After winning a thrilling Game 163 against the Las Vegas Hustler, the Flyers earned a spot in the postseason, opening with a best of 5 series in the Geohagen Round.
Game 1: Jim “91 Cents” Fleming won the JL Pitcher of the Month Award in September, going 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA in 5 starts after being acquired at the trade deadline. He took the mound in the series opener, where he proved his humanity, allowing 6 runs in just 3.2 innings. He was sent to to the showers when Blazers slugger Miguel Martinez hit a 3 run home run in the 4th to put Montreal ahead 6-1. The Flyers pulled within 2 when Chris McFadden crushed a 3 run homer in the 7th inning. The Blazers put the game away in the 8th when Brad Wilkinson hit a pinch-hit 3 run home run to make the score 10-4. That was the final and Montreal led the series 1-0.
Game 2: Fuad Demirel gave the Flyers an early lead with a 2 run home run in the top of the 1st inning. Little Johnny Rasmussen allowed only 3 baserunners through the first 5 innings. He allowed his first run on a sacrifice fly in the 6th and the tying run on a wild pitch in the 7th. Jim Thompson entered the game with 1 out in the 8th and allowed the first 2 batters he saw to double and single, meaning that the go ahead run came across the plate for the Blazers. Robert Menzies got a leadoff single in the top of the 9th but was stranded at 1st as Montreal took a commanding 2-0 lead in the series with a 3-2 win.
Game 3: Mauro Mendoza didn’t have his best stuff in the first home game of the series for Charlotte, but he battled and kept his team close before being removed in the 5th inning with Montreal leading 4-2. Menzies and Tadataka Yoshikawa each homered in the bottom of the 6th to tie the game at 4 and get Mendoza off the hook. The Blazers broke through again off of Buwono Mainaky with a single run in the 8th. Family Dollar field erupted in the bottom of the 9th when Victor Frazier hit a leadoff home run to tie the game and send it into extra innings. Then, in the bottom of the 12th, with seemingly all 47,955 fans still in attendance, they roared again as Robert Menzies extended the series when he crossed home plate on a walk-off RBI single by Fuad Demirel.
Game 4: Juan Marroquin already had a 7 run lead when he allowed back to back solo home runs in the 6th inning. He breezed through the next two plus innings and finished with just those 2 runs allowed in 8 innings. The Flyers had 16 hits, including a home run by Frazier, and won the game easily, 12-2.
Game 5: Jim Fleming took the mound again in game 5, looking to redeem himself after his game 1 struggles. He allowed a run in the 5th but left the game in a tie after 7.1 innings of outstanding pitching. The Flyers left runners on base in the 10th and 11th innings before the Blazers came to bat in the bottom of the 11th. The leadoff man reached on an error and moved to 2nd on a sacrifice bunt. Then, with 2 out, Lineu Aldo singled to right field and the speedy John Oliver raced home to win the game 2-1.
The Flyers played a great series against a tough opponent and came up just short. The fans are still buzzing about the exciting run to the postseason and the way the team battled and almost pulled off a series victory against Montreal. There should be plenty of excitement in Charlotte leading up to the team’s 20th season in 2059.