Mooresville, NC July 27, 2022
The Mooresville Spinners started the 2022 season off in a hurry and never looked back. it has been one of the most successful spinner seasons in history. During the month of July, the spinners went undefeated with an 18-0 record.
The playoffs are fast approaching and begin Wednesday night in Mooresville at historic Moor park, 7 PM.
Mooresville residents! You need to come out for this tournament. There are plenty of cold drinks, food, and great baseball to be played. The tournament is a double elimination and will continue until possibly Sunday night. You can purchase tickets at the gate.
Rain has forced the tournament to start a day later than expected. Mooresville will host the winner of the Vipers versus the Athletics and are expecting a decent crowd so arrive early for the excitement.
Let us go back to 2021.
it was a hard-fought season and Mooresville went in as possibly coming out with a second to third place finish. These guys were battling all year in extreme heat and not in playing shape due to COVID. Spinner veteran James “the hammer” Hinson , summed it up with “we play baseball for hours on end, daily, live on a diet of water, beer, fast food, and more water.” The highs and lows of the end of the season were insane coming back from near defeat. The Spinners did however rebound and won the championship In dramatic fashion.
Starting off the 2022 season we saw some good baseball out of the Spinners.
Davis Turner had another breakout year even though he started off a little bit slow. Uncharacteristic for him but it is not how you start but how you finish. Davis leads the team batting average now and is tied at the top for home runs with four along with James Hinson. Hinson has been playing some good baseball. Born on Halloween, Hinson is definitely scary. In the past two weeks he has had more big shots than the LIV vs PGA twitter war. Energetic guy who hits the ball a ton. Hinson’s big bat will be needed if the Spinners expect to repeat.
Tyler McPeak, the Campbell University product, has been hitting the ball wall the last few weeks as well. It seems like every night he has a hit or two that has a huge impact on the outcome of the game. We look forward to more of McPeak in the post season.
Brandon Butterworth out of Western Carolina University had a great month of June. He was seeing the ball well and hitting the ball hard. Squirrely in the base-running department he managed to find his way around the diamond with a team second in runs scored.
Dante DeFranco busted out some power of the season by jacking a big bang over left center field, playing great defense, and being a threat every night. He can explode when you least expect it.
Big Jeremie Greene is back again this season he is batting over 300 and a grand slam (video) to his name this year. He is now a veteran spinner who has become a key part of the organization. We need him to step up big this week.
Justin Fox , is one of the most exciting players that’s worth the price of admission every at bat, as well as in the field. His success generally comes at the most key moments, which is why he quietly is in third on the team in RBI’s. He has made some ESPN highlight plays in center field this season and always shines in the playoffs. When the big game is on the line, we are certain he is going to get on base, and he’s going to cause the other team problems.
About mid to late June is when Blake Jackson made his presence known. He is hitting near the top of the lineup and hitting the ball well. Just last week he had a key grand slam (video) changing the outcome of the spinner game and keeping the undefeated streak alive. The game was in doubt and it was a clutch at bat. Jackson has a shined on defense this year he’s threw an absolute seed to throw a runner out at third.
Mason Lyda is also hitting above .300 with a home run himself in league play. Lyda, a Spinner veteran, was instrumental last season and will most certainly be a part of a back-to-back title. Always smiling and happy to be there, James is a pleasure in the dugout and a fierce competitor on the field.
Stephen Smith played impeccable defense this year. between him and Brandon Butterworth along with DeFranco, Hinson, Greene, Lyda, have kept the middle infield at bay. They have made a lot of great plays that kept the spinners in close ballgames. Smith, who also doubles as a pitcher, has been stellar on the mound. Smith is currently second on the team with the lowest ERA in six games this season.
Noah Love is a big vocal leader on the team. This man will go to war with those around him and never stop at doing anything he can to get the opposing team off their game. If I need to go in to battle, this is the guy I am taking with me.
Trey Putnam is back, and he is starting to heat up and will also be needed for this playoff run. Looking forward to seeing what he brings to the table this post season.
Newcomer Wes Lug out of Ohio university, the MAC conference player started his season with a home run in his first Spinners at bat.
The rotation of catchers the season was primarily Davis Turner Wesley Lug, and Kyle Brittain, who stepped up big in the Spinners season finally both offensively and defensively.
Pitching has been fabulous this season Matt Chapelle and Jonathan Todd leading the way in both wins and strikeouts at 32 and 31 respectively. Both are great pictures and it’s been a pleasure to watch them this season. Jonathan started six games and his presence was very well known this is a man you don’t like to get up and bat against. He takes this game very seriously and is mentally ready in between pitches, and goes up there like he is in the world series on every pitch.
Matt Chapelle will wheel and deal you he is at 32 strikeouts this season and sent many guys back to the dugout upset. He only has three earned runs on the entire year and has giving up 15 hits. Steven Smith has also seen some time on the mound, not only can he play infield, but he can do it on the hill. Stevens also had 23 strikeouts this season is posting a current ERA of 1.62 he also only has three earned runs to his credit and a measly nine hits given up
Avery Bridges has only given up 2 hits in the month of July and one earned run. He has pitched very well and expected to be an asset in the post season.
Long Time spinner Garrett Sutton usually closing, leads the team with appearances of course once again, however his services have not been needed as much as July and due to the exceptional office by the spinners. Seven for him in June and only two in a month of July. He has 11 strikeouts himself, and has only given up 4 runs.
The Mooresville connection.
Catcher Davis Turner and pitchers Justin Poris, and Nick Merriman all played together on the 2019 state championship Mooresville blue Devils baseball team. Late June they all had a chance to play together in the same game for the first time since that season. All three have been together this entire season with the Spinners and I’m sure have reminisced about the time they spent together in high school. It is a pleasure to see them all still playing baseball and on the same team.
Wednesday night at 7pm. Be there or miss out on the big first round game starting a run for back-to-back season championships!
