Salem Sox Look For Second Half Rebound In Chase For Mills Cup

DSC_0443
Salem’s Aneury Tavarez points to the heavens after his home run last week against Lynchburg. Salem hopes the stars will align in their favor as the second-half race began this week.

The majority of the Salem Red Sox enjoyed a three day break Monday through Wednesday as the midpoint of the Carolina League split season played out in Wilmington, Delaware as the California League-Carolina League All-Star game took place at the Blue Rocks’ Frawley Stadium. The California stars prevailed 3-2.

Salem opened the 70-game second half  Thursday night where they opened a six-game road trip at Winston-Salem. The Sox hope it will be deja-vous all over again after coming back in 2013 to not only win the second half of the Southern Division, but sweep through the postseason to capture the Mills Cup championship.
Salem opened strong in this season’s first half, going 5-0 to start, including a 4-game sweep over eventual 1st half champs Myrtle Beach on the road in South Carolina. But, the Sox went 28-35 the rest of the way to finish in second place, 11 games behind the Pelicans.
Myrtle Beach (44-24) and Northern Division champs Potomac (38-31) were the only two teams in the 8-team league to finish with winning records in the first half. Both are ensured of two of the four playoff spots come early September when the Mills Cup chase begins.
It was the second straight year Salem won 33 games in the opening half. Now, the Sox only need to beat out Winston-Salem and Carolina to secure a spot in the Southern Division championship series. Last year, Salem took just that route, sweeping Myrtle Beach in the Southern Division matchup, then dispatching Potomac in similar fashion.
Salem enters the second half with some impressive offensive numbers. They scored the second most runs among Carolina League teams with 343, an average of over 5 runs per game.
They likewise have been proficient in scoring early in games and that may be one thing for fans to watch for in the second half. Salem was 24-11 when scoring first in the 68 first half games,
Before starting the second half, Salem made several roster moves during the All-Star break.
Pitcher Luis Diaz was promoted to Double-A Portland. Wednesday, Diaz hit the ground running with six innings of 1-hit, 1-run ball to pick up the win as Portland topped Erie 5-1.
Three players were added to the Salem roster after coming up from Greenville. Infielder Jantzen Witte, catcher Jordan Weems and RHP Joe Gunkel hope to be key parts of the Sox summer run. Witte was batting .330 with 24 doubles, 3 triples, 8 homers and 54 RBIs for the Growl. Gunkel was 3-0 with 62 strikeouts in 51.1 innings, while holding opposing batters to a .149 batting average.
To make room on the roster, infielders Tim Roberson and Kevin Mager were sent to Greenville. RHP Kyle Stroup was released.
Salem opens its second half home season with a six-game stand beginning Wednesday, June 25th when the Carolina Mudcats visit Salem Memorial Stadium.
Bill Turner

Latest Articles

- Advertisement -

Latest Articles

- Advertisement -

Related Articles