By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
The Burlington Sock Puppets will be in the Appalachian League postseason with a chance to play the championship game this weekend at Burlington Athletic Stadium.
The Sock Puppets clinched a spot for the postseason Monday night despite losing 5-0 in a road game to the Danville Otterbots. With the Pulaski River Turtles losing, it assured Burlington of a wild card with the second-best record in the East Division. Danville won the East Division.
Burlington (26-21 through Tuesday) was slated to play Wednesday night at Danville (30-17) to conclude the regular season. The teams will meet again Thursday night in a one-game semifinal playoff matchup in Danville.
The Burlington / Danville winner will be the host for the league championship game at 7:00 p.m. Saturday against either the Greeneville Flyboys or Kingsport Kingsport Axmen.
The league added a semifinal round this year. The past two years, the Sock Puppets lost in a one-game league final.
“Don’t want to be Marv Levy,” Sock Puppets manager Anthony Essien said, referring to the former Buffalo Bills coach whose NFL team lost four consecutive Super Bowls in the 1990s.
The Sock Puppets won their regular-season home finale Tuesday night by defeating Danville 11-7 in front of an announced crowd of 3,233. Carter Bailey hit a two-run homer and Derrick Tarpley Jr., a player for Pittsburgh, drove in four runs in his home debut. Jimmy Lovelace was the winning pitcher.
Essien said a 7-6 comeback road victory against the Johnson City Doughboys on Saturday night was an example of the team’s determination.
“Kind of magical,” he said. “We got a pretty good culture that has helped.”
The Sock Puppets will have 6-foot-5 right-hander Aidan Weaver from Duke as the scheduled starting pitcher Thursday night. There have been typical late-season roster adjustments and the need to replenish at some positions. Burlington received a boost by the return of Elon outfielder Kenny Mallory Jr., who played for the Sock Puppets in 2023.
“It was awesome getting him back for the stretch run,” Essien said.
