Fall baseball practice is in full swing and the Niners jumped into it head first by hosting an exhibition against FloDar Tech on Saturday at the Hayes. Charlotte opened up the first day of team practice Friday with a Green/Gold scrimmage before inviting the Stingers in for 13 innings on Saturday. It was a chance for many fans to get their first look at what the 2023 version of Charlotte Baseball will look like. The team has plenty of returning vets and Saturday we saw some of the new pieces put the ‘nine across the chest’ for the first time at the Hayes.
Overall the Niners threw nine pitchers and used 19 position players in a 15-10, 13 inning exhibition victory over FloDar. Eight of the pitchers were new arms to the program, with Cam Hansen being the only returning player to throw. The starter for Charlotte was Vanderbilt transfer Donye Evans who threw 2 scoreless innings to start.
The starting lineup listed below, put up 10 runs in the 7 innings they were in, led by Will Butcher. Butch had two ‘Butch Bombs’ on the day including a grand slam and 7 RBI. Kaden Hopson added a towering solo shot in a 5-run 6th inning for the Niners to give Charlotte a 10-1 lead.
FloDar chipped away at the lead in the later innings and eventually tied the game at 10 in the 11th inning. 49er newcomer Josh Patrick then put Charlotte ahead for good with a 2-run triple in the 12th, and freshman Spencer Nolan added an exclamation point with a 2-run HR in the 13th.
To be this early in the fall, the 49ers defense played a pretty clean game in the field. Several great plays were made, and many tough plays were made to look routine by the 49ers in the field.
If you were unable to make it out to the Hayes, you can check out the broadcast on our YouTube channel (Link). All 13 innings are there and we even had some special guests join us in former MLB manager/ Charlotte native Grady Little, and former 49er pitcher Matt Brooks. It was certainly nice hearing from them. The Niners will host Walters State in another fall exhibition at the Hayes on October 1 and we will be there to cover it.
Here are some stat lines from the game:
Will Butcher- 2-4, 3-Run HR, Grand Slam, 7 RBI
Jake Cunningham – 3-4, Double, SB, R
Eli Weisner – 2-4, Double, R
Brandon Stahlman – 2-3, R
Kaden Hopson – 1-2, HR
Cam Fisher 1-4, RBI
Blake Jackson- 1-5, RBI Single, BB
Josh Patrick- 2-3, Triple, 2 RBI
Spencer Nolan – 1-3, HR, 2 RBI
Dante Defranco- 1-2, R
JD Suarez- 1-3, R
Drew Tyndall- 1-3
RHP Donye Evans- 2 IP, K, 0 H, 0 R
LHP Clark Dearman – 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, K, BB
RHP Joel Sarver- 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H
RHP Cam Hansen- 2 IP, 2 K, BB, 4 H, 3 ER
RHP Wyatt Hudepohl – 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER
RHP Aubrey Guillentine – 1 IP, K, 2 BB, 0 H, 0 ER
RHP Calvert Clark – .2 IP, 1 K, 1 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 HBP
LHP Andrew Spolyer – 2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 2 ER
RHP Nick Cosentino- 1 IP, 1 K, 0 H, 0 ER
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