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NYAC BEATS HILLTOP 10-0 ON CONSECUTIVE DAYS
NEW YORK CITY LEADERS SHOW NO MERCY AS PITCHING & DEFENSE DOMINATE

NEW YORK CITY (June 15-16, 1877) - Hilltop of Yonkers has never been one of the big New York clubs, and they’ve found themselves near the bottom of the New York City standings more often than not. Still, what they were put through at the hands of New York Athletic Club on Friday & Saturday was a new experience in the 20+ years they’ve played baseball.

On Friday, Hilltop took on N.Y.A.C. in the third game of their series at the N.Y.A.C. Grounds, and N.Y.A.C. pounded Hilltop 10-0 with the visitors held to just two base hits. The pitcher of the N.Y.A.C. Shutout was 2x New York League Pitcher of the Year Charles Rhodes, who also had a fine day with the bat:

• NYAC P Charles Rhodes BAT: 3/5 (all 1B), 1 R, 1 RBI
• NYAC P Charles Rhodes PIT: CG SHO (11-5, 2.89), 2 HA, 0 BB, 5 K

Rhodes, who has a 51 to 9 (5.7/1) K/BB Ratio this season, never gave the visitors a chance, and he added insult to injury by punishing them with his batsmanship as well.

Because that apparently wasn’t enough, when the two teams met up for the fourth game of the series on Saturday afternoon the result was the same: a 10-0 N.Y.A.C. shellacking of visiting Hilltop in which the visitors were held to less than a handful of hits. This time, former A.P.B.L. All-Star George Cerven pitched Shutout, and like Rhodes he aided the N.Y.A.C. attack:

• NYAC P George Cerven BAT: 3/4 (all 1B), 1 R, 2 RBI
• NYAC P George Cerven PIT: CG SHO (10-1, 2.20), 4 HA, 1 BB, 4 K

Rhodes is having another fine season as the anchor of N.Y.A.C.’s pitching works. He’s currently on pace for a 27-12 record, and he leads the N.Y.L. with 3.7 Pitching WAR – a pace for 8.9 over the 70-game season.

Cerven is having an outstanding sophomore season with N.Y.A.C. After going 13-14 with a 2.78 ERA last year after leaving the A.P.B.L., Cerven has started 1877 with a 10-1 record, a 2.20 ERA, 31 Strikeouts, and 1.9 Pitching WAR in 102.1 innings.

The twin Shutouts brought N.Y.A.C.’s record to a N.Y.L.-best 23-6, and they have a five-game lead over second-place Union in the New York City Championship. On the other hand, Hilltop is in last place at 9-20 (14 GB), and they’re one of two teams in the N.Y.L. that already have a Run Differential below -100 at -103 (Columbia: -123).