1945 North Carolina State League – Playoff Recap
Landis star players go missing in playoffs
Concord weaves itself a championship banner in return of NCSL
Game 1: Landis 4, Concord 1 – WP: Twitty (1-0, 1.12 ERA)
Game 2: Concord 8, Landis 5 – WP: Lugo (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game 3: Concord 3, Landis 2 – WP: Gebhart (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game 4: Concord 3, Landis 1 – WP: DeWilde (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game 5: Landis 4, Concord 1 – WP: Twitty (2-0, 1.15 ERA)
Game 6: Concord 7, Landis 5 – WP: Melton (1-0, 4.50 ERA)
Aside from pitcher
John Twitty, the Landis Millers were mostly a no-show in the postseason. Concord rallied after losing the opener, and the Millers couldn’t keep the series alive after winning game five.
Boone Tucker is already sick of the name
Nate Pfau (how do you even pronounce that?). Dude pounded Landis the whole series, finishing with a .519 average. In game two, he went 5-for-7. Concord starting pitching did not give up a single earned run in games 2, 3 and 4. Third baseman
Matt Massie went 3-for-4 with two doubles in the clinching game. He hit .500 for the series.
The real story for Landis was the great disappearing act of leadoff man
Phil Durham. The man with the third-best average in the whole NCSL, went 1-for-24 over the six games. Yikes. Our 39-year-old team captain,
Bruce Elliott, also struggled to get going. He managed just two hits.
Overall, Boone Tucker and the Landis Millers overachieved after being picked to finish last. But it hurt not to take home a trophy for all that effort.
Editor’s Note: I mismanaged game four. Really should have thrown Twitty then instead of game five. If we win that, it’s 2-2 with a best-of-three remaining. Twitty likely could have pitched game seven. Live and learn, Boone Tucker. Live and learn.