What Does The Fox Say? Swamp Foxes Clinch First Playoff Appearance in More than a Decade (2062-08)

[woods]

On a typical Tuesday Night at the Riverfront in Wilmington, you'll see tourists snapping photos, street musicians playing for tips, and a fair share of rowdy military personnel romping around, each there on their own agenda, and doing their own thing. But on this night, it was different.

Seemingly everyone, from the souvenir shop owners at Market House to the homeless guy who hangs out outside the Tiki Bar, was tapped in to the Swamp Foxes game. The customary greeting of "How y'all doing?" was replaced with "What's the score?", which was the only thing that mattered in Wilmington that night.

Blackwater Field was bumping at the end of the Riverwalk, and those lucky enough to get tickets watched live as the Swamp Foxes hosted the Brooklyn Robins, with Cape Fear's playoff hopes all but secured. It was the penultimate game of the season for the Foxes, who were two games up on the Mexico City Aztecs in the JL Wildcard. The best that Mexico City could hope for was a tiebreaker, if they won all of their remaining games while Cape Fear lost theirs. But a single Cape Fear win would clinch a playoff berth, so tonight's game was about taking care of their own destiny.

Starting pitcher Logan Hill pitched an incredible game, throwing 5.1 innings of scoreless ball, before the skipper pulled him in the sixth to let the bullpen finish things off. Unfortunately, relievers Earl Cox and Kalaila Cobar were mortal, each giving up a pair of runs to give Brooklyn a 4-1 lead in the eighth.

But there was still hope, as Octávio Martínez ripped a double down the right field line to lead off the Swamp Foxes' half of the eighth. After a walk to Iván Alvarado, designated hitter Juan Hernández brought them both home with a double of his own, making it 4-3.

In the ninth, Martínez came through yet again, driving in John Hopkins with another opposite field hit, a single, to tie the game at four.

At this point, the energy level of the crowd was so high that the ballpark was visibly shaking. The honky-tonk band in the pavilion was playing a rendition of Luke Bryan's "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)," and all 44,598 fans in attendance were seemingly following the instructions.

Richard Vernon finally dealt the decisive blow in the tenth, driving in Juan Hernández with a double to secure the win for Cape Fear.

And you couldn't have picked a more deserving guy to be the hero. Vernon has been with the organization longer than any other position player. getting his first call-up in 2056 with Rockville, which means he's endured six straight sub-.500 seasons to get to this point.

His teammates immediately mobbed him in the middle of the field following the game-winning hit. As the cannons of the USS North Carolina sounded from across the river, the Swamp Foxes celebrated in a blur of red and white. A cooler of Cheerwine was dumped on the heap by someone, conveniently red, to add more team colors to the sprawling mass of humans.

The camera crew eventually infiltrated the mob to find pitchers Nasir al Din bin Sahir and Nathaniel Davis in a bro hug. bin Sahir joined the team in 2050, which was the last time the then-Pikemen made the playoffs. Davis joined a year later, in 2051. The two veterans understood the signifance of this moment in a unique way, being that each of them had put in a decade-plus of work to get here. "Let's fucking go," you could see Davis saying, as the footage showed on the Jumbotron. "Let's bring it home."

bin Sahir responded with a nod of determination. He knew that both of them were impending free agents, and that this would maybe be the only chance for them to bring a championship to Cape Fear.

A sideline reporter caught up to Octávio Martínez, who was already wearing goggles, though unclear whether they were for the champagne in the clubhouse, or the threat of more Cheerwine on the field.

"Octávio, you doubled to start the rally in the eighth inning," the reporter asked. "What was going through your head in that at bat?

"I was just confident that I would get a pitch to hit," said Martínez. "And just as confident that the guys — Ivan, Tariel, Juan — that they would keep it going. The thing about being behind, that's actually where we want to be. People underestimate us, and we love to prove them wrong."

"Do you think people will underestimate you in the playoffs?"

"Oh, yes," Martínez said with a devious smile. "And we can't wait to prove them wrong again."

The Swamp Foxes will travel to Montreal to face the division rival Blazers in the Geohegan Series, beginning Saturday night. Nathaniel Davis is expected to get the nod to start Game 1.

[Krathan]

Congrats. You’ve done a nice job with this team. The state of North Carolina has seen some great baseball this season.

[RonCo]

Great season. Vernon's moment of redemption for an off-year seems perfect.