The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (1-0) hosted the Fredericksburg Nationals (0-1) in Game 1 of the Carolina League North Division Finals on Tuesday night at Segra Stadium. Juan Fraide was on the mound for Fayetteville against Noah Millikan of Fredericksburg.
At the top of the second inning, Fredericksburg had runners on the corners with one out when Dashyll Tejeda grounded out to second baseman Aaron Piasecki, scoring Rafael Ramirez Jr. to put the Nationals up 1-0. Jordan Williams followed up by hitting an RBI double to left field, scoring Cashel Dugger for a 2-0 lead. Fraide struck out Coy James to end the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning with two outs, Rashawn Galloway and Owen Nowak had back-to-back hits before Kam Durnin hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Galloway. It was now 2-1. Kevin Alvarez struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
At the top of the fourth inning, Juan Fraide picked off Avery Ortiz at first base for the first out. Two batters later, Dashyll Tejeda grounded into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play. Fayetteville starter Juan Fraide went four innings, allowing six hits, two runs, two walks, and three strikeouts, throwing 73 pitches, of which 46 were strikes. Jank Pichardo was the new pitcher for Fayetteville at the top of the fifth inning. He allowed a hit, throwing 12 pitches, of which eight were strikes. Charlie Weber pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Fayetteville had runners on the corners with one out when Rashawn Galloway hit an RBI single to right field. The ball got by Gavin Fien, allowing Ben Tryon and Arturo Flores to score to give the Woodpeckers a 3-2 lead.
Charlie Weber went two innings with five strikeouts, throwing 27 pitches, of which 20 were strikes. Brandon Cassedy pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Fayetteville had runners on the corners when Aaron Piasecki made it 4-2 with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Kevin Alvarez. With two outs, Juan Sierra struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Brandon Cassedy pitched two innings with three strikeouts, throwing 23 pitches, of which 14 were strikes, to get the final six outs of the game. The Woodpeckers came back to beat the Nationals 4-2 to go up 1-0 in the series.
Fayetteville finished the night with 10 hits, went 2 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base. The win went to Fayetteville pitcher Charlie Weber (1-0), while Brandon Cassedy earned the save, and the loss went to Fredericksburg pitcher Tony Neubeck (0-1).
The Woodpecker can advance to the Carolina League championship game with a win on Thursday night in Fredericksburg at 6:35 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Jagger Bech will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Landon Harmon for Fredericksburg.
