Stone Crabs clinch South Division Title

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The season of firsts for the Charlotte Stone Crabs got even sweeter on Thursday night at Hammond Stadium.

Even the rain could not derail a stunning 3-2 victory for Charlotte over the rival Fort Myers Miracle in the third and deciding game of the Florida State League South Division Series.

After waiting nearly 90 minutes for Game 3 to begin, David Newmann (1-0) turned in the best performance of his young career against the Miracle, allowing a single run while striking out a career-high 10-batters in the Charlotte triumph.

In their inaugural season, Charlotte will represent the South Division and go to the the FSL Championship Series against the Tampa Yankees, who were crowned North Division champions by sweeping the Brevard County Manatees in their Division Series match-up.

The Stone Crabs were on the edge of victory time and time again during the regular season against the Miracle, dropping six of the eight contests decided by one run, but it would be Charlotte who held on for the narrow margin of victory in the biggest game played between the two teams all season.

Mike McCormick drew the start behind the plate for the Stone Crabs and came through with a clutch two-out two-run single in the second inning that gave his team a 2-0 lead.

Charlotte added an unearned run against Miracle starter Santos Arias in the fifth inning that would prove to be the winning run in the game.

After a lead-off walk to Drew Anderson, Deibinson Romero misplayed a grounder off the bat of Greg Sexton that would turn into a two-base error and allow Anderson to score from first base and give Charlotte a 3-0 lead.

Arias (0-1), who battled with his command throughout the night, exited after five innings of work. The righty allowed three runs - two earned - on four hits but walked three men and uncorked a pair of wild pitches in the outing.

Ben Revere fought valiantly to bring the Miracle within one run as the game moved to the later innings, plating both of the Fort Myers runs with a pair of RBI-singles.

With Newmann having departed the game in favor of Tommy Rafferty and Revere at first following his second run-scoring hit, Charlotte manager Jim Morrison opted to go with his closer Richard De Los Santos with two outs in the seventh.

De Los Santos would not toss a pitch in the frame, instead throwing over to first base five consecutive times before finally picking off Revere to give a dramatic end to the seventh inning.

Charlotte held on for a one-run win thanks to De Los Santos striking out the side in the eighth and recording a perfect ninth inning to seal the deal.

The trio of Newmann, Rafferty and De Los Santos combined for 16-strikeouts on the night.

Game 1 of the FSL Championship Series will take place with the Tampa Yankees playing host at George M. Steinbrenner Field. First pitch is scheduled 7:00 p.m.