1947 Tobacco State League – Regular Season Recap
Turning over a new Leaf: Smithfield-Selma wins regular season
Final Standings
x-Smithfield-Selma Leafs 81-43
x-Wilmington Pirates 78-46
Sanford Spinners 74-50
Dunn-Erwin Twins 67-57
Clinton Blues 59-65
Warsaw Red Sox 53-71
Lumberton Auctioneers 43-81
Red Springs Red Robins 41-83
Smithfield-Selma won a three-horse race to collect its first Tobacco State League crown and earn a spot in its first playoff series. The Leafs improved by 24 wins from 1946 to 1947. Nice!
Sanford made a late charge, but Wilmington held off the Spinners to return to the post-season for the second year in a row. The Pirates also were significantly better, winning 12 more games.
Both Smithfield-Selma and Wilmington boast strong offenses, so the championship series could be a slugfest. Warsaw proved the most competitive of the new franchises, winning 53 games. Red Springs and its anemic offense brought up the rear in the Robins’ baseball debut.
Names and Numbers to Remember- Clinton’s Kyle Hern had the best batting average of any North Carolina player in 1947, finishing with a .357 average. The 1946 TSL Rookie of the Year bumped his average up by 70 points and led the TSL with 171 total hits. (I’m guessing he’s your offensive player of the year?).
- Dunn-Erwin’s Marten Lennon (26 home runs) and Jim Bogle (21 HRs) kept fans returning to the ballpark just to see if one or both of them could hit balls out of the park.
- Smithfield-Selma’s Matt Campbell (no relation to the current Penn State football coach) posted the best ERA in the league (2.19). Teammate Mike Thomson wasn’t far behind (2.52). Nate Hamilton collected 15 saves for the Leafs.
- Dunn-Erwin’s Brian Zilliox finished with a losing record (9-11) and a subpar ERA (4.86). But he put his name into the history books with a no-hitter – the first in Tobacco State League history.
- Dunn-Erwin’s Dave Parsons mustered a 23-game hitting streak. Dave Van Every of Smithfield-Selma nearly caught him but his streak ended after 22 games.