Autumn Dreamin

Veras out of the game after a big single to load the bases during a rally. He seemed shaken up after a slide to steal 3rd, and labored getting home on a sac fly. DJ Gladney had previously left the game after a ball off his wrist. Barons still up 6-2 in the sixth...

Gonzo missed the last week of the regular season and it was unclear if he'd be active for the playoffs. After a PH appearance in game 1, he gets his first start post-injury to try to help his team in the playoffs. This go ahead HR certainly helps:

He's back!

He was 19 when drafted in 2021, so he would need to be added by next offseason (4 years). But he'll be on the roster long before then anyway.

Pretty in depth breakdown of Schultz' arsenal. I love nerdy pitching stuff, so it's cool to hear him talking about seam shifted wake and spin efficiency. I hope Bannister stays with the org for a long, long time.

Kanny falls short in an anticlimactic final. They were shutout on 1 hit and lost 3-0 in a reverse of Game 2. The pitching hung in there, but one bad pitch from Mason Moore went over the fence for 2 runs and nerves got to the defense late for an unearned third run. Maybe would have had better luck without the rainout forcing a DH, but a division title is still cool. Was especially nice to see them advance despite all of the roster turnover, and they got a lot of solid contributions from the new faces down the stretch.

Knights win 9-8 in extras after being down as much as 6-2. Colson's 3 run HR was big, as were bases loaded walks from him and Elko to tie the game in the 9th. He finished 2-5 with a BB, HR, and 4 RBI. His other hit was a 104mph single. Elko was 2-5 with 3 RBI. Julks 2-4 with 2 BB and a SB. Adams sat down his first 6 in order before getting burned on a pair of doubles and a HR. He finished with 4IP, 4H, 3ER 1BB, 3K. Scoreless 2K innings for Peralta and Coffey.

Montgomery goes 109 mph 414 to CF off a LHP. Scored Julks (walk) and Elko (single). Knights trail 6-5. Kanny batters are having a very tough time vs. the recently named Carolina League pitcher of the year Travis Sykora. They're down 2-0 after 3.

Kanny lives on! McDougal was fantastic with 5 hitless. Aaron Combs closed it out with 2IP, 1H, 1BB). 7 innings left to crown a champion.

Kanny finally breaks through in what had been a pitcher's duel. 8K, 1H, 1BB, in the first three innings, but they rallied for 3 runs in the 4th. Doubles for Arxy and Burrowes, a single for Jeral Perez, and a huge 2 out 2 RBI triple for Asigen. McDougal has been pitching very well despite getting squeezed at times. 7K, 1 "BB" for him through 4. Kanny leads 3-0 after 4 in this must win game. Weird situation where the game is scheduled for 7 innings so they can fit in the decider if it's (hopefully) needed.

Barons finish the regular season with a 5-0 win over the Smokies. 14 hits as a team including multi-hit games from Turner, Gladney, Tatum, Goosenberg, and Matthews. Good sign, since they'll be facing off against the same staff in the first round of the playoffs starting Tuesday. In the meantime, 3U/3D with 2K for Sinibaldi in the first for Kanny.

Schoenle is shoving and DJ Gladney is slugging. Barons up 3-0 after 3, behind 8Ks(!!) from the former and 2 HR from the latter.

Free runner scored on a single top 11, putting Kanny down 1-0. Wolkow made a productive out to move their free runner to 3rd in the bottom half. AMak tapped one back to the pitcher, who made a bad throw to give up the tying run on an E1. 1-1 with 1 out, and AMak on 2nd after the error. McCants smacks a liner over the head of the LF to walk it off. Such a gutsy performance from the team to beat the reigning champs and head to the championship series! The pitching was actually insane, 17K combined for Peppers (5IP/5K), Hartzog (2IP/2K), Combs (2IP, 6K!!!), and McLaughlin (2IP, 4K). Intense energy all game and it was getting a little chippy toward the end (including the opposing manager getting ejected).

Kanny pitching has really showed up to keep the dream alive, but the bats just can't get over the hump. They strand runners on 2nd and 3rd, and it's still scoreless after 10.

Wild. Apparently he just wanted the season to be over.

McDougal gave up a 2 run shot in the 2nd and a walk>single>RBI double for a run in the 3rd. But he limited the damage with three straight K's to strand 2 RISP. Ryan Burrowes hit a go ahead 2R homer top 4. McDougal was fired up after a nifty DP and K in the bottom of the inning to hold the 4-3 lead. He's done for the night: 4IP, 6H, 3ER, 3BB, 6K. UDFA Clete Hartzog first out of the pen.

Kannapolis grabs a run early on a Wolkow single, McCants BB, and Ronny Hernandez RBI single. McDougal throwing 98-99, puts up a scoreless first on 11/14. 1-0 after 1.

He's been pretty good out of the Barons pen of late. <2 ERA, 13 K/9 in 10 games (13.2 IP) since August).

I think he's healthy.

Dash lost 7-4. Smith had a quick 13 pitch 2K first, but got tagged for 2 ER on 26 pitches in the second. Not the best BABIP luck. His final line ends up 2IP, 2ER, 3H, 1BB, 2K. Schultz also had a random snakebitten 2nd inning where he gave up 3R on 3 consecutive XBH. His final line was 3.2IP, 3R(1ER), 4H, 1BB, 5K. I thought they might have pulled him after the first out in the 4th at 63 pitches but he went one more batter to finish at 67. He gets a ND thanks to the bats and pen picking him up as the Barons win 6-4. DJ Gladney 2-4, Veras 1-5 with a 2B, and Camiletti 1-2 with 3 BB. Rikuu Nishida does not care about your EV metrics or prospect projections, and went 2-4 with a BB, SB and 2 runs scored. He played LF today. He has a hit in every AA game so far, and is 9-21 with 2 BB and 3 SB in total. He has yet to strikeout and is casually slap hitting his way to an OPS over .900. Gonzo went 1-3 with a big go ahead 3R homer that ended up the deciding swing. Pallette turned in another 2IP scoreless and got a W for his efforts. Still a 0 ERA at the level. Eric Adler gets save #7 after coming in to put out a bases loaded fire in the 8th and following up with a 3U/3D 9th.