Simmons Rehabs, Schlosser And Moore Dominate, And The Hillcats Offense Explodes As Lynchburg And Rome Win In Wednesday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Playoff Action

An explosive Lynchburg offense combined with a dominant performance by Gus Schlosser to give the Hillcats a win in their playoff opener and Navery Moore's 6 no hit innings combined with timely hitting from Tony Mueller and Cory Brownsten gave Rome a win in their playoff opener.

Lynchburg Hillcats 8, Wilmington Blue Rocks 0

• Dan Brewer LF 2-4, SAC
  
• Nick Ahmed SS 2-4, 2 RBI, BB, SB
• Tommy La Stella 2B 2-5, 3 RBI
• Edward Salcedo DH 1-4, BB, SB
  
• Braden Schlehuber C 2-3, SAC
• Emerson Landoni 3B 3-4
• Gus Schlosser 8 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K, W
  
• John Cornely 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K
  

Carolina League Pitcher Of The Year Gus Schlosser didn't disappoint, shutting out the Blue Rocks over 8 scoreless innings, helping Lynchburg to win their playoff opener. He allowed just 3 hits and a walk while striking out 6 batters. John Cornely, who didn't allow a run in 4 appearances with Lynchburg at the end of the season, struck out 3 of the 3 batters he faced. The Hillcats offense was running on all cylinders, as the team scored 8 runs on 15 hits, with every starter recording at least 1 hit and 5 players collecting at least 2 hits. Chris Garcia drove in Dan Brewer in the first, and the team wouldn't score again until the 5th, when Nick Ahmed singled in Emerson Landoni. The Hillcats broke out at the end of the game, with Tommy La Stella driving in 3 of the 6 runs the team scored between the 8th and 9th innings.

Game 2 takes place Thursday night in Lynchburg, with Hillcats lefty Dimasther Delgado set to take on Jason Adam. Andrelton Simmons will join Lynchburg to continue his rehab assignment.

Rome Braves 5, Asheville Tourists 3

Tony Mueller CF 2-4, 2 RBI

Andrelton Simmons SS 1-4, E

William Beckwith DH 1-3, BB

Robby Hefflinger LF 1-3, RBI, SF

Will Skinner RF 2-3, 2B

Cory Brownsten C 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI

Navery Moore 6 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 4 K, W

Ian Thomas 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K

David Peterson 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K, SV

Navery Moore was phenomenal tonight, no-hitting the Tourists in his 6 innings, striking out 4 and allowing only 2 baserunners, one on a 4th inning walk and the other on a 6th inning error by rehabbing Atlanta shortstop Andrelton Simmons. Simmons, playing in his first game ever with Rome, made the throwing error, which should be expected considering he's recovering from a broken pinky on his throwing finger, but also cleanly fielded 5 other balls and went 1-4 at the plate. Rome did most of their scoring in the 2nd, as Cory Brownsten doubled in William Beckwith and Robby Hefflinger and Tony Mueller singled in Brownsten and Will Skinner. Hefflinger drove in the team's other run in the 3rd by driving in Ross Heffley with a sacrifice fly. Asheville scored all 3 of their runs in the 9th when Nathan Hyatt loaded the bases without recording an out before being relieved by David Peterson, who allowed all 3 runners to score before getting the final 3 outs for the unconventional save.

Thursday will be an off day before the two teams play Game 2 of their series Friday in Asheville.