https://twitter.com/Pelicanbaseball/status/776229949577592832
The season ends in a win. The Myrtle Beach Pelicans have claimed their second consecutive Carolina League Championship by beating Lynchburg three games to one. The final two wins for the Pelicans both came on the road.
The offense was opportunistic in this one. If Lynchburg made a mistake, odds are good the Pelicans were able to capitalize on it. Meanwhile, the pitching, particularly the bullpen, was outstanding. The work done by James Pugliese, pitching four and a third one hit innings of relief to bridge the gap from an early starter exit to the back end of the bullpen, might very well be the key to this game.[adinserter block=”1″][adinserter block=”10″]
High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Myrtle Beach 5, Lynchburg 3
A three run seventh picked up the Pelicans and carried them to another title.
Preston Morrison: 3 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 4 K
James Pugliese: 4.1 IP, 1 H, 7 K. Read that line again, just to let the impressiveness sink in.
Tommy Thorpe: 0.2 IP, 1 K
Ryan McNeil: 1 IP, 1 BB, 2 K
Charcer Burks: 0 for 3, 2 BB
Donnie Dewees: 3 for 5
David Bote: 2 for 4, BB. More on this guy in a minute.
Eloy Jimenez: 2 for 5. Next stop: the Arizona Fall League.
Bryant Flete: 1 for 4, BB
Other Notes
The newest entry in the “Why In The World Did You Bunt There!?!?!” Hall of Fame was provided by Lynchburg in this game. They opened the third inning as follows: single, home run, single, single. And then, with two in, two on, no one out, and their .810 OPS, 29 HR cleanup hitter Bobby Bradley at the plate … bunt. And Lynchburg literally never scored again.
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David Bote in the 2016 playoffs: 15 for 26, 5 R, 5 2B, 5 BB, 2 K, .577/.667/.769. Here’s hoping the entire Chicago lineup does their best Bote impersonation next month.
The Cubs’ organization is on quite the run of championships right now. Going back to 2011, I think this is the complete list:
2011: Daytona (High A)
2013: Daytona (High A)
2014: Kane County (Low A)
2015: Myrtle Beach (High A)
2016: Myrtle Beach (High A) and Eugene (Short Season A)
That is about as good of a run as we could ask for, and it means I’ve covered six league winners since I started writing about baseball. Six is a good number, but I really like seven better. Hopefully I can add Chicago as my seventh before the year is out.
Now that the minor league season is over, the 2016 edition of the Minor League Daily is also over and my minor league coverage goes on hiatus for a few weeks. Once the World Series has concluded I’ll be back with more minor league writings (season summaries, prospect deep dives, etc.), but for now my focus, like yours, will be squarely on the major league team. Thanks for reading, everyone.
From Brett: THANK YOU, LUKE! Every day I look forward to reading the Minor League Daily when I first settle in. I often have to remind myself halfway through that I’m supposed to be editing, not just reading for enjoyment. Of course, usually, there’s very little difference between the two when it comes to the Daily. So thanks for another great year!
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NEWSLETTER
