They had played 1,248 innings of baseball and it had come down to this.Score in the last at-bat and make the South
Atlantic League playoffs or go home.
The Piedmont Boll Weevils went
home for the winter.
Everyone knew what had to happen
Monday night at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium. The Weevils had to win both ends of a
doubleheader with Greensboro while Hickory lost its game in Asheville. Then and only then
would Piedmont make the playoffs for the fourth time in its five-year existence here.
In the first game, the Weevils
played like we know they can: bopping homers, getting an almost-perfect pitching
performance, making great plays in the outfield and winning 7-2.
In the second game, the Weevils
played like we know they can: They consistently left runners stranded on third, flubbed a
few plays defensively at the worst possible times and wasted a good pitching performance ,
losing 2-1.
The players made that slow,
deliberate walk from their dugout to the clubhouse for the last time. To a man, they knew
their season should not have come down to this. These games shouldn’t have mattered.
They were a playoff-caliber team.
They just didn’t play like
it.
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In the last week of the season,
the Piedmont Boll Weevils teased their fans like they had done all year long.
They were playing badly, had lost
all sight of the playoffs, something that seemed so sure after a 9-2 start in the second
half of the season.
“A week or 10 days ago, we
weren’t looking too good,” said hitting instructor Jerry Martin. “We were
playing flat and we didn’t feel we were getting up for ballgames.”
When Piedmont lost the first of a
three-game set with Hickory on Sept. 1, the chances appeared null and void. The Weevils
were 31
“There was pressure on us
from that point on,” said catcher Eric Schreimann. “We needed a sweep in Hickory
and we didn’t get it.”
But somehow, some way, the Weevils
did get five straight wins heading into Monday night. Suddenly, they were back in the
race.
Schreimann sent his 12th homer of
the season way over the fence and Derrick Turnbow pitched masterfully.
There was one game left. One game
that would determine everything for these young ballplayers.
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In between games, the Weevils were
rejuvenated. They seemed as fresh as if it were Opening Day.
“There’s not as much
pressure since we won the first game,” Schriemann said. “We feel
confident.”
“I don’t see anybody
nervous,” said Alex Fajardo. “We’re confident.”
Vice-president Todd Parnell
wandered out to the clubhouse and found manager Ken Oberkfell dancing around, singing the
words to the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive.”
“Obie is pumped,”
Parnell laughed. “He’s in a pennant race.”
It is scenarios like this that
make Oberkfell and Martin, former stars at the highest level, ride buses into small
southern towns. Watching young players feel the success and overcome pressure like they
used to in the big leagues is what it’s all about.
“Honestly,” I don’t
feel pressure,” said Martin in between games. “Obie and I have been through too
many pressure situations at the major league level. But the kids here feel pressure,
I’m sure.”
What did Martin and Oberkfell tell
them leading into Game 2?
“We tell them to relax.
That’s what they told us when we were coming through,” Martin said.
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Phones rang constantly in the
press box. Calls came from Asheville wanting to exchange scores. League president John
Henry Moss kept calling over and over.
When it was reported that Hickory
was winning 5-0 early in its game, the 3,021 fans sank in their seats. When it was
reported that Asheville had tied the game at 5, there was a smattering of applause.
And then, when the announcement
came that Asheville was up 8-5, the fans actually cheered loudly, like they really cared
about being part of a playoff drive.
The only thing that wasn’t
going according to plan was the score. Greensboro was winning 2-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, a man
was stranded on third. In the bottom of the sixth, Ambiorix Reyes was stranded on third.
And in the bottom of the seventh, the Weevils went down meekly.
Oberkfell trotted off this field
for possibly the last time. The Phillies like him and he is expected to move up, either to
the top Class A team in Clearwater or to Double-A Reading.
He refused to talk about lethargic
play in the second half. He didn’t say a word about a group of hitters who never
fulfilled expectations.
Instead he talked about how much
fun it was to be in a pennant race in the 1,248th inning of the season. His team had given
its fans something to cheer about all the way to the last game of the season.
And isn’t that what minor
league baseball is all about?
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Ronnie Gallagher is the sports
editor of the Post. |
Ronnie