Aaron Bray led Charlotte during Fall Ball
FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Charlotte, N.C. – Senior leadership made the difference in the Niner World Series as the White Team won the third and final game 6-5 over the Black Team at Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium to take the series in the final fall scrimmages for Charlotte baseball this semester. The team goes into hibernation (i.e. the weight room) until practice resumes in the spring semester and the season begins in late February.
Senior Aaron Bray had a pair of RBI and senior Alan Parks scored the winning run in the top of the ninth on a wild pitch. Senior Tyson Hibbs also scored two runs for the White Team.
White got on the board first in the third on a sacrifice fly by Bray to score Hibbs after he and junior catcher Mike Perkins had leadoff singles to start the inning against Black Team starting pitcher Andrew Smith. Perkins scored after he singled and came home on the second Bray RBI, a single through the right side of the infield to make it 2-0 White Team.
White Team starter Kyle Pfirrman limited the White Team to just three hits in the first five innings, not allowing a run until the sixth, when center fielder Cory Tilton blasted a solo home run to left and left fielder Shane Brown reached on a error and scored on a Ryan Rivers RBI single to even the game at two after six innings.
The White Team got back on top in the seventh when right fielder Zane Williams scored from first on a double by game-one hero Garrett Hanselman’s RBI double to right center. The White Team added a pair of runs in the eighth, one on a wild pitch and the last on a Perkins sacrifice fly to score Hibbs and make it 5-2.
The Black Team answered with three runs to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. Tilton added his second run driven in of the day with an RBI groundout, with Brown scoring on a wild pitch and right fielder Justin Wilson driving in the tying run with an RBI single to right field to bring home Rivers.
In the ninth, Parks had a one-out single and stole second and third and was able to come home on a wild pitch by reliever Sam Pierce, who took the loss. Bryan Hamilton got the win for the white team and was credited with both White Team wins this week.
The White Team will eat steak at an upcoming fall banquet, while the Black Team will be served hot dogs and humble pie. The Niners will be honored at a future home basketball game with their 2008 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship rings.
The Niners finished 43-16 in 2008, winning 40-plus games in back-to-back seasons, a first for the program. Charlotte also set the school record with a .333 batting average. The 2009 season begins on the road at ACC foe Clemson, with a three-game weekend series that begins on Friday, February 20 at 4 p.m.
