On the strength of 10 hits and 11 runs the Sharks walked from the 08 Coastal Plain stage with a win Tuesday night in Florence.

The Sharks fell behind 3-0 after just two innings but stormed back to take the lead 8-3 with an offensive explosion in the top of the third. It all started with a couple of walks to put runners on for the middle part of the line-up.  

Leading the charge for the Sharks hurlers was starter Chris Kennedy(Davidson) who made just his second start and his starting finale of the 08 Coastal Plain season in one sweep of that southpaw arm. Kennedy worked through the fifth inning giving up just two earned runs on nine hits, striking out three to pick up his second win of the season.

Jerry Young(Lipscomb) former summer teammate of starter Kennedy with the Morganton Aggies, and recent Shark addition, came on in relief and worked a scoreless frame with a strike out.

The Conditional Duo of Kolby Epley(College of Charleston) and Cory Lyda (Presbyterian) were able to stick around long enough to bat back to back in the season finale. A sac fly off the bat of Lyda, who held down centerfield for all but a handful of games, drove in the Sharks first run of the game. One batter later Epley tied the ballgame up with a double down the left field line to drive in two more. Epley would add an insurance run with another single in the sixth.

Despite the lack of play-off implications for the Sharks, personal undercurrents ran deep. For Matt Kirchner(Elon) it was a fight to get to the .200 mark on the season. Despite power numbers that put him near the club lead for doubles, early struggles had him fighting to get back to the Mendoza line. He helped his own cause in the third with a single to drive in the Sharks sixth run.

Tracking back to the site of his first big fly blast of the season John Nester(Clemson) held things down behind the plate handling the five Sharks pitchers who made their way to the loneliest spot in Florence, SC, the mound at American Legion. Nester also got things going with a pair of singles on the night, one of which drove in a run to expand the Wilmington lead in the third.

Daniel Parker(Illinois) got in on the act in that same third inning, driving in a run with a single. Though the only member of the Ilini on the team played sparingly, Parker’s glove would chip in on either side of the infield, picking up time at first and third throughout the season.

Bobby Leeper(UNC-Wilmington) found himself with no defensive duties, penciled in as the Sharks final designated hitter of the season. Keeping with a personal tradition, Leeper ran his way through the ballgame en route to a peanut buttery post-game snack. With two stolen bags already in his pocket, Leeper doubled in a run and pilfered a third base in the Sharks big third frame.

Dashing and diving his way around the left side of the infield all summer long, Ryan Graepel(North Carolina) settled into his native short stop for the regular season finale. Graepel got into the hitting act as well in the third, driving home a run with a single back up the box.

It was a bittersweet win in the season’s final contest as it was the end of the road for all of the Wilmington squad.With the hearth and home awaiting just miles and hours down the road, Inman, SC native Kyle Deese(Clemson) capped off his successful CPL season coming on in relief to strike out one giving up just a single run.

If walks were silver and base hits were gold, Mike Alvarez(Florida Gulf Coast University) could have cashed out and gone home long ago. However Alvarez, making the switch to left field, capped off a season in which his dedication put him in every single game, picking up his 46th walk of the season.

A season of picking up big base hits set Neal Pritchard(Elon) right near the coveted .300 mark headed into the final game. Though Wilmington’s other “Phoenix” was held out of the hit parade in the third, Pritchard did pick up a single in the fourth, and brought his glove, as always, holding things down at second.

A season that started too late, may have ended too soon for Jackson Mississippi bred Hunter Owen(Milsaps). Though he did not get the start in the final ball game for the Sharks, his looming right handed bat, and the nearsighted left field wall, did represent a powerful weapon for a lonely Wilmington bench. Owen did get that pinch hit appearance in the sixth and drove in two more insurance runs pounding a ball past the third baseman.

Still savoring his first CPL win two games ago, lone lefty reliever Peter Larson(Ferrum) came on to work a perfect eighth inning to keep the Shark lead at 11-6. Though it was a lonely bench, the bullpen, under the watchful eye of the inactive Chris “Put ‘em Away” Powell(Presbyterian), was still packed with reserve arms.

Fireballer Tyler White(Alabama) and his 55 strikeouts stuck around on a lonely bench while Ryan Vander Tuig(San Jose State), who picked up a save in his first appearance, closed things out in his last, getting the final three outs of the season.

The Sharks finished with a 24-31 record on the season, and oh, what a season it was.