Showing posts tagged “Southern League”
Mike Potter ·
4 Dec 2009, 5:12 PM ·
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FIVE COUNTY STADIUM/ZEBULON The Carolina Mudcats are doing a little outsourcing.
Don’t worry. They’re not taking any jobs out of the country.
But the club has sold its broadcast rights to Play-by-Play Sports Properties, LLC, of which veteran play-by-play man Patrick Kinas is president, and will also be picking up another radio station on its network.
Kinas (pictured), joined by company chairman Joe Bourdow and Mudcats general manager Joe Kremer, made the announcement at a press conference in the home clubhouse at the park.
The main aspect that will affect listeners is the addition of WDWG-FM 98.5 out of Rocky Mount as a co-flagship with Raleigh’s WDOX 570.
“As far as I know, this is the only minor-league team in the country that has agreed to license its broadcast,” Kinas said. “The bottom line is we’re all about the success of the Mudcats. What we bring to the table is that we’ll bring the Mudcats back to where they were a few years ago coverage-wise, and the bottom line is getting more people to this great stadium and watching the Reds’ players here.
“We’ve essentially quadrupled our coverage range. You can drive basically an hour and a half on I-95 and not lose our signal. That’s about 2/3 of a game, if you’re going the speed limit. Last year, you couldn’t even hear our games in our ballpark (without tuning in to Kinas’ 0.1-watt in-house FM broadcast.)” Continue reading »
ACC, Baseball, Carolina Mudcats, N.C. State Birmingham Barons, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, East Carolina, Florida Marlins, Joe Bourdow, Joe Kremer, Montgomery Biscuits, Patrick Kinas, Pittsburgh Pirates, Southern League, WDOX, WDWG
Mike Potter ·
13 Nov 2009, 7:06 PM ·
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Manager David Bell (left) and hitting coach Ryan Jackson (bottom right) will be back with the Carolina Mudcats next season, the Cincinnati Reds organization has announced.
Tom Brown, who was with Class A Sarasota each of the past three seasons, will be the new pitching coach replacing Rigo Beltran. Jimmy Mattocks will return as athletic trainer.
Bell, 37, took the Mudcats to a 65-74 record and within one win of a first-half title in the Southern League’s North Division in his first year as a skipper.
Jackson, a 37-year-old Duke alumnus who is a former Durham Bull, will be back for his second season with the club.
Brown, 60, has eight seasons’ experience as a Triple-A pitching coach.
Mattocks, 27, is in his fifth year with the Reds’ organization and third at the Double-A level.
The Mudcats will open on the road April 8 at Birmingham, later hosting the Montgomery Biscuits in the Five County Stadium opener on April 14.
ACC, Baseball, Carolina Mudcats, Duke Birmingham Barons, Cincinnati Reds, David Bell, Jimmy Mattocks, Montgomery Biscuits, Ryan Jackson, Sarasota Reds, Southern League, Tom Brown
Mike Potter ·
8 Sep 2009, 10:31 AM ·
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Former Carolina Mudcats slugger Yonder Alonzo, who is now with the Louisville Bats of the International League, was named Southern League hitter of the week for the final week of the regular season.
Right-hander Matt Torra of the Mobile BayBears was the pitcher of the week.
Alonso (pictured), the seventh pick in last year’s June draft out of Miami, led the league with a .458 average, 11 hits, four doubles, a .536 on-base percentage, five extra-base hits and six runs scored. He was second in slugging percentage at .750.
Monday’s game against the Mississippi Braves was not the last chance to see Alonzo play in the Triangle this season. Louisville will be taking on the Durham Bulls in the first round of the Governors’ Cup Playoffs, with Games 1 and 2 in the best-of-5 series on Wednesday and Thursday nights at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
ACC, Baseball, Carolina Mudcats, Durham Bulls Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Louisville Bats, Matt Torra, Mississippi Braves, Mobile Bay Bears, Southern League, Yonder Alonzo
Mike Potter ·
7 Sep 2009, 5:52 PM ·
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FIVE COUNTY STADIUM/ZEBULON One last trip across Wake County for the Carolina Mudcats’ rainy season finale.
And the team just got hot too late.
David Bell’s club comes into its 139th game on a seven-game winning streak, despite the depletion of the team for much of the second half. Early on in the half there were players who absolutely had to go to Triple-A after making mincemeat of the Southern League, while over the past couple of weeks the Cincinnati Reds have been bolstering their Louisville roster in preparation for the Governors’ Cup Playoffs.
Louisville is at Durham in the first round on Wednesday and Thursday, so if you’re going to be suffering from Mudcats withdrawal it’s a last chance to see a whole lot of Carolina’s best 2009 players this season. SL All-Stars Travis Wood, Todd Frazier and Juan Francisco are playing for the Bats as is Chris Heisey, who was simply the best player in the league this year.
In case you’re interested, I’m scheduled to cover those games for the Louisville Courier-Journal.
The game starts 36 minutes late because of rain. And they’ve shut down the Italian sausage, so I’ll be having chicken on the last getaway day. The Braves win 5-0 to make that long bus ride home seem a little shorter. Everybody is on fast forward today as game time is 2:01.
Mississippi doesn’t take long to get started, as Jon Owings launches Jeremy Horst’s first pitch of the game out of the yard about 20 feet inside the left-field foul pole.
The score stays right there until the seventh, when the visitors strike for two.
Brandon Hicks leads off with a double to right, scoring on Greg Creek’s one-out double to left. Creek then comes home on Travis Jones’ two-out single to right.
Mississippi scores another in the eighth, as Chris Anderson slaps a leadoff double to left, followed by pinch-hitter Stephen Marek’s single to left and a ground ball from Owings to score the run.
The Braves get their last one in the ninth off Josh Beal, as Hicks leads off with a homer to left.
After the game Mudcats slugger Yonder Alonzo (pictured) gets the call to Louisville for his Triple-A debut. That makes for 17 current Bats who played at least part of the season for Carolina. Continue reading »
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats, Durham Bulls Arizona Fall League, Birmingham Barons, Brandon Hicks, Chris Anderson, Chris Heisey, Cincinnati Reds, David Bell, Greg Creek, International League, Jeremy Horst, Jon Owings, Josh Beal, Juan Francisco, Korey Feiner, Logan Ondrusek, Louisville Bats, Mississippi Braves, Peoria Saguaros, Phillippe Valiquette, Sean Watson, Southern League, Stephen Marek, Todd Frazier, Travis Jones, Travis Wood, Zack Cozart
Mike Potter ·
7 Sep 2009, 12:18 AM ·
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The Carolina Mudcats aren’t going to the Southern League playoffs, but they have a chance today to finish the season on fire.
Jerry Gil (pictured), Ruben Medina and Sean Watson put together a three-hit shutout on Sunday night as the Mudcats beat the visiting Mississippi Braves 1-0 to win their seventh straight game. The streak matches the fifth longest in club history.
Carolina got the run in the first when Zack Cozart’s sacrifice fly scored Kris Negron.
Gil (3-4) got through seven innings - his longest stint in Double-A - before Medina came on for the eighth to set up Watson for a perfect ninth inning and his eighth save.
Carolina’s season finale is today at 2 p.m. at Five County Stadium, with southpaw Jeremy Horst (1-3, 6.65) taking the hill against Mississippi.
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Jeremy Horst, Jerry Gil, Kris Negron, Mississippi Braves, Ruben Medina, Sean Watson, Southern League, Zack Cozart
Mike Potter ·
6 Sep 2009, 3:54 AM ·
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A walk-off single from Logan Parker (pictured) completed a late comeback, giving the Carolina Mudcats a 3-2 win over the visiting Mississippi Braves on Saturday night.
The Braves began the scoring with a pair of fifth-inning runs off starter Alexander Smit, on an RBI double from Concepcion Rodriguez followed by an RBI single from Brandon Hicks.
Mississippi starter Jose Ortegano carried a shutout into the eighth before Carson Kainer’s single started a two-run rally. A wild pitch and walk followed, before a one-out RBI single from Kris Negron chased the starter. Shaun Cumberland’s infield hit tied the score.
In the ninth, Zack Cozart singled and took second on an error. Eric Eymann’s single moved Cozart to third to set up Parker’s heroics.
Zach Ward (2-4) was the winning pitcher.
The series continues tonight at 6:15, with Jerry Gil (2-4, 9.57) on the mound for the Mudcats.
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats Alexander Smit, Atlanta Braves, Carson Kainer, Cincinnati Reds, Eric Eymann, Jerry Gil, Jose Ortegano, Kris Negron, Logan Parker, Mississippi Braves, Shaun Cumberland, Southern League, Zach Ward, Zack Cozart
Mike Potter ·
5 Sep 2009, 12:42 AM ·
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Eliminated before the stretch drive in the playoff race in the Southern League’s North Division, the Carolina Mudcats continued their late run of victories Friday night.
Zack Cozart (pictured) and Shaun Cumberland hit back-to-back two-run doubles in the seventh inning, leading the Mudcats to an 8-7 comeback victory over the Mississippi Braves that was their fifth straight win.
Jake Long and Yonder Alonzo homered for Carolina.
Ramon Geronimo (4-3) earned a win for the second straight night, while Sean Watson racked up his seventh save.
The series continues tonight at 6:15 PM with lefty Alexander Smit (4-3, 3.23) making the start for the Mudcats.
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats Alexander Smit, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Jake Long, Mississippi Braves, Ramon Geronimo, Sean Watson, Shaun Cumberland, Southern League, Yonder Alonzo, Zack Cozart
Mike Potter ·
3 Sep 2009, 11:32 PM ·
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FIVE COUNTY STADIUM/ZEBULON It’s the opener of the Carolina Mudcats’ final series of the season, a five-game set against the Mississippi Braves that will conclude with an afternoon game on Labor Day.
Frankly it doesn’t mean much except for individual statistics. The Mudcats are in last place in the Southern League’s North Division - although only a game and a half behind the fourth-place Huntsville Stars, who are playoff-bound after edging out Carolina by a single game to win the first half.
Mississippi will finish with a winning half unless the Mudcats really do some butt-kicking over the next five days, but the Braves are solidly in third place in the South and most of them will be headed back to their hometowns after a long bus ride following Monday’s contest.
But both teams have been playing out the string very well, as each comes in with a three-game winning streak.
With the Southern League’s wildly-unbalanced schedule, it’s Mississippi’s only visit to North Carolina this season - only the Tennessee Smokies, Jacksonville Suns and Huntsville visited Zebulon for more than a single five-game series.
That’s too bad for one particular reason, because colorful Mississippi manager Phillip Wellman, who played for the Durham Bulls in the late ’80s and coached there in the early ’90s, is in town just once.
Both rosters are pretty depleted as the Cincinnati Reds try to bolster Louisville and the Atlanta Braves do the same for Gwinnett in an attempt to win the International League’s Governors’ Cup.
The Mudcats will have a quality pitcher on the mound tonight in southpaw Matt Maloney (pictured), who was sent directly down from Cincinnati apparently for just this one outing to keep him fresh.
Fortunately it’s a beautiful night for, well, anything. And the Mudcats end up winning 6-5 with a bottom-of-the-ninth rally.
Let’s grab an Italian sausage - I’m going to be missing those things all winter but it’s not as if I need them - and play ball. Continue reading »
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats Atlanta Braves, Brandon Hicks, Cincinnati Reds, Cody Johnson, David Bell, Durham Bulls, Eric Eymann, Gwinnett Braves, Huntsville Stars, International League, Jacksonville Suns, Jason Bour, Jason Heyward, Jose Camarena, Jose Castro, Josh Beal, Kody Kirkland, Kris Negron, Kyle Cofield, Logan Parker, Louisville Bats, Luis Montano, Matt Maloney, Mississippi Braves, Phillip Wellman, Sean Henry, Southern League, Tennessee Smokies, Tim Gustafson, Zach Ward, Zack Cozart
Mike Potter ·
2 Sep 2009, 9:55 PM ·
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COLEMAN FIELD/CARY They’re coming together from 16 different major-league organizations, mostly from the Triple-A level and a few from Double-A.
But over the next few days, manager Eddie Rodriguez will have the job of molding them into a unit known as Team USA.
Twenty-three players gathered in Cary for media day this afternoon, as they begin getting ready to defend baseball’s World Cup in Germany, The Netherlands and Italy next month with a series of exhibition games against Canada from Thursday through Sunday.
And there are a few familiar faces on the roster.
Outfielder Jon Weber (pictured) and right-handed reliever Jason Childers have been with the Durham Bulls all season, while left-hander Cedrick Bowers, who had been playing for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, is a former Bull.
Infielder Pedro Alvarez, who was with the Altoona Curve in the Eastern League, is a former member of the college-level USA National Team from 2006 and ‘07 while fellow infielder Justin Smoak, most recently with the Pacific Coast League’s Oklahoma Redhawks, was also with that ‘07 club.
“We’re representing our country first, our national pastime and the professionalism we stand for within the game,” manager Eddie Rodriguez said during a lightly-attended media day event. “I’ve been associated with USA Baseball and I think that had a lot to do with (my selection as manager.) It’s always an honor.
“For us, this level of competition is close to if not the equivalent of the Olympics. There are 22 countries participating and that’s more than were in the last Olympics.” Continue reading »
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats, Durham Bulls, USA Baseball Alexander Smit, Altoona Curve, Canada, Cedrick Bowers, Charlie Montoyo, Eastern League, Eddie Rodriguez, Germany, International League, Italy, Jason Childers, Jon Weber, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, Pacific Coast League, Philippe Valiquette, Southern League, The Netherlands, Vanderbilt
Mike Potter ·
2 Sep 2009, 9:38 PM ·
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The Carolina Mudcats are getting a little big-league help for their final home series.
The Cincinnati Reds have optioned southpaw Matt Maloney to Carolina, and he is scheduled to make a start against the Mississippi Braves in the series opener Thursday night at 7:15.
Maloney (0-3, 6.46 with the Reds), who made his Major League debut earlier this season, has spent most of the season with the Louisville Bats.
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats Cincinnati Reds, Louisville Bats, Mississippi Braves, Southern League
