The Sunbelt Baseball League opened the season last week and it was an exciting week to start the 2024 season. The Crackers, Monsters, and Gol ‘Diggers moved to different stadiums over the offseason and each team showed off their new home in the opening week. The Cartersville Cannons are the new kids on the block and opened the season with four home games.
The story in the first week of the Sunbelt Baseball League is the complete 180 turnaround the Waleska Wild Things have made. Last season it took the Wild Things the entire season to reach the 4-win mark. This year the Wild Things have won all four opening-week games and are leading the league in total hits, home runs, and team ERA.
On opening night, we saw Sunbelt League history made in Decatur when the Gainesville Gol‘Diggers stole 17 bases. This feat is a single-game SBL record, the previous record was 8, Zack Zavala had 5 of the 17 stolen bases which was also a single-game record. The Gol ‘Diggers and Blues opening series also saw 50 total runs with the Gol ‘Diggers run ruling the Blues the first night 15-5. The following night the Blues had an 11-run first inning leading to a 21-9 run-rule victory.
A much-anticipated matchup for week 2 we will have the Waleska Wild Things hosting the Choccolocco Monsters. The two teams are undefeated to start the season and, in the league’s, top 3 of team stats. Another series to circle on the calendar will be the Atlanta Blues at the Alpharetta Aviators. The results of this regular season matchup last season led to the Blues beating out the Aviators for the final playoff spot.
The player of the week was Cade Fuller, the third baseman for the league-leading Waleska Wild Things. Fuller started the season off hot going 6-13 with 2 home runs, 7 RBIs, and a stolen base. Fuller led the league in Home Runs and RBIs by the end of week one of the season and looks to continue his hot streak in week 2. The Wild Things start week 2 at home against the Atlanta Crackers with both games at 7:05 PM
The pitcher of the week was Cartersville Cannons 6-1 right-hander out of Florida State Ethan Carroll. Carroll pitched in two games for the Cannons during week 1 and went 7.1 innings with 11 strikeouts, 1 win, and a 0.00 ERA. Carroll was leading the league in innings pitched, strikeouts, and ERA by the end of week 1. The Cannons will be hosting the Choccolocco Monsters in their first week 2 series, both games are at 7:05 PM.
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