North Division Series Sweep Sends Woodpeckers to Carolina League Championship

Fredericksburg, VA - The Fayetteville Woodpeckers rolled into Fredericksburg, Virginia on Thursday night and put together a dominating performance, clinching a sweep of the Carolina League North Division Series over the FredNats with a 8-1 victory and punching their ticket to the Carolina League Championship for the first time since 2019.

The Woodpeckers commanded the lead wire-to-wire, scoring twice in the top of first inning on an RBI single from Kam Durnin and a sacrifice-fly from Kevin Alvarez. Arturo Flores made it 3-0 with an RBI single in the second inning off of Landon Harmon (L, 0-1), who left the game after three innings.

The only FredNats run scored in the third inning when Hunter Hines connected for a solo homer deep over the right field wall against Jagger Beck. Beck worked 4.2 innings and struck out five before handing the ball to Ryan Verdugo (W, 1-0). Verdugo worked around a pair of inherited runners and anchored the pitching effort for the rest of the game.

Verdugo worked 4.1 scoreless, struck out six, and retired seven hitters in a row to close the game. Fayetteville’s bullpen was dominant throughout the series, not allowing a run over 9.1 total innings of relief.

The game was broken open with a three-run top of the sixth. Rashawn Galloway doubled with one out, German Ramirez scored Galloway on a triple to left-center field, Durnin singled home a run, then a successful double steal with runners on the corners made it 7-1.

Ben Tryon drove in the final run with an RBI double in the top of seventh to lock up the 8-1 final.

The Woodpeckers will play game one of the Carolina League Championship Series on Sunday night, taking on the winner of Hickory and Charleston in the South Division Series. Game one will be on the road and games two and three will be played in Fayetteville on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Full Box Score: https://www.milb.com/gameday/850953/final/box