After dropping game two of the series as part of a doubleheader, the Fredericksburg Nationals won game three to become Carolina League Champions on Wednesday, September 18.
After a rainout on Tuesday, September 17, games two and three of the Championship Series were played as a doubleheader. Game two (game one of the DH) was largely dominated by Kannapolis, who held the FredNats to one hit in a 3-0 win to force a decisive game three.
In the winner-take-all game three, Fredricksburg handed the ball to the freshly-named Carolina League Pitcher of the Year, Travis Sykora. After he struck out two in a scoreless first inning, the Nats got him a lead in the second inning.
Caleb Lomavita reached on a one-out single ahead of Brandon Pimentel. “Pimmy” wasted no time, jumping on the first pitch he saw and hammering it out of VACU Stadium for a two-run homer to put the FredNats in front.
Kannapolis got a leadoff hit from Jeral Perez in the third inning, but Cristhian Vaquero threw him out at second base trying to stretch a single into a double. After that, it was smooth sailing for Sykora. He retired the next eight Cannon Ballers in a row to finish five near-flawless innings in the winner-take-all game three. All told, Travis fired five scoreless innings and faced the minimum without walking a man and striking out nine.
Robert Cranz followed Sykora for the sixth inning, and worked himself into some trouble. He walked two batters with two outs, bringing up George Wolkow as the potential go-ahead run. Cranz needed just one pitch to get Wolkow to pop out, extinguishing the threat.
Nate Ochoa plated a crucial insurance run in the home sixth. With Jorgelys Mota at second base, Ochoa grounded a ball up the middle that skipped off of second base, as Mota scored to make it 3-0 Nationals.
Anthony Arguelles, who led the league in saves in the regular season, came on for the seventh and final inning. Arguelles did not blink, sending Kannapolis down in order to secure the Carolina League Title for Fredericksburg.
Sykora earned the win with his gem while Mason Moore took the loss, and Arguelles earned his third save of the postseason.
The championship is the first for the Washington Nationals’ farm team since moving to Fredericksburg, and the first title since 2014 for the franchise as a whole.