Salem Red Sox vs. Lynchburg Hillcats
Best-of-5 championship series begins Monday, Sept. 14

Salem

• Southern Division champions
• Overall record: 67-72

Lynchburg

• Northern Division champions
• Overall record: 73-66

The Salem Red Sox, who lost in the Finals to Frederick in 2007 when they were still known as the Avalanche, slipped into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season despite an overall losing record. But the Sox made it clear they belong in the postseason when they swept the Winston-Salem Dash in the first round.

Good pitching played a part -- Daisuke Matsuzaka started Game 1 for the Red Sox -- but it was their hitting that put the Dash away for good. Salem outscored Winston-Salem, 19-9, in the three first-round games, putting a minimum of six runs on the board in each contest.

The Lynchburg Hillcats, who last made it to the final series in 2003, dropped two of the first three games in the best-of-5 semifinal round against the Wilmington Blue Rocks, but came back to win both of the final two.

Lynchburg's success in this year's playoffs stems from very strong pitching. After giving up seven runs in the first postseason game, the Hillcats staff allowed no more than two runs in any other semifinal game and worked a Game 2 shutout.

However, the notion that this will be a matchup that will hinge on dominating pitching from Lynchburg and heavy hitters from Salem doesn't paint the whole picture.

In the regular season, Salem finished just one rung up from the bottom of the ladder in team batting average, but it posted one of the best team ERAs. Matsuzaka is gone, but the Hillcats will still need to get past Seth Garrison, who struck out five and allowed just one run (on a solo homer) over six innings in his one playoff start, and Kyle Weiland, who posted a 3.46 ERA in the regular season and tossed seven strong innings in a first-round outing. Southpaw reliever Derrick Loop appeared in all three semifinal games and gave up just one hit while refusing to relent a single run.

While Lynchburg does have an impressive stable of tough pitchers (led by Rudy Owens), the Red Sox would be remiss in thinking the Hillcats lack offensive prowess. After all, this is a lineup that includes Matt Hague, master thief Jose De Los Santos and '09 Draft prize Tony Sanchez. Plus, the Hillcats basked in standout performances from less-than-likely candidates in the first round, proving they have the depth to compete even when their top performers struggle.

In 20 games against one another between May and Sept. 6 (it was Salem's 6-5 final-day win over Lynchburg that put the Red Sox into the playoffs), these two clubs each won 10. Considering the track record, Salem will pitch carefully to Jody Mercer, who racked up 11 RBIs in games against the Red Sox this year. Like most other teams, the Red Sox are at a loss as to how to tether De Los Santos to the first-base bag -- he stole nine bases in 11 attempts against them. Weiland, in the meantime, hasn't had much trouble with Lynchburg. In four starts against the Hillcats, he went 3-1 with a 1.19 ERA and piled up 21 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings. Anthony Rizzo has scored 14 runs and knocked in another seven against Lynchburg.