FOCUS: Champs! RiverDogs win first minor league title in 99 years

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By Samantha Connors  |  The Charleston RiverDogs defeated North Carolina’s Down East Wood Ducks and secured the Low-A East Championship Series Sunday night at The Joe. It’s a franchise first for the RiverDogs and the city’s first minor league baseball title in nearly a century.

After winning the first two games and dropping the next two in the best-of-five series, the RiverDogs knocked the deciding fifth game of the series out of the park with a 9-2 win.

The RiverDogs led for the first eight innings, jumping out to a 7-0 lead by the fifth inning. The Wood Ducks were able to add two to avoid a shutout in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough.

And Sunday’s victory was no small feat.

This is the first time a Charleston minor league team has taken home a minor league championship since 1922 when the Charleston Pals secured the South Atlantic League title.

The RiverDogs had a record-breaking year, boasting the most wins of all minor league baseball teams in the 2021 season and outperforming the previous 1988 Charleston Rainbows’ winning percentage record. The team amassed 82 victories with just 38 losses ( a .683 winning percentage) in the regular season.

The extended season means there are only a few short months until the RiverDogs return in spring 2022.  More info.

This story first appeared in the Charleston City Paper.