1919 North Carolina State League — Carolina Champions Cup Recap
Kings of the hill again
Team effort helps Asheville unseat Charlotte as NCSL champions
GAME SCORES
Game 1: Charlotte 7, Asheville 4 — WP: J. Guerra (1-0). LP: M. McNeill (0-1)
Game 2: Asheville 8, Charlotte 3 — WP: C. Lloyd (1-0); LP: R. Young (0-1)
Game 3: Asheville 8, Charlotte 2 — WP: J. Ward (1-0); LP: T. Johnson (0-1)
Game 4: Asheville 7, Charlotte 5 — WP: C. Wilson (1-0); LP: M. Kennedy (0-1). S: T. Thompson (1)
It was hard to find a single hero in Asheville’s 1919 Carolina Champions Cup triumph over the Charlotte Hornets in four games. There were so many. Consider what these guys in Tourists uniforms pulled off to bring the Champions Cup back up the mountain out of Charlotte:
• Veteran catcher
Vincente Nieves, traded to Asheville this season from Raleigh, batted .400 with two doubles and six RBIs.
• Recent call-up 3B
Chris Hartle, still a youngster at age 22, posted a whopping .571 average (8-for-14) in his first playoff experience. That included a triple and a double.
• Another recent call-up, 1B
Clint Moran, batted an even .444 (8-for-18) with three RBIs and four runs scored.
• SS
Jose Perez batted .412 (7-for-17) and cruised home for five runs.
• 2B
John Brown, LF
Alfredo Perez and RF
Dave Carter combined for 14 hits, and each had four RBIs.
A total team effort indeed. Charlotte just had no answer for the Tourists once the bats started warming up. Ironically, that happened with Asheville trailing the Hornets 7-0 in Game One. It was the top of the seventh, and Chris Hartle stroked a one-out single on a 2-2 count. He clapped wildly to encourage his teammates after getting to first base, and
Jim McCrory and Vincente Nieves followed with singles later in the inning.
A more confident Asheville team climbed back to score four runs in Game One and never cooled off. It just took a couple of guys to get a few hits to start the rampage.
Nieves (pictured at top) ended up being named the Championship Series MVP. The 33-year-old’s leadership, team-best six RBIs and finding ways to get on base (getting walked four times) put him over the top. Also, he was 4-for-7 with two doubles in the late-inning situations. Not to mention he held the pitching staff together after Charlotte battered them for 16 hits in Game One. Mr. Nieves was Mr. Clutch.
Last year’s series MVP, Charlotte outfielder
Antonio Arevalo, was a mere 4-for-17 in this series. The Hornets were singing the blues after this four-game set was over for sure but it’s hard to complain about a team that has played for four straight championships (winning half of them).
**OK, so yours truly was wrong about the NCSL being a two-horse race these days. It’s more like a three-horse show, with Asheville, Charlotte and Winston-Salem dominating the headlines the past four seasons…
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)
1919 - Asheville Tourists (defeated Charlotte 3-1)