With Potomac and Hagerstown eliminated, Ross looking for simulated game

High Single-A Potomac fell at Lynchburg 3-1 in Game 3 of the best-of-three Carolina League Northern Division series Friday night. The Hillcats won the series, two games to one.

The loss ended the P-Nats' season despite a tremendous effort from left-hander Matt Crownover, who allowed one earned run over six innings. The P-Nats were just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Potomac had won the first game at home 7-0, but lost Game 2 6-5 in 14 innings. The P-Nats were one strike away from advancing in the 12th inning, but a bizarre play allowed the Hillcats new life.

"(Thursday's) game was a 14-inning roller coaster of emotion in which the final out for us to win the game was in the glove and then, after a collision, the ball trickled out and they tied the game in the 12th," Potomac manager Tripp Keister explained.

"I'm really proud of this group because they kept working and kept fighting until the last out. The scoreboard says we lost, but these guys have a bright future. We came up short, but it was an intense series in that every pitch was important and they gave me everything they could give."

When Potomac and Lynchburg first tangled back in April, you got a sense then that these two teams would battle for the division crown in the end. That is exactly what ended up happening.

It will be Lynchburg's first trip to the Mills Cup championship series since they took the title in 2012. The Myrtle Beach Pelicans defeated the Salem Red Sox 2-1 in the finale of the Southern Division series Friday night. The championship battle between the Hillcats and Pelicans gets underway Saturday at TicketReturn.com Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

In the South Atlantic League division series, Lakewood outlasted Hagerstown 5-2 to win the best-of-three series two games to none. The Suns finished 83-59. The Blue Claws will face the winner of the Rome/Charleston series for the league title. That series is even at one game apiece after Charleston won 4-3 on Friday night.

Ian Sagdal smashed a solo homer and Tyler Beckwith laid down a perfect suicide squeeze to account for the Suns offense in the loss.

"I couldn't be more proud of all the players that progressed and got promoted along with battled thru a lot of their first full season in professional basebal," said hagerstown manager Patrick Anderson." We ended with seven original players who started with us from opening night.

"This staff was downright awesome to work with everyday. On same page and followed the plans of each player set forth by our rovers. Truly happy about this year as a whole."

The Hagerstown loss also means that Nationals right-hander Joe Ross will not appear for them in Game 3 tonight. Ross will now have to pitch in a simulated game for the Nats or pitch in Viera. Fla., at the team's minor league complex. Ross is rehabbing from right shoulder inflammation that currently has him on the 60-day disabled list.