Thrilling Ending Goes the Knights Way Thanks to Bergolla Jr.

CHARLOTTE, NC – One day after exploding onto the scene in 2026, the Charlotte Knights were heavily tested by the Durham Bulls. A low scoring affair throughout, the ballgame went into extra innings and that is where William Bergolla Jr. delivered the fireworks. The Knights second-baseman ripped a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning that lifted Charlotte to a 2-1 victory over Durham.

Offense was tough to come by for both teams for most of the evening. Charlotte’s pitching staff racked up 18 strikeouts overall, eight of which came courtesy of the starting pitcher Tanner McDougal. The Knights right-hander tossed four frames and limited the Bulls to a single run. Chase Plymell, Tyler Schweitzer, Zach Franklin, and Lucas Sims combined to pitch seven shutout innings the rest of the way.

Durham’s pitching staff was equally impressive. The Bulls limited the Knights’ bats to only three hits over the game’s first ten innings. One of those hits was a fourth inning solo Home Run by Sam Antonacci – his second Home Run in two games.

The bottom of the 11th inning began when Jacob Gonzalez laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved the winning run over to third base. After an intentional walk to Antonacci, Bergolla Jr. laced a line drive into center field for the game-winning hit. Bergolla Jr. finished 3-for-4 and is a scalding 7-for-9 to begin the season.

Charlotte will attempt to complete the sweep over Durham with the series finale set for 1:05pm ET Sunday afternoon.