Lynchburg Hillcats

• Location: Lynchburg, VA
• League: Carolina League 1995-2019; Low-A East 2021; Carolina League 2022-
• Affiliation: Pittsburgh Pirates 1995-2009, Cincinnati Reds 2010, Atlanta Braves 2011-2014; Cleveland Indians/Guardians 2015-present
• Ballpark: Bank of the James Stadium

Team History

1995-2016 Logo

The Lynchburg Hillcats, of the Single-A Carolina League and briefly in Low-A East, once saved themselves by selling themselves. The Cleveland Guardians farmhands play their home games at Calvin Falwell Field at Bank of the James Stadium in Lynchburg, VA.

In 2012, their then-parent Atlanta Braves bought their only non-owned farm club in order to move it to Wilmington, NC - if that city built a new stadium. Voters kicked that, the Braves didn't renew and Lynchburg changed tribes to the then-Indians. Calvin Falwell had founded the non-profit Lynchburg Baseball Corporation in 1966 to save the game for his city, seamlessly replacing its just-lost team, but the 2012 experience led the LBC to sell in 2016 to Elmore Sports Group on its promise to stay. ESG promptly stuck a toe in the water of a nickname change, but "Hillcats" won a landslide fan vote. Instead, a new color scheme and logo followed.

MLB's 2021 Minor League Reorganization lowered the 'Cats one level.

Three of the Guardians' four affiliates are in Ohio - which has no Single-A teams, making the 'Cats the closest feasible one. Two of the level are actually closer to Cleveland, but the Salem Red Sox were until recently owned by the Boston Red Sox and the Fredericksburg Nationals have much better geographic fits in both their present parent Washington Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles.

The Hillcats play Copa de la Diversión Hispanic engagement campaign games as Limonadas de Hill City (Lynchburg Lemonades).

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs	Hitting Coach	Pitching Coach	Coach
1995	67-71	5th	Marc Hill			Jim Bibby	Jeff Richardson
1996	65-74	6th	Jeff Banister		Omer Munoz	Jim Bibby
1997	82-58	2nd	Jeff Banister (40-30) / Jeff Richardson (42-28)	League Champs	Richie Hebner	Jim Bibby
1998	69-71	4th (t)	Jeff Richardson (61-60) / Jeff Livesey (8-11)		Jeff Livesey	Jim Bibby
1999	64-73	6th	Scott Little		Greg Briley	Jim Bibby
2000	66-72	6th	Tracy Woodson	Lost League Finals	Tony Beasley	Scott Lovekamp
2001	58-79	7th	Curtis Wilkerson		Greg Briley	Blaine Beatty
2002	87-53	2nd	Pete Mackanin	League Champs	Jeff Livesey	Blaine Beatty
2003	76-59	2nd	Dave Clark	Lost League Finals	Jeff Livesey	Scott Lovekamp
2004	57-81	7th	Jay Loviglio / Tom Prince		Greg Briley	Scott Lovekamp
2005	78-62	2nd	Tim Leiper	Lost in 1st round	Brandon Moore	Bob Milacki
2006	63-75	7th	Gary Green		Ramon Sambo	Bob Milacki
2007	55-82	8th	Jeff Branson		Greg Briley	Bob Milacki
2008	58-80	7th	Jeff Branson		Chris Truby	Bob Milacki / Mike Steele
2009	73-66	3rd	P.J. Forbes	League Champs	Dave Howard	Wally Whitehurst
2010	61-77	7th	Pat Kelly		Tony Jaramillo	Rigo Beltran
2011	60-78	8th	Rick Albert (1-4) / Luis Salazar (59-74)		Bobby Moore	Derek Botelho
2012	72-68	3rd	Luis Salazar	League Champs	Bobby Moore	Derek Botelho
2013	69-70	5th	Luis Salazar	Lost in 1st round	John Moses	Derek Botelho
2014	68-71	4th	Luis Salazar	Lost in 1st round	John Moses / Carlos Méndez	Derrick Lewis
2015	72-68	3rd	Mark Budzinski	Lost in 1st round	Bobby Magallanes	Tony Arnold/Rigo Beltran
2016	84-56	2nd	Mark Budzinski	Lost League Finals	Larry Day	Rigo Beltran
2017	87-52	1st	Tony Mansolino	League Co-Champs	Kevin Howard	Rigo Beltran	Kyle Hudson
2018	71-66	4th	Rouglas Odor	Lost in 1st round	Justin Toole	Tony Arnold	Grant Fink
2019	62-73	8th	Jim Pankovits		Johnny Narron	Joe Torres	Mike Mergenthaler
2020	Season cancelled
2021	58-62	7th	Dennis Malave		Chris Smith	Tony Arnold	Juan De La Cruz
2022	63-68	8th	Omir Santos	Lost League Finals	Craig Massoni	Kevin Erminio	Daniel Robertson
2023	67-64	4th (t)	Jordan Smith		Ordomar Valdez	Tony Arnold	Yan Rivera
2024			Jordan Smith		Cole Nieto	Tony Arnold	Erlin Cerda

Related Sites

• LynchburgHillcats.com