1919 North Carolina State League — Mid-Season Update
Asheville making some noise
Defending champs looking up at Tourists for now
NCSL STANDINGS - JUNE 16, 1919
Code:
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Asheville Tourists 38 27 .585 - 35-30 3 18-15 20-12 6-3 10-7 53 W5 7-3
Charlotte Hornets 35 30 .538 3.0 37-28 -2 14-16 21-14 3-4 10-10 W1 7-3
Durham Bulls 34 31 .523 4.0 36-29 -2 16-16 18-15 5-7 14-11 L1 7-3
Winston-Salem Twins 33 32 .508 5.0 31-34 2 16-19 17-13 2-2 11-8 L5 3-7
Raleigh Capitals 30 35 .462 8.0 29-36 1 16-17 14-18 5-2 9-12 L1 3-7
Greensboro Patriots 25 40 .385 13.0 27-38 -2 10-22 15-18 1-4 7-13 W1 3-7
The Asheville Tourists bolted out of the gates by winning six of their first seven games. The Tourists and Charlotte Hornets have traded the top spot in the league back and forth ever since. On May 1, Charlotte led the way at 16-7, while on June 1 Asheville had claimed the No. 1 position with a 29-23 record.
The Winston-Salem Twins have been the tough team to figure out. The Twins started 1-6, then rallied to pull within a game of first-place Asheville. Now, Winston appears to be fading again, losing seven of its last 10 games.
Charlotte’s No. 1 starting pitcher, reigning Pitcher of the Year
Craig Clark, saw his season come to a quick end due to injury on May 3. This is a huge blow to the Hornets’ three-peat chances as Clark was 3-1 with a 2.05 ERA when he was sidelined.
Durham ace
Dan “Little Rat” Sutton, considered one of the top prospects in the league, also suffered a season-ending injury. It happened the day after Clark’s injury. Wow. Tough blows for both of those guys. Durham’s
Kenny Davis has been trying his best to fill the void for the Bulls. He has a league-best 12 wins.. He’s lost only three times.
Oliver “Skull” Jenkins may be in his swan song, though. The Bulls’ No. 4 starter now (after several successful years as the No. 1 in Raleigh), Skull is just 4-8.
Asheville left-hander
Chris Lloyd is twirling a great season so far. He’s 11-3. Fellow starter
Johnny Ward, traded from Greensboro to Raleigh to Asheville within the past year, is 8-5 as the Tourists’ No. 4 guy. Hard to believe that Greensboro gave up on its No. 1 overall pick from 1915 so quickly, and here Ward is contributing on a first-place team.
Another storyline coming out of Asheville has been the play of 33-year-old shortstop
Jerry Johnson. He’s been a fair hitter for the Tourists in recent years but has a .360 average at this point (leading the NCSL). He already has 93 hits, about 40 shy from his single-season career best with a lot of time to pile up a lot more hits. Asheville CF
John Stewart has scored a league best 49 runs thus far and stolen 34 bases. Recent call-up
Clint Moran (23 years old, 1B) gives the Tourists another solid bat. He was hitting well over .400 for Hickory in the Western Carolina League when Asheville officials brought him up the mountain. He’s batting .327 after 52 at-bats with the big club. Nice.
Charlotte, which lurks in second place, may yet win another NCSL championship. But Asheville certainly isn’t going to back down without a fight. Things are close enough in the standings that both of these clubs could end up out of the running, of course, if they let up at all. One thing is for sure -- Greensboro is a non-factor yet again. Sigh… Poor Patriots…
Down on the farm in the Western Carolina League, defending champion
Cooleemee has a one-game lead over Mooresville. Both of those clubs are a comfortable seven to eight games ahead of their nearest challengers. Cooleemee pitcher
John “Cats” Rocha, the No. 1 pick in the most recent draft, is 11-1 for the Weavers with an ERA of 1.32. Man, call him up now, Greensboro!