1945 Carolina League – Regular Season Recap
Stinging insects set the standard in Carolina League baseball debut
Final Standings
Charlotte Hornets 83-55
Burlington Bees 76-62
Greensboro Patriots 72-66
Raleigh Capitals 71-67
Winston-Salem Twins 69-69
Asheville Tourists 68-70
Durham Bulls 63-75
Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets 50-88
The Carolina League’s first season belonged to the bugs.
After the final set of games in mid-September, the
Charlotte Hornets stood head-and-shoulders above the rest in the inaugural season of the Carolina League. The next six spots in the standings had remained pretty tight all summer and into fall. The
Burlington Bees finally pulled away in the final few days to earn the other spot in the championship series (an all-stinging insect final!)
Greensboro, Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Asheville finished within four games of each other. Only Leaksville-Draper-Spray struggled to keep pace. The Triplets may have been a good story before the war but they were outmatched in year one of the Carolina League (50-88 record, 33 GB, run differential of -213. Yikes). Would they even return in 1946?
Charlotte pitcher
Jonathan Hiestand earned 17 wins.
Matt Stokes (no relation to Landis 2B Ross Stokes) earned 14 wins, while teammates
Ryan Alcala and
Josh Patterson finished with 12 W’s apiece. A solid, balanced staff, with closer
JD Warburton collecting 22 saves. Left-fielder
Ryan Diddle led the Hornets at the plate, with a .312 average, 79 RBIs and nine homers.
Burlington 1B
Tony Losana was the first Carolina League batting champ, posting a .333 average. He enjoyed a 5-for-5 game with 5 RBIs against the Tri-City Triplets. Asheville LF
Matt Cote walked 98 times and stole 83 bases. No one else in the league came close to those numbers.
Greensboro LF
Chris Latter had a 7-RBI game against Charlotte that included a grand slam and a three-run triple. There weren't any no-hitters in the Carolina League, but Charlotte’s
Matt Stokes threw a pair of 1-hitters. Strikeout numbers were wonky in both of these leagues (very, very low). I don’t know if I messed up a setting or if K’s were just low in 1945 baseball. A five-strikeout game was a rarity…