS, 52 doubles, 2 triples, 20 homers, and 82 RBI. He had 74 extra base hits and 254 total bases, and did it all while only striking out in 8% of his at bats. Andrelton Simmons had a pair of singles, and ended his year with a 5 game hitting streak that saw him go 10-20 with 2 doubles. He led the league in hits (161) and batting average (.311), and finished with a .759 OPS, 35 doubles, 6 triples, a homer, 52 RBI, and 26 stolen bases. Shawn McGill had 3 singled, and in the last 10 games he played in he hit .455 with a 1.217 OPS. Gerry Rodriguez also had a 3 hit day, and in his last 10 games of the year he hit .344 with a 1.072 OPS. David Hale ended his season with a quality start, and in his last 3 starts he allowed 6 earned runs over 21 innings, striking out 20. He finishes the year with a 4-6 record, a 4.10 ERA, and a 1.35 WHIP, though in 78.2 innings over 13 starts he had a 3.66 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Blaine Sims finshes his year with a 3-8 record, a 3.90 ERA, and a 1.47 WHIP in 90 innings between Lynchburg and Rome, though those numbers are marred by a 7.11 ERA and a 2.37 WHIP in only 6.1 innings for Rome. Ryan Buchter had a 3.59 ERA, a 1.36 WHIP, a 10.3 K/9 rate, and 15 saves in 42.2 innings over 34 appearances after joining the Braves organization in May.
Lynchburg finished the second half with a 30-38 record, third place in the Carolina League Southern Division. Their overall record was 60-78, the worst record in the league.
Rome Braves 2, Augusta GreenJackets 3
- Matt Lipka SS 2-2, 2B, .247 AVG
- Tommy La Stella 2B 1-3, 2B, RBI, E (11), .328 AVG
- David Rohm RF 2-4, 2B, .289 AVG
- Edward Salcedo DH 1-3, .248 AVG
- Matt Weaver 3B 2-3, 2B, RBI, .286 AVG
- Ronan Pacheco 6 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 5.00 ERA
- Lucas La Point 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 0.00 ERA
Matt Lipka had a pair of hits, including a double, and ended his season with a 7 game hitting streak that saw him go 13-30 with 4 doubles, 3 RBI, 3 walks, and 3 stolen bases. It was a fine finish to a disappointing season for the 19 year old, who hit .247 with a .305 OBP, a .608 OPS, 21 doubles, 37 RBI, and 28 stolen bases. Tommy La Stella ended his year with a 6 game hitting streak that saw him go 10-26 with 3 doubles, a homer, 7 RBI, and 4 walks. The 22 year old had the most impressive season of any 2011 Braves draftee, hitting .328 with a .944 OPS, 13 doubles, 5 triples, 9 homers, and 40 RBI in 232 at bats for Rome. The only downside to his year was 11 errors in 60 games at second base. David Rohm finished his year with a 8 game hitting streak, going 17-38 with 4 doubles, a homer, and 3 RBI in that span. After a disappointing first half that saw him hit .250 with a .680 OPS in 232 at bats, the 21 year old had a great second half, hitting .325 with a .840 OPS in 249 at bats, finishing the year with a .289 average, a .763 OPS, 32 doubles, 8 triples, 7 home runs, and 58 RBI. Edward Salcedo's year was the opposite, as he started well, hitting .268 with a .766 OPS in 250 at bats before the break, before slumping to a .229 average and a .656 OPS in 258 at bats after the break. The 20 year old finished with a .248 average, a .711 OPS, 27 doubles, 6 triples, 12 homers, 68 RBI, and 23 stolen bases. His error totals for the year were ugly, as he committed 7 errors in only 19 games at shortstop, and 40 in 100 games at third base, a position he had only played once before this year. Ronan Pacheco ended his year with a quality start, putting a nice cap on a rough season that saw him go 5-9 with a 5.00 ERA and a 1.48 ERA. He struggled mightily after the All-Star break, with a 6.42 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP in 40.2 innings. After putting up a 4-3 record, a 2.19 ERA, and a 1.20 WHIP in 53.1 innings for Danville, Lucas La Point ended his year by making his Rome debut, striking out 5 over 2 perfect innings.
Rome finished the second half with a 35-35 record, fifth in the South Atlantic League southern Division. Their overall record was 60-80, also fifth in the Southern Division.