As the tournament moves to slightly less neutral ground on Day 2, the Lake Norman Copperheads and Carolina Stingers fight to stay alive with one advantage: Neither team faces the homestanding Tennessee Tornado at Cardinal Park.
During the regular season, Lake Norman won the overall series with Carolina, 3-2, splitting a double-header at each location and winning a single game in Fort Mill, S.C.
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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — After one day of play at the Southern Collegiate Baseball League tournament, the Morganton Aggies defeated the Lake Norman Copperheads 9-3 and the Tennessee Tornado defeated the Carolina Stingers 8-4.
In Game 1, two of the best pitchers in the league squared off for three innings back and forth, but Morganton broke through against Kyle Teague in the fourth for five runs, capped off by a Tori Conley RBI double and a Zeke Blanton two-run single. Meanwhile, Kevin Bratcher worked a quality start, seven innings with six strikeouts while allowing two runs on four hits. Ricky Vaughn closed out the game, getting some offensive insurance in the ninth thanks to a Lake Norman error, a Samson Williams RBI single and a Zach Pou RBI double. Preston Lyon and Brad Hook also drove in runs toward the win.
In the nightcap, Todd Caldwell enjoyed an early lead for the Tornado as Sam Eberle, Topher Ellis and Steve Scoby drove in runs for a 3-0 lead after two innings. Caldwell took the lead through the fifth, when a two-run double by Jean Carlos Diaz increased it to 6-0. In the top of the sixth, however, the Stingers got on the board and then some, tagging Caldwell for three runs. Joe Mangum and Joaquin Valdes knocked back-to-back doubles to knock Caldwell out of the game. A strong Tornado bullpen would prevail, however, as Frank Newcomb shut down the rally, Jake Peeling held the eighth and Jason Trivette struck out the side in the ninth. Tennessee added insurance in the seventh on a double by Bart Roark, an RBI triple by Michael Hartley and a sacrifice fly by Ellis.
Today the tournament moves to Cardinal Park, where Game 3 features the Copperheads and Stingers at 4 p.m., followed by Game 4 between the Tornado and Aggies at 7 p.m.
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Under the bright lights of Anglin Field for the Day 1 nightcap, top-seeded Tennessee takes on a pesky Carolina club that has something going for it that Spartanburg didn’t have when they faced the Tornado here last year. While Tennessee took two of three in the late-season tripleheader in Spartanburg last year, it’s a much different dynamic this time around as the Stingers got into the playoffs by sweeping the Tornado at Cardinal Park on the final day of the regular year.
Johnson City has been oddly friendly to the Stingers, as they put together bookend upsets on the first and last days of the season. After losing Game 1 on Opening Day by a landslide, 14-1, Carolina regrouped to take a one-run victory in Game 2. Last weekend, in an uncharacteristic show of all-day-long resolve on the mound, Stingers pitching ground the Tornado run machine to a screeching halt as Tennessee didn’t score a single run all day while stranding 20 runners and going 0-23 with runners in scoring position. By the numbers, it’s a phenomenal anomaly, but it did happen. And of course, the one variable of postseason play that you can’t record in any column of a stat sheet — but the variable that counts as much as anything else — is just what the Stingers have: Momentum.
Offensively, Carolina has been able to ride Joaquin Valdes, Joe Mangum and Home Run Derby champion Neil Hardon to a decent overall season and a playoff berth. All three exhibit surprisingly effortless power: Valdes slugged .516 this season, Hardon .489 and Mangum .400.
Tennessee’s topsy-turvy year, highlighted by losing Riann Spanjer-Furstenburg and D.J. Fitzgerald to the major league draft, and Delwynn Patterson’s injury leaving a gap in the middle infield, relied on individual bursts from specific players each week, as well as consistent performance from Sam Eberle and Bart Roark in the middle of the order. Tennessee has toyed with fundamental tactics and found Fabian Harper and Steve Scoby to be suitable double-leadoff partners, as Harper’s bunt-and-run game made up for his high strikeout total. Late surges for Patterson and Jay Davis show playoff promise, and Topher Ellis seems due for more of what he did in last year’s tournament, as he looked sharp behind the plate against the Stingers and also chipped in a few base hits.
For all the uncertainty and close calls with their lineup, the Tornado’s great equalizer (in this case, which made all other teams seem like equally dominable opponents at the right times) was its pitching staff, which all but won the championship last year. Longevity and variety are the collective name of the game for Tennessee’s staff, with three pitchers’ end-of-year ERAs less than 2.00 and 2-3 of the staff less than 4.00. Ample right-handers (the 5-1 Aaron Dorriety and the 4-1 Austin Bridgewater) and left-handers (the 3-0 Todd Caldwell and the 3-1 Tyler Deetjen) abound in the starting rotation — and then there’s the bullpen. Despite finally allowing an earned run in Sunday’s loss to the Stingers, Sean Albury had gone 17 innings without allowing a run before Sunday, with 52 strikeouts in 27 1-3 innings overall. Albury and Jason Trivette, whose nine saves far-and-away leads the league, present not one but two viable options to hold and save, if needed, any game against any opponent.
Briefly breaking down the Stingers’ two wins against the Tornado this week, one can’t overlook the retooled lineup Tennessee used in both games in the absence of Head Coach Phil Al-Mateen. Brandon Miller traded his regular spot in the bottom of the lineup for leadoff duty in Scoby’s place, while the rest of the order just didn’t seem to gel, to the tune of no runs in 23 opportunities with runners in scoring position. Additionally, defensive shortfalls plagued the Tornado, as Fabian Harper’s 21 errors at shorstop (four in the two games Sunday) total almost as many as Carolina shortstops Valdes and Kristopher Richards combined.
If they want to stand their ground as the top seed, Tennessee has to play seamless fundamental baseball. With their pitching, one big inning should be enough to take the nightcap. Conversely, an opportunistic late rally for the Stingers could catapult them into a chance at a championship berth on Day 2. As always, we encourage our loyal listeners to post their comments below!
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In last year’s tournament, the Lake Norman Copperheads came in as the No. 3 seed, and twice they upset the No. 2 Morganton Aggies with strong pitching and just enough of an offensive explosion when needed. Now, they come in with perhaps a more deserved seed and the home-team advantage. But Morganton may hold the high card on the mound this year.
At one time, the Copperheads boasted four pitchers with ERAs less than 2.00, but after a handful of upsets in the final two weeks of play — including three losses against Morganton — only the undefeated Kyle Teague’s 1.60 mark remains. Teague finished the regular season 4-0 with 48 strikeouts in 45 innings pitched, yielding just a .167 opposing batting average. Additionally, the Copperheads’ ideal rotation figures Ryan Overcash and Clark Labitain, who both finished 4-2 with ERAs below 3.20.
Offensively, Lake Norman should still contend even with Shane Brown banged up since the all-star break, as they’ve got six players with 20 or more RBIs for the regular season, as well as four players other than Brown with more than 20 runs scored. Together, all-stars Tommy Jablonski, Wesley Dozier, Mike Perkins and Brian Litwin have crossed the plate 86 times. The Copperheads don’t hit many home runs, but those same four players shoot for the gaps, totaling 27 doubles in 2009.
Despite Lake Norman’s veritable Murderers’ Row, Morganton brings two of the best individual offensive stars in the league: Zeke Blanton and Samson Williams. Each player exudes pure talent at the plate and pro-caliber speed on the basepaths. Blanton hit a league-leading .424 in 42 games this season, with an even three doubles, triples and home runs each, driving in 18 runs and scoring an amazing 40, not to mention a sterling 16-17 stolen-base mark. Williams not only tallied eight doubles, but he also hit three triples and crushed six homers on his way to slugging .650 for the year. Despite a tendency to strike out a lot (not uncommon with power hitters), Williams still hit .330 with a .427 on-base percentage.
While the Aggies’ pitching isn’t quite as dominant as Lake Norman’s, yet again they feature arguably the league’s best individual combination, Kevin Bratcher and Chris Crane. Bratcher tossed a perfect 5-0 season with a 1.86 ERA, not a strikeout-heavy pitcher but working well with runners on base, allowing only eight earned runs on 38 hits. Conversely, Crane was simply incredible out of the bullpen, averaging less than one hit every other inning and holding hitters to .129 against him, equating to a 1.50 ERA with a 2-0 record and three saves to boot.
Last year, Lake Norman’s game was pitching and small ball. This year, they’ve dealt several more high-scoring blowouts, but on the flip side, Morganton has dealt a few to them. In two of the last three consecutive games they’ve won at Lake Norman in the last week of the season, the Aggies swept a double-header by a combined 22-4, in which Williams went 5-7 with a home run and 3 RBIs and Blanton hit two round-trippers in Game 2, scoring four times on the day.
Either way this one goes, it’s always an unpredictable and exciting exchange between these two North Carolina neighbors. Another great element of each team is possibly the best fanfare in the league. Lake Norman and Morganton fans, we’d love to hear from you, so please don’t be shy! Post your comments below!
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