1945 Carolina League – Playoff Recap
Bees sting Hornets to win 1st Carolina League title
Regular season champs falter in playoffs
Game 1: Charlotte 4, Burlington 2 – WP: Stokes (1-0, 2.00 ERA)
Game 2: Burlington 4, Charlotte 3 – WP: Higgins (1-0, 3.38 ERA)
Game 3: Burlington 7, Charlotte 1 – WP: Carlson (1-0, 1.00 ERA)
Game 4: Burlington 8, Charlotte 5 – WP: Carney (1-0, 5.79 ERA)
Game 5: Charlotte 9, Burlington 1 – WP: Stokes (2-0, 1.50 ERA)
Game 6: Burlington 2, Charlotte 1 – WP: Anderson (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Charlotte was a machine through much of the 1945 regular season, leading comfortably from late spring on. Burlington had to fight and claw just to make the championship series.
Maybe being in a dogfight all summer helped the Bees keep their edge for the post-season?
Burlington shortstop Mike Moseley earned championship series MVP. He had 14 hits over the six games, including six doubles and seven RBIs. He never struck out. Teammate
Jaylen Cossette (catcher) went 10-for-20 at the plate with a triple and seven more RBIs. The scouting report on Cossette said “He makes stupid mistakes.” The only thing stupid in this series involving Cossette was that Charlotte pitched to him…
Speaking of Charlotte pitching, Hornets ace
Matt Stokes was certainly a highlight. He threw a pair of complete games, allowing only three runs over 18 innings. Charlotte just didn’t have a lot behind him in the rotation…
So, we have our first champion for the Carolina League! Congrats to the Burlington Bees, generating a lot of buzz! (Sorry, bad).