Sox Win Third Straight Title!
3-Peat! 3-Peat! 3-Peat!

     The Charlotte Red Sox took home their third straight title Wednesday night with an 11-5 victory and series sweep of the Charlotte Chiefs.
     
     In Game 1, the Sox sent Andy Maxson to the mound to face the Chiefs Evan Denton.  The Sox struck first scoring in the top half of the first, but the Chiefs answered in the bottom with a 2-run homer by Kevin Faulkner.  The Chiefs extended the lead in the 2nd with a pair of 2-run blasts, one off the bat of Brad Gardner, and Faulkner's second in as many innings.  Needing an answer, the Sox did just that, plating four runs of their own in the top of the 3rd thanks to rbi singles from Mike Marconi and John-David Vidal, and a long sac fly by Josh Benton.

     Maxson would shut down the potent Chiefs offense in the 4th and 5th and allow his offense to give him the lead.  The Sox did that with a 6-spot in the top of the fourth.  Dowd Maye started the scoring with a solo home run to left-center, and the Sox capitalized on a costly 2-out bases empty error, and plated 5 more runs to chase starter Denton when the dust settled.  The Sox scored once in the 6th on a Vidal rbi groundout, and the Chiefs punched two unearned across on a 2-out error.  The Red Sox scored twice in the top of the 7th on an rbi single from Maye and Joe Maione sac fly and took a three run lead into the bottom of the final frame.

     A 1-out single followed by a walk brought the tying run to the plate for the Chiefs, and Dane Phillips connected for a 3-run shot to left-center to tie the ballgame at 14-14.  The Sox would get out of the inning and Game 1 headed for extra innings.  Two walks and single later, the Sox had the bases loaded with one out as Benton stepped to the plate.  He delivered again, as he's done all season, this a 2-run single.  Andrew Romberger followed with an rbi single, and Benton scored the 4th of the inning himself on a wild pitch.  Josh then took the mound to shut the door, striking out two batters and securing the Game 1 victory and series lead for the Sox.

     Game 2 Chiefs starter Brian Zurhellen started the scoring in the top of the 1st inning helping himself out with a solo homer to left field but the Sox answered in the bottom half with a sac fly by Joe Maione.  The Sox manufactured another in the 2nd, with a Keith Kraemer sac bunt setting up a Brett Bostick rbi single back up the middle for the 2-1 lead.  Sox starter Ben Beard held the Chiefs at bay while the offense added two more runs in the 3rd inning with doubles by Joe Maione and Mike Marconi.  

     The Chiefs plated two runs in the top of the 4th, a Sam Asis solo opposite field home run and Zurhellen sac fly did the damage.  The Sox went scoreless in the 4th, but made up for it in the 5th, plating four runs.  An rbi single from Brian Freivogel and another sac fly from Maione plated the first two, but the big blow was Scott Yaniszewski's 2-run single with two outs that gave the Sox an 8-3 lead.  The offense didn't stop there as they crossed the plate three more times in the 6th.  John-David Vidal drove in two with a triple to deep center, and Maione's double drove in his third of the night and put the game away with an 11-3 score.  

     Beard battled with control in the top of the 7th, and gave up two runs, but finished the night with 11 strikeouts while limiting the Chiefs to only 6 hits.  For the second straight season, Mike Marconi fielded a ground ball at 2nd and made the throw for the final out as the Sox celebrated their third straight Charlotte NABA title.

     As the Charlotte NABA has seen its largest, mosy competitve pool of players this summer, the Red Sox stand alone as potentially one of the best teams the Charlotte NABA has seen. Three consecutive titles against is a feat in itself. The Red Sox have defined Charlotte NABA baseball and carried the league to a higher standard. These men play the game the right way and they deserve every minute of celebration. Congratulations again Charlotte Red Sox!!!