Gee, Wally, Do You Think We Might Win?

The shady, park-like landscaping inside the Modesto Nuts' ballpark.

John Thurman Field, home to the Modesto Nuts, is tucked between a quiet city park and a golf course, close to downtown, but not too close, and easy to reach from the 99 freeway, but just far enough away from its noisy traffic.

The main entrance gate doesn’t take you inside a building like at most stadiums. Instead you find yourself in an open plaza that wraps around the metal grandstands to another plaza area on the first base side of the field. A covered picnic pavilion looks out onto left field with a large canopy that extends out into the plaza. 

Wisteria pergolas near the stadium entrance.

Several trees and wisteria pergolas provide additional shade between a few low-profile structures that hold offices, restrooms and the team store. The food and drink concession stand is tucked under the framework of the grandstand and there’s room for additional food trucks, like the shaved ice trailer that’s a fan favorite. The grandstand includes a mix of bleachers and seat back chairs, built on aluminum risers that rumble like thunder when the scoreboard prompts the fans to stomp their feet and make some noise.

Most of the spectators take seats on the first base side of the stands so the sun is to their back as it lowers in the west. Large fabric sheets hanging above the top row cast shade over the upper levels of the bleachers, which extend out towards right field and the bullpen for the Nuts’ pitchers. The visitors’ bullpen is over in the left field corner.

Good seats behind home plate at John Thurman Field.

Thurman Field opened in 1955, making it one of the older stadiums in the minor leagues. The ballpark was named for the Modesto state assemblyman in 1983 and was given a big upgrade for the 1997 season to bring it up to minor league standards.

For most of its early years, the team was known as the Modesto Reds, switching to the Colts during a three-year affiliation with the Houston Colt .45s. For 30 seasons beginning in 1975, they were the Modesto A’s as the minor league team of the Oakland Athletics.

In 2005, they became the minor league team of the Colorado Rockies and adopted Nuts as their name, because several kinds of nuts are grown in the region. With last year’s reorganization of the minor leagues, the Nuts became the Low-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.

Early fans got a Wally the Walnut bobble head. I bought a Wally baseball cap.

Three kinds of local nuts are represented by the mascots Wally the Walnut, Al the Almond and Shelley the Pistachio. At Saturday’s game against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, early-arriving fans received a bobble head figure of Wally, but all three life-size mascots were on hand throughout the game.

The public address announcer kept things lively, with an unusual mix of music that seemed to include a lot of television show theme songs. I wish I had been paying closer attention, because I think the songs, and especially the tv themes, had some connection with the batters’ names as they walked up to the plate. I made the connection when Eddys Leonard came up to bat for the Quakes while the title song from “Leave It to Beaver” played.

John Thurman Field at the end of the evening.

Leonard spoiled the evening for the Nuts, who were down 5-0 until a big 7th inning put them back in the ball game. Trent Tingelstad’s 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th put Modesto ahead, but Leonard answered with a two-run shot in the 9th to put the Quakes back in the lead for good. Final: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 8, Modesto Nuts 6.

It's a Small World in the Minor Leagues

I’m clear across the country in California to watch a couple of brothers from Scranton, Pa., facing off in a AAA West baseball matchup. A few nights ago in Reno, I noticed Jake McCarthy in the lineup for the Aces. It made me think of Joe McCarthy, who I saw playing for the Durham Bulls years ago in the playoffs against his hometown Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders. I didn’t put two and two together. 

Tonight in Sacramento, Joe McCarthy shows up in the starting lineup for the River Cats. I didn’t know he had been traded from the Rays farm system to the Giants. I looked up his stats page and it said his brother is Jake McCarthy. I didn’t know Joe had a brother in baseball. Sure enough, Jake is in the lineup tonight for the Reno Aces.

In the lineup for Reno, Jake McCarthy from Scranton. For Sacramento it's brother Joe.

When Joe was announced in the lineup over the PA, a group in the section next to me cheered. “He won us this hat,” showing me a AAA championship cap from 2019. I’ll have to do a little research on Joe’s post-season heroics, but I think it had something to do with multiple home runs. Too bad I don’t have my Railriders gear on tonight. Who knew I’d need it?

It's a delayed celebration for the defending AAA champions.
Joe McCarthy makes the cut on the back of the cup. 

What a big, beautiful stadium. Sutter Health Park was renamed after the 2019 season, so this is its inaugural season with the new name. The park opened in 2000 as Raley Field when the Vancouver Canadians were sold and moved to Sacramento. The team has had great success with 12 division championships, five Pacific Coast League championships and three AAA championships, including the last one in 2019.

Joining the River Cats' celebration is Sacramento's own Arik Armstead,
defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers.

We’ll see how it goes for the defending champs in this year’s postseason play. All 30 AAA team will each play five games at home against one opponent and five games on the road against another. The team with the best record after 10 games will be the champion. Needless to say, there are some tiebreaker scenarios.

The stadium is superbly located across the river in West Sacramento, just down the street from the California State Capitol building. In daylight, the gilded Tower Bridge rises above what looks like a well-tended grove in the lawn beyond right field. At night, the towers of the bridge are still visible in the dark, but the star of the show becomes the well-lit Ziggurat, a stepped pyramid office building beyond center field.

The scoreboard, the Ziggurat building and fireworks light up the night after the game.

It’s hard to believe the temperature at first pitch was 98°, because Old Glory and the California Republic flags were gently waving in center field in the late innings thanks to a cool breeze. What else can I say? The food is fantastic, I’ve got a great wi-fi connection as I write this on my laptop at my seat, and I’ve got the McCarthy boys from Scranton in a brother vs. brother duel under the lights in Sacramento.

Scranton's McCarthy brothers. Joe, left, and Jake.

Jake struck out twice, tripled in the ninth and scored on Nick Heath’s line drive into right field. The edge for the night goes to big brother Joe. He went 2 for 4, knocked in a run, and scored a run. So it went for team vs. team. Final: Sacramento River Cats 7, Reno Aces 4.

Joy in Mudville

Warmups before the game at Banner Island Ballpark.
Stockton Arena dominates beyond left field.

Banner Island Ballpark has a lot going for it. It’s right on the north side of the San Joaquin River in a spruced up downtown neighborhood, next to Stockton Arena. Legend says that baseball was played on this very spot in the late 1800s near the muddy river banks when Banner Island was still an island in the middle of the river. They called it Mudville and it might have been the inspiration for Casey at the Bat, everyone’s favorite baseball poem by Ernest Lawrence Thayer.

Whether or not the story is true, an earlier version of the Stockton Ports called themselves the Mudville Nine. Banner Island Ballpark is not the official name of the stadium, but everyone calls it that. The island is no longer an island either, but the area has retained its name in honor of Charles Weber, who flew his star-spangled banner there whenever there was good news for the Union forces in the Civil War.

The San Joaquin River flows behind right field, inviting home run splashdowns.

This particular baseball team has been in Stockton off and on since 1941 with a few name changes and various major league affiliations through the years. They took on the name Ports in honor of the Stockton’s inland seaport on the San Joaquin River that empties into San Francisco Bay 80 miles away. You have to wonder if any home run balls over the right field fence make it all the way to the Pacific and beyond.

Pulled pork sandwich, with two sides, hold the asparagus.

When I ordered a pulled sandwich dinner with baked beans and creamed corn on the side, I noticed the food cart also had asparagus on the menu. “3 for $3” the sign said. I didn’t ask “Three what?” for $3, because my plate was full, but I have to say I was intrigued by the idea of snacking on asparagus at a baseball game.

Five O'clock Dock and Running Gus caps.

The team store features two caps with asparagus. One shows a stalk of asparagus running with a baseball bat. He’s known as Running Gus and is featured on Kids’ Club paraphernalia. The other has a burly, unshaven man wielding to a stalk of asparagus like he means to take care of some unfinished business with it. His name is Five O’clock Dock, and he represents the blue-collar workers who are ready to cut loose after a hard day’s work at the seaport.

Free Caballos cap.

All of these asparagus shenanigans are a gimmick based on Stockton’s claim as “Asparagus Capital of the World.” Both of the baseball caps are fun and I might have bought one or the other except that the promotional giveaway is a colorful baseball cap with the stallion logo of the Ports’ Copa la Diversion alter ego, Los Caballos de Stockton.

Lineups, standings and .schedule all in one place.

This night’s game was a matchup between the two last-place teams in the North and South divisions of the Low-A West. Somebody had to win and it was the visiting Visalia Rawhide that rose to the challenge. Final: Visalia Rawhide 8, Stockton Ports 3.

At the Old Ball Game

San Jose Municipal Stadium, now called Excite Ballpark, is one of the oldest minor league ballparks in the U.S. and Canada and also one of the most charming. Construction began on the old-fashioned concrete structure as A WPA project in 1941. The San Francisco Seals played the first game here in 1942.

The stadium has been home to many different teams through the years, but the San Jose Giants have been here since 1988, one of the longest running major-minor league affiliations in baseball. There have been many changes to the original configuration of the ballpark, including a large video scoreboard, but there’s no escaping the historic atmosphere inside the stadium.

Old pennants and quotes, all painted on the stadium walls.

The walls are covered with amazing baseball murals, quotations from baseball legends, old minor league pennants and local advertising, all hand-painted by Tony Lima. It’s like being in a baseball history museum. There are a couple of food and drink booths inside under the stands, but a huge area outside on the third base side of the stadium has many more concessions, including the small, but well-stocked team store.

Gigante's Alley wraps around the stadium leading to the team store and Turkey Mike's.

Nearly half of Gigante’s Alley, named for the team’s tall ape-like mascot, is taken up by Turkey Mike’s BBQ with a large picnic area looking out on left field. I stopped at the garlic fries booth first for a quick snack and was going to get some BBQ later, but they shut down around the fifth inning before I had a chance to get back.

The seating bowl, with Turkey Mike's BBQ beyond third base.

Except for the modern scoreboard and some seatback chairs, your first look at the playing field and grandstand is like a step back in time. Most of the seats are metal bleachers, all with excellent views of the playing field. At one time there must have been a spectacular outfield backdrop with the Sierra Azul mountains, but now a number of ugly buildings and new construction are in the way.

Unfortunately, to get the mountain view and maybe to keep the sun out of the players’ eyes, the seating bowl faces south, directly exposing fans to the sun all day. A very small overhang provided shade for the top row of bleachers on the first base side, and every single shady space was taken for this afternoon’s 1 p.m. start. The temperature was 82° at first pitch and rose to almost 90° later in the game.

Obstructed view of mountains in the outfield.

My seat in the next-to-last row started to get some shade halfway through the game, but was not fully covered until about 3 o’clock. I don’t know why the game was being played in the afternoon instead of the evening, when the sun would not be a problem. At least the tickets were cheap, $5, because of a special midweek promotion.

I also got a good deal at the team store, thanks to the lucky number in my $2 program. The prize was a $20 voucher. I needed a new minor league passport book, which I get stamped to validate each of the stadiums I visit. I started checking several stadiums ago, but none of the team stores had the books for sale, until I got to the San Jose Giants.

My lucky number, 1770, wins.

This is my third book — each one has pages for 32 validations — and I haven’t paid full price for any of them. I found the first one in at the Gwinnett Braves store during the International League championship series in 2016. Everything was 50 percent off in an end-of-season sale. The second one came to me at Louisville Slugger Field, where the new operator at the team store opened the packaging of one of the books and grilled me on what was inside and how the stamping worked. As a thank you, she gave me the opened book for nothing. I bought a couple of other things in the San Jose Dugout Store, but I like to think my $20 coupon went towards the passport book.

My other purchases were a souvenir pin commemorating 75 years of baseball at Municipal Stadium, and a “beer batter” cap. A beer batter is designated from the visiting team for each home game. He has to listen to the Andrews Sisters singing “Beer Barrel Polka” after each pitch during his at bat. If the beer batter strikes out, beer is free for 15 minutes. There was no free beer today.

A hand-painted ad on the stadium wall.
Sometimes I find the penguins, sometimes they find me.

It was a fast game, just 2 hours and 19 minutes, hardly enough time to soak up all the historic atmosphere. The visiting Inland Empire 66ers (Low-A L.A. Angels) scored first in the top of the third, but the Giants answered with two runs in the bottom half to take the lead. The 66ers tied it up in the fourth, but solo home runs from Jimmy Glowenke and Marco Luciano put the home team ahead for good. Final: San Jose Giants 4, Inland Empire 66ers 3.

A Long Night's Journey

Sunset between two games in Reno.

Long story short, the air journey from Pennsylvania to Reno was about the worst I’ve ever had. Moments before boarding the first leg of the flight, my connecting flight was cancelled. Then the first flight was delayed for hours leading to an unscheduled overnight in Charlotte, N.C. It looked like I might lose my hotel, my car rental and a chance to see a Reno Aces game. 

Two hours’ sleep, numerous late night phone calls, and three rescheduled flights later, I had salvaged most of the trip and arrived in Reno, not only in time for the game, but with plenty of time to see both ends of a doubleheader. The Reno Aces and the Round Rock Express were making up a game that was postponed two nights before because of poor air quality. I overheard a lot of comments about what a nice night it is compared to recent days when smoke from the Dixie wild fire filled the air.

Waiting to enter under the big baseball.

Greater Nevada Field was worth the extra effort to get here. About 20 years ago, minor league ballpark designers began to take everything from food and drink concessions to restrooms out from under the grandstands onto broad concourses behind the seating bowls. They also extended the concourses to make full-circle loops beyond the outfield where children’s playgrounds and lawn seating areas began to take shape.

One of the best scoreboards I've seen. Easy to read and lots of information.

The stadium in Reno checks off all the boxes with these modern ballpark features. The kids’ playground has a giant slide and a large lawn area slopes down from the walkway to the right field wall. On the other end of the outfield there’s a party area called Upstairs at Greater Nevada Field with an outdoor concert stage and several bars. Bugsy’s Sports Bar has a patio that overlooks left field.

The stairs to Upstairs at Greater Nevada Field.

I don’t know what to say about Archie the mascot. I don’t have a picture because he doesn’t photograph well. He’s big, red, and has an enormous tongue in a gaping mouth. The kids seem to love him, and what more can you expect from a baseball mascot.

One of the most unusual things I’ve ever seen is the giant inflatable baseball head that appears beyond center field in the seventh inning stretch to lead the fans in singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Well, maybe not singing, but definitely lip-synching. Another surprise was the freight train that was visible and audible as it passed by on tracks running through a kind of trough behind the scoreboard in left field.

The giant singing baseball. 

This is a last minute trip that I threw together when I realized I had a big opening in my summer calendar and the minor league schedule told me “California is the place you ought to be.” Reno was added as an afterthought because it seemed cheaper and easier to fly here, or so I thought. I got lucky, which is not a bad thing to be in Reno, when all of the six nearby California baseball teams were scheduled to play at home at around the same time.

That’s seven ballparks in a week and a half and eight games counting the doubleheader in Reno. I hope there will be a little time to explore Lake Tahoe and some of California’s other natural wonders.

Elote fries. Everything you'd find on a loaded ear of corn, plus BBQ pork and corn,
over french fries and served in a batting helmet. All the food groups in each forkful.

Round Rock took the first game and Reno won the second, each victor taking a commanding lead into the late innings. Final: Game 1, Round Rock Express 9, Reno Aces 6; Game 2, Reno Aces 10, Round Rock Express 6.

Back to the Railriders

Derek Jeter stands on a pile of silver bats and laurels and holds a glove made of gold
in his Hall of Fame bobble head. In the photo, the figurine almost looks like him. 

It was a big night at PNC Field as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders continued the celebration of  Derek Jeter weekend. Fans lined up early at the entrance gates in order to get the Derek Jeter Hall of Fame bobble head. Jeter was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020, but there was no induction ceremony because of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.

Instead the Hall of Fame is honoring Jeter and the others from the class of 2020 with an induction ceremony in Cooperstown this year on September 8. No players received enough votes in 2021 for induction. Other awards from 2020 and 2021 will be presented in a broadcast-only ceremony July 24 on MLB Network.

I was one of the lucky people to get through the gates before the bobble heads ran out. Lucky, plus I qualified for 15-minute early entry as a season ticket holder. I had actually bought a small package of tickets for the bobble head games in 2020 that included the Derek Jeter figure and five others. The credit that carried over from the cancelled season made it possible fro me to get the quarter-season package with a small, additional investment.

The lost free squeezy penguin lives on in my photograph and in my memory.

But wait, there's more. Americold, a cold storage company that was looking to hire people, had a table in the ballpark concourse full of information and free trinkets. One of the trinkets was a foam stress penguin that I decided I should have, even though I didn't need a job. I also took a flyer that I promised to pass along to someone who might need work.

But wait, there's more. Further along the concourse, a gentleman spotted my ballpark pin lanyards and asked me, "Do you have an American flag pin?"

"Not with me," I told him. I'm sure I've got a couple of flag pins somewhere around the house, but I never thought of adding one to my baseball pin collections.

"Here," he said, and handed me a waving American flag pin.

I asked him where it came from, and he said it was from a box of pins that were being given to a group of kids who would be holding a flag in the outfield during the National Anthem. I wanted to know if he was from the American Legion or another veterans group, but he was off to his mission before I could find out.

New Vejigantes (you'll have to look it up) and Baby Bombers pins from the Railriders,
and a free American flag pin from a good-hearted gentleman.

I added the flag to my Railriders and Iron Pigs lanyard, which is separated from my other AAA pins, although I've been wearing them both to AAA games. I also bought a couple of new pins from the Railriders store, because they have one of the best selections of pins in all the minor leagues.

The sad news is that I lost the squeezy penguin when I got up for a walk during the seventh-inning stretch. I put it in my pocket, but it popped out at some point. I retraced my steps to see if I could find it, but no luck. I gave up my search and started back to my seat while the second t-shirt toss was happening down on the field. 

A free white t-shirt with a simple black "R" logo over the heart
and a huge red Shop-Rite logo on the back.

Out of nowhere, a white blob whizzed by my face and fell onto the concourse. No one else was around so I was able to scamper over and pick it up. This is my sixth free Railriders t-shirt. One was a promotional giveaway, one was a reward for completing a health walk challenge, and now three or four have come from t-shirt tosses. One might have been in a mystery grad bag I bought, so technically not free, but the value of the items in the grab bag was way more than what I paid.

Too bad about the penguin, but quite a haul by evening's end.

The game was fast, 2 hours and 26 minutes. A solo home run from Armando Alvarez in the second inning and a two-run homer in the third from Hoy Park, gave the Railriders an early lead on the Rochester Red Wings. Park doubled in the seventh to score Christian Perez for the second time. The Red Wings scored a run in the eighth, but that would be it for Rochester. Final: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders 4, Rochester Red Wings 1.

Having a Blast in Kannapolis

 The view from third base.

Here’s a big moment. There are 30 major league baseball stadiums and 119* minor league ballparks, for a total of 149 in the U.S. and Canada. I’ve been to 75 of them. Atrium Health Stadium in Kannapolis, N.C., where the Cannon Ballers were playing the Carolina Mudcats, put me over the halfway mark, and I couldn’t have picked a better place to celebrate.

The Cannon Ballers are playing in a brand new stadium with a brand new name and identity. When you approach the ballpark it looks like the crowd is converging on a county fair or traveling circus. Red and white striped canopies along the concourse cover vendor and sponsor booths, a gigantic blow-up bounce house in the shape of the baseball-headed stuntman “Boomer Baller” dominates the walkway in center field, and music fills the air from behind home plate, where organ wizard Greazy Keyz works his magic and holds court before, during and after the games.

Becky and Wicket approach the big Boomer bounce house, closed until further notice.

There’s also red, white and blue bunting in place around the grandstand in honor of the ballpark’s inaugural season. This is one of the new stadiums that were supposed to open in 2020, but didn’t because the minor league season was cancelled. Cannon Baller fans are making up for lost time and embracing the team with its new, offbeat name.

The team began almost 60 years ago as the Spartanburg Phillies. They moved from South Carolina to Kannapolis in 1995 and were known first as the Piedmont Phillies, than as the Piedmont Boll Weevils.

Best ballpark warning sign ever.

     

When NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt became a part owner after the 2000 season, the team adopted his nickname, “The Intimidator” as its own. They even played their games in Intimidator Stadium. But the new stadium provided an opportunity to refresh the team identity, and Cannon Ballers was the new name chosen in a contest.

Some say that Boomer, the iconic stuntman being fired from a cannon, has a moustache resembling Earnhardt’s, and that the B in the Cannon Ballers jersey lettering looks a like the race car driver’s number 3. Boomer’s projectile image is everywhere, including the inside of the souvenir soda cup which also includes the team’s catch phrase. The vendors don’t say “Enjoy the game,” or “Have a good evening” after making a sale. Instead it’s “Have a blast!”

Best baseball game ticket ever. 

This is a Low-A minor league team with a big league feel. Big catches and other baseball heroics are replayed on the big screen. Food offerings go beyond the standard hot dogs, peanuts and popcorn. BBQ, edible taco bowls, cheesesteak sandwiches, boiled peanuts, and seasoned corn on the cob are just a few of the options.

Best outfield wall ad ever.

The team store might be one of the smallest I’ve ever seen, but the quality inside is outstanding with lots of flashy merchandise to match the players’ star-spangled uniforms. One personal complaint is that there were no souvenir pins to add to my increasingly heavy pin lanyards. But I was wearing my lucky Savannah Bananas shirt and justice prevailed in the end.

Greazy Keyz, the man behind the music behind the plate.

I stopped to give thumbs up and a shoutout to Greazy Keyz, the organist behind home plate. “Sounds great,” I said. “Thanks. Nice pins,” he said, pointing to my lanyard. I told him I’d be back and headed off to my seat, but a minute later we heard a holler and turned around. Greazy had left his perch and chased me down to give me one of his pins, showing him as a wolf pounding on a wooden organ.

Best ballpark pin ever.

It was a great way to start off the game, but things didn’t go so well on the field for the Cannon Ballers. Carolina came on strong with an early assault from the plate. Five base hits in a row with two out in the third inning put them ahead 7 to 0 as 10 Mudcats came up to bat.

The big-screen rally prairie dog pumped up the home crowd in the bottom of the eighth with a rousing sing-and-response rendition of “Day-O.” The Cannon Ballers put together a string of hits to load the bases and brought home three runs with nobody out. That would be it though for Kannapolis as a rally-crushing and game-ending throw to the plate nailed the third out for Carolina. Final: Carolina Mud Cats 7, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3.

*Why, you ask, is there an odd number of minor league ballparks? Two teams, the Jupiter Hammerheads and the Palm Beach Cardinals, share a stadium.

A Night for the Home Team and a Hometown Hero

A spectacular view when you enter Haley Toyota Field near third base.

I’ve been trying to see a Salem Red Sox game in Virginia for years, but they always seem to be on the road when I’m in Roanoke visiting my niece on the way from Pennsylvania to Florida and back. A few years ago, the schedules were in sync for once, but the game was rained out on the night I was planning to go.

My current trip to Roanoke is mostly about baseball, so this time I was able to plan my travel according to the Red Sox schedule. In a stroke of luck, Wednesday night’s promotion was Bark in the Park, and we happened to have two dogs, Wicket and Briar Rose, to take along. All they needed to get in to the game was a $5 donation that went to local animal shelters.

Wicket, Becky, Briar Rose and me.

Salem Memorial Ballpark wasn’t built for the Red Sox, who arrived years after its gates were first opened in 1995 for the Salem Avalanche, a farm team of the Colorado Rockies, but Boston is in the air at Haley Toyota Field, as it is known now. First there is the team’s name: the Salem Red Sox. And there are alternating Red Sox and Salem flags flying along the top of the grandstands.

Flags over the grandstands at Haley Toyota Field.
.

The high green outfield wall that runs all the way from left field to right is reminiscent of the Green Monster in Boston, though it’s not as high. Fans join in when “Sweet Caroline” plays in the middle of the eighth inning, and they can find plenty of Boston gear for sale in the team store.

A mini version of Boston's Fenway Park for the kids.

Best of all is the mini Fenway located on the grounds outside the left field side of the stadium. It’s a playground built to scale in the shape of Boston’s beloved field that is open for kids during all home games.

A local kid did well for the visiting Fayetteville Woodpeckers, Low A team for the Houston Astros. Nathan Perry, who played high school baseball down the road in Bassett, Va., hit home runs in the first and fifth innings to score 3 runs, and brought another runner home in the third with a sacrifice fly to right field.

The wrong stamp from a past version of Salem's stadium, left, and a new pin.

His four r.b.i. for the night were the total output for the Woodpeckers, even though everyone in Fayetteville’s lineup had at least one hit. Several Nathan Perry fans were on hand behind the visitors’ dugout to cheer on their local favorite.

The home team took an early lead in the second inning sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring 5 runs on 4 hits. A couple of insurance runs sealed the deal for the Red Sox. Final: Salem Red Sox 7, Fayetteville Woodpeckers 4.