1920 North Carolina State League — Mid-Season Report
Bulls, Twins setting the pace
Raleigh’s Robbins enjoys 33-game hit streak
JULY 1, 1920 STANDINGS
Code:
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Durham Bulls 52 28 .650 - 50-30 2 27-13 25-15 6-2 15-10 82 W4 7-3
Winston-Salem Twins 50 29 .633 1.5 44-35 6 27-10 23-19 3-4 14-13 W1 4-6
Asheville Tourists 45 34 .570 6.5 45-34 0 20-19 25-15 2-7 13-11 L5 4-6
Greensboro Patriots 41 39 .512 11.0 42-38 -1 20-18 21-21 8-3 13-18 W1 6-4
Charlotte Hornets 38 41 .481 13.5 40-39 -2 22-16 16-25 2-7 12-14 L2 5-5
Raleigh Capitals 31 47 .397 20.0 35-43 -4 14-25 17-22 2-3 8-11 L1 4-6
Wilmington Pirates 29 48 .377 21.5 28-49 1 15-26 14-22 5-2 11-9 L1 4-6
Fayetteville Highlanders 30 50 .375 22.0 31-49 -1 16-28 14-22 2-2 12-12 W2 6-4
The Durham Bulls were among the North Carolina State League front-runners during the first couple of years but faded to the background the past 3-4 seasons. The Bulls are back and lead the NCSL at the (almost) halfway point.
Durham pitcher
Kenny Davis has been among the headline makers thus far. Part of the original Bulls’ lineup, the now-40 year old left-hander sports a 13-4 record with a 2.72 ERA. But Durham’s other three starters have been gleaned from trades. The Bulls worked with Greensboro to get
Curt Dunham (7-4, 2.88), snared
Dan “Little Rat” Sutton (2-3, 2.03 ERA) from Raleigh and picked up
Kenny Craft (9-10, 3.26 ERA) -- the 1919 Western Carolina League Most Outstanding Pitcher -- from Charlotte. So far, it’s working well (Sutton is just coming off the 60-day DL). Rightfielder
Garrett McDonald leads the offense (.354 average, 34 RBIs). Young CF
David Coffman, age 23, is batting .338. Both have had five-hit games.
The Winston-Salem Twins loom right behind the Bulls. The Twins started 16-2. Pitcher
Jack Fry at one point was 11-1 with a 1.68 ERA. He’s now 13-4 with a 2.28 ERA.
Gary “Brick” Lee has 11 wins. Winston has a pretty potent hitting attack, led by the reigning batting king RF
Angel “Sweetness” Pellicer (.389, 44 RBIs, 17 doubles).
Henry “Boom Boom” Butler had a six-hit game against Asheville on June 25. He was a triple short of the cycle, hitting a homer and three doubles. Winston is first or second in every offensive category except strikeouts (sixth).
Raleigh is having a horrible season thus far, trailing the two new clubs in the standings. But CF
Bill Robbins, who missed a lot of last year due to injury, is lighting it up. He’s currently leading the league with a .401 batting average and broke a league record with a 33-game hit streak.
The Wilmington Pirates excited fans by winning their first two games, both at home against Durham. On opening day, the Pirates drilled the Bulls 6-1.
Israel Soliz got the first pitching victory in Wilmington history. Soliz was the first player picked by the Pirates in the expansion draft. He does have a no-hitter to his credit in the old Developmental League. The team’s first official hit was a run-scoring triple by 2B
Andy Gross.
Fayetteville lost its first game to Winston-Salem 8-4.
Kel Overhill threw the first pitch for the Highlanders. 1B
Lonnie Clark earned the first hit in the second inning. CF
Steve Brown scored the first run.
The Highlanders finally got a win on April 9, rallying with two runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat Winston-Salem.
Denny Wotton was the winning pitcher.
Both the Pirates and Highlanders have come back down to earth, though, since the early excitement. It’s going to be a long road for both to become contenders. But Wilmington picked up a huge piece to its puzzle, trading with Greensboro for starting pitcher
John “Cats” Rocha, last year’s star hurler for Cooleemee. Not sure why Greensboro would give Cats up. He was the top overall pick in 1918. Greensboro has cut loose with two No. 1 overall picks in recent years, both pitchers. Don't get it!
Rocha is 3-6 with a rough 4.6+ ERA on July 1. But Cats is only 24, with a promising future ahead of him. He’s already the Pirates’ No. 1 ace. Rocha was traded to Greensboro for a couple of young outfielders.
Juan Garcia, 24, just got called up to the Patriots’ Big Club.
Sean Edwards, age 19, is still in Cooleemee (batting .240). We’ll see how that trade pans out.
Mooresville (53-22) leads the Western Carolina League on July 1. Lexington, Hickory, Cooleemee and Statesville are battling for second place, just a couple games from each other (but between 7 and 11 behind Mooresville). The poor Shelby Farmers are really struggling at 12-62. Hey, what do you expect? All of their top players are playing for Fayetteville.
Cooleemee starter
Augusto Lopez threw a no-hitter on May 18. Lopez is now up on the big club in Greensboro...