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SL Knoxville Smokies

Smokies Crowned 2023 Southern League Champions

September 27, 2023 - Southern League (SL)
Knoxville Smokies News Release


PENSACOLA, FL- For the first time since 1978, the Tennessee Smokies won the Southern League Championship. The Smokies beat the Blue Wahoos by a final of 10-3 to get revenge from last season.

The Smokies scored first in all four playoff games and got on the board in the top of the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Pablo Aliendo to take a 1-0 lead. The Blue Wahoos tied the game in the bottom of the second on a Norel Gonzalez sacrifice fly to knot the game up at one apiece.

Tennessee got a mammoth three run home run off the bat of BJ Murray to take a 4-1 lead in the top of the third inning. Murray reached on a fielding error to score Matt Shaw and take a 5-1 lead in the fifth.

The Smokies broke the game wide open in the top of the sixth inning when they scored four runs. Shaw got the scoring started with a sacrifice fly to score Kevin Alcantara to take a 6-1 lead. Murray recorded his fourth RBI of the Championship Game with a sacrifice fly to score Andy Weber and make it 7-1. The very next batter, Owen Caissie, plated Murray on a double to right field to take an 8-1 advantage. The train kept rolling when Haydn McGeary singled on a soft line drive to plate Caissie and make it 9-1.

The Blue Wahoos scored a lonely run in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the deficit down to seven. In the top of the seventh inning, Andy Weber singled to score Alcantara to make it 10-2. The Blue Wahoos scored a run in the bottom of the eighth with a bases loaded walk to make it 10-3.

The Smokies won the ballgame by a final of 10-3 to secure the 2023 Southern League Championship. Smokies ace Cade Horton got the win, tossing five innings and allowing only one run and striking out four batters. The Smokies end the season on top of the mountain for the first time since 1978!

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