1918 North Carolina State League — Carolina Champions Cup Recap
Repeat for Hornets
Charlotte beats Twins again for second straight NCSL title
GAME SCORES
Game 1: Charlotte 2, Winston-Salem 1 -- WP: Miguel Ruiz; LP: Jack Fry; S: Dean Dimond
Game 2: Winston-Salem 4, Charlotte 2 -- WP: Caden Anderson; LP: Javier Guerra
Game 3: Charlotte 2, Winston-Salem 0 -- WP: Gary “Brick“ Lee; LP: Jerry Parker
Game 4: Charlotte 9, Winston-Salem 3 -- WP: Rudy Young; LP: Alejandro Esobar
Charlotte’s move to trade with Durham for outfielder
Antonio Arevalo looked better and better as the season wore on. It looked like a move of genius in the playoffs. Arevalo ended up being named Carolina Champions Cup Series MVP (pictured above) after a splendid four-game set batting clean-up against the Winston-Salem Twins.
Arevalo went 8-for-15 during the series, with two doubles and a couple of key RBIs. He finished 3-for-4 in Game One and 3-for-4 again in the decisive Game Four. He didn’t just hit the ball, he had clutch hits that set up runs, moved players around and got himself into scoring position.
Arevalo has definitely been Mr. August (when the playoffs are held in the NCSL) in his career. This was his fourth visit to the playoff series (the first three came with Durham in 1913, 1914 and 1915). His career batting totals in the post-season: a stellar 20-for-45 (.444) with a home run, two triples, four doubles, five RBIs and 12 runs scored.
The Hornets won the 1918 series even though No. 1 starting pitcher
Craig Clark (15 wins in the regular season) only pitched 2.2 innings due to injury in Game One. Others stepped up to carry the load, even after another pitcher -- closer
Dean Dimond -- suffered a more serious injury which could hamper his playing time early in 1919. Of course, recent D-League call-up
Tim “T-Rex” Johnston missed much of the regular season because of injury. No matter, the Hornets prevailed.
Winston-Salem’s
Angel “Sweetness” Pellicer had a pretty tame playoff series. He only had three hits, though one was a triple and another was a double. Sweetness also has been in four championships series in his career, batting .317 (13-for-41). Winston RF
Junior Young had a pretty good 1918 series, batting .389 to lead his team. The Twins, though, fell short again.
Charlotte is now 2-1 in the Carolina Champions Cup. Winston is 2-2. Both lead the league in terms of championships won.
NORTH CAROLINA STATE LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
1913 - Winston-Salem Twins (defeated Durham 2-1)
1914 - Durham Bulls (defeated Raleigh 2-1)
1915 - Winston-Salem Twins (defeated Durham 2-0)
1916 - Asheville Tourists (defeated Charlotte 3-0)
1917 - Charlotte Hornets (defeated Winston-Salem 3-0)
1918 - Charlotte Hornets (defeated Winston-Salem 3-1)