🚨 Special Edition | Luckies in the All-Star Game, Interviews, First-Half Review, and Playoff Format 🚨
Landon Parker and Ryne Rodrigues will be heading to Clayton for ONSL All-Star Game
Just like that, the 2024 Old North State League Season is halfway through.
Through the first-half of the season, the Luckies went 7-5 in divisional games, winning the vast majority of their games at home.
That was enough to tie for second place in the division in the first-half. The Old North State League playoff format is a little bit complex, so here’s a breakdown.
Each half divisional champion punches their ticket to the playoffs. The Clayton Clovers went 10-2 to clinch the first-half championship and a playoff spot. So, whoever wins the second half title in this division will head to the playoffs. In the event that Clayton was in first-place once again, the Central Division team with the second-best record overall would take them on.
Whoever has a better record will be the top seed. After the opening round in which the two division teams face each other, the winner advances to the divisional round, and the final round is the “You Can Go Home Now” Cup Series to determine the champion.
Presumably, the Central Division champion would play the Western Division champion in the divisional series, and the Northeastern and Southeastern teams would compete for their spot in the championship. Tiebreakers for home field advantage include head-to-head and overall ONSL record, and if those are even, the ONSL will use a coin flip.
The Opening Series will take place from July 25th to 27th, the Divisional Series from July 29th-31st, and the championship series from August 2nd to August 4th. The higher seed will receive two of the three games at home.
The champions will have their name engraved on the trophy and each player will receive a championship ring.
Individual awards include Pitcher of the Year, MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Executive of the Year, Organization of the Year, and Tournament MVP. One person chosen by each ownership group will receive one vote for each award, and that vote is not allowed to be used on a player from the team they are representing.
The Reidsville Luckies will be represented at East Clayton Community Park on Saturday night, as Ryne Rodrigues and Landon Parker were selected for the All-Star Game! To make the news even better, Rodrigues, who hit four homers in the first half, was selected to hit in the Home Run Derby!
The Home Run Derby begins Saturday afternoon at 5:00 with twenty participants, which will soon be whittled down to ten. After round two, five will remain, and then, round three will determine the final two. The participants will be allowed to use a metal bat.
The All-Star game will begin at 7:05 PM, and will feature the Western and Eastern teams. Landon Parker and Ryne Rodrigues will represent the Luckies on the Western team, composed of the best players from the Central and Western Divisions. The Eastern team will include representatives from the Southeastern and Northeastern Divisions.
Catcher Landon Parker, who hit a staggering .381 with 12 RBI in just eleven games, showed out this season with his impressive numbers and diligence behind the plate. Here is my interview with him below.
As you probably know, I give Ledger awards to Luckies who show up and show out at Jaycee Park. This year, Nigel Robinson leads the way with three Lucky of the Game Awards, while Ryne Rodrigues, Brennan Fleming, Myles Odom, Calvin Keesler, and Brody Ray each tallied one. Robinson and Myles Odom are tied for the most Moment of the Game Awards in 2023 with two apiece, while Zachary Cimino, Ryne Rodrigues, Gavin Fleming, and Brody Ray have each received the honor once.
Robinson has moved up to second all-time in Lucky of the Game awards, as TJ Highsmith is the only one to ever have four.
Vermilion Gavin Fleming is tied for first all-time in Moment of the Game awards, as he has received it three times. He is tied with Travis Hammond and TJ Highsmith.
All-time in Ledger awards, Robinson and Gavin are tied for second with five overall awards apiece. They still have half of a season to catch up with Highsmith, who received a herculean four Lucky of the Game awards and three Moment of the Game awards in 2023.
After last season ended, I asked Chenzo Scanio who he thought had improved the most. His answer: Sam Melton and Jacob Trivette. I checked in on both of them at this midway point of the season. Melton’s interview is below, in which he tells us what he would like to improve on, why he decided to return to the Luckies, and what has changed in his second year at JC Park.
Beneath is Jacob Trivette’s interview. Trivette was one of the final four participants remaining in the 2023 Home Run Derby, and was also a part of the All-Star roster. The Vermilion informed us of what he learned at Bluefield State, what he wants in his next school, and why he decided to return to the Reidsville Luckies. Also, he gave us some surprise news on a pitcher who might be coming back to Lucky City in 2024.
I have hit you with a lot of information about the first-half of 2024 and this week’s All-Star Game, but now it is time to look ahead.
The big dates to look out for are July 12th, July 19th, and July 22nd, which are the days that the Luckies play the Wake Forest Fungo. It is looking like it will be a two-horse race for that final playoff spot in the Central Division, since Clayton locked up a playoff spot and High Point and Oak City only won a fourth of their games. The Fungo beat the Luckies two out of three times in the first half, so now it is between Reidsville and Wake Forest for playoff spot number two.
June 30th the Luckies begin the second half of the season, and July 23rd is the last game of the 2024 season, and, as detailed above, the playoffs begin on July 25th. Hopefully, the Luckies will play far beyond the 23rd.
This is super informative…and interesting. Great work.