Pelicans use dominant pitching, timely hitting to end Mills Cup drought

Grand Strand area Cubs fans, the drought is over.

At one level, at least.

In the Pelicans’ first year as the Class-A Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, the club brought the Mills Cup back to Myrtle Beach for the first time since 2000, sweeping the Wilmington (Del.) Blue Rocks after a thrilling 3-2 clinching victory Wednesday night at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark in the Carolina League Mills Cup championship series.

“For me, it’s been the most exciting year in my 24 year career in baseball,” said Myrtle Beach president and general manager Andy Milovich, a lifelong Cubs fan. “It’s my first championship in my long tenure in this business and to do it with the Cubs and to have the success we’ve had in this community has been incredibly rewarding.”

The Pelicans were the Cubs’ only minor league affiliate to win a championship this year as Chicago’s Dominican Summer League and Arizona Rookie League teams both lost in the first round of their playoff series. It was also Myrtle Beach’s third Mills Cup championship as the club was co-champions with Wilmington in 1999 and beat Lynchburg in 2000, but it was the first time the Pelicans clinched the title in front of their home fans.

“Giving these fans a chance to experience this is special and I hope everyone enjoyed this season as much as we did,” Milovich said. “We’ll come back and try to do it again next year as we keep building on the success that we’ve had.”

While the championship series was a sweep, the final contest of the best-of-five tilt wasn’t without dramatics.

After the Blue Rocks tied the game in the top of the ninth, outfielder Pin-Chieh Chen singled in the game-winning run with one out in the bottom of the frame to cap a victory that highlighted an exciting season. The Pelicans finished with the best record in the league at 86-58.

“Words can’t describe it,” said Pelicans manager Mark Johnson, the Carolina League 2015 Manager of the Year. “When you grind and compete daily for 175, 180 days – spring training, regular season and postseason – and you have a chance to win a championship and then you actually come through and do it, it’s an incredible feeling that can’t be described. On the same tone, I can’t describe the pride and the joy and the happiness I have for this group of guys. They are true professionals.”

And they showed that quality, especially when it was absolutely necessary.

Facing a 1-0 deficit in a best-of-three series against Winston-Salem in the Carolina League southern division championship, Myrtle Beach won back-to-back one-run games at home to clinch a spot in the championship.

The Pelicans also took the first game of the Mills Cup championship series by one run, and sealed Game 2 by two runs before returning home and winning by just a run again.

Myrtle Beach was involved in 51 games decided by one run and 24 games decided by two runs this season.

“I don’t think we’ve been comfortable all year. It’s been a grinding season, there’s been so many one-run games,” Johnson said. “We’ve had to fight, we’ve had to claw, we’ve had to battle the whole season and it was no different tonight.”

The Blue Rocks put up a fight in the postseason, too.

Despite losing several quality starters to call-ups and posting the worst record in the league during the second half, Wilmington swept Lynchburg 2-0 in the northern division championship series and played three close games with the eventual champions in the Mills Cup championship series.

However, Johnson said he knew his team pretty much wrapped up the series by winning the first two games, especially with starters Brad Markey (7-0, 1.15 ERA) and Jonathan Martinez (9-2, 2.56) in his back pocket.

“That was the series right there; it was huge,” Johnson said. “We came out and took care of business, played really well and managed to somehow squeak it out in some close games.”

A dose of Caratini

Series MVP Victor Caratini drove in the game-winning run in Game 1, went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the 2-0 win in Game 2, and went 2-for-3 with an RBI in the finale to finish 7-for-11 overall.

“It felt great – when everything was on the line – to get big hits in the clutch,” Caratini said through a translator. “And to win those games – every game was close – meant a lot and I’m happy about it.”

Said Johnson: “Victor stepped up. He stepped up big time. Not only offensively but defensively. It shows a lot about his character and I think it’s a turning point in his career.”

While he had a phenomenal postseason, Caratini struggled to begin the year. The Puerto Rican catcher batted just .236 in the first half but came on strong in the final 21 games of the year, batting .329 with a .506 slugging percentage.

“Victor is still learning how to play the game but I’m very happy for him because he really bounced back and led the team in the last part of the season,” Pelicans batting coach Mariano Duncan said. “In the playoffs, he came through and I’m very happy for him. That kid has a great future ahead of him. He improved so much and what he did in the playoffs didn’t surprise me at all; I know he has some great hitting skills.”

Plenty of pitching

Loaded with quality pitchers, Myrtle Beach was fierce on the mound this year.

The Pelicans pitching staff led the Carolina League in ERA (3.01) and WHIP (1.16) and the club was second in saves (43) and third in shutouts (13). For much of the season, Johnson went with a six-man rotation with so many quality pitchers.

Martinez led the Carolina League in ERA (2.56), Markey had seven wins in eight starts and Daury Torrez was tied for fifth in wins with 10. Meanwhile, Duane Underwood was 6-3 with a 2.58 ERA, Paul Blackburn was 7-5 with a 3.11 ERA, Jen-Ho Tseng was 7-7 with a 3.55 ERA and Tyler Skulina was 3-6 with a 3.11 ERA.

While almost every starter spent a portion of the season on the disabled list, the guys replacing them stepped up.

And the bullpen was just as solid.

Reliever Josh Conway – a former Coastal Carolina standout – had a 2.92 ERA in 52 1/3 innings, closer Jasvir Rakkar posted a 2.96 ERA in 45 2/3 innings and had 16 saves, David Garner had a 2.37 ERA in 30 1/3 innings, Michael Heesch had a 2.24 mark in 64 1/3 innings and David Berg contributed a 1.69 ERA in 16 innings.

Berg, who holds a bevy of NCAA records as a closer at UCLA, played a huge part for the Myrtle Beach in the postseason. Berg pitched in all three Mills Cup championship series games and picked up a save in Game 2 and notched wins in Game 1 and Game 3.

“It was a great way to end the year,” Berg said.

Pelicans pitching coach David Rosario saw a lot of improvement from his young hurlers.

“Everybody – the rotation and the bullpen – got better and that’s what we’re here for,” Rosario said of his staff. “We look back and see that they put up good numbers and it’s rewarding to help these guys progress. I can leave and go home with the satisfaction that they did what we were hoping for and got it done in the end.”

Underwood – who gave up four runs in six innings in the Pelicans’ playoff-opening 4-2 loss to Winston-Salem – came up big in the finale Wednesday. He struck out seven and allowed just one run in six innings and picked up the victory in the decisive Game 3.

“I thought I had a good outing. First couple of innings it was rough, though; I was really stiff. But after that, I felt good,” Underwood said. “The ball was coming out good. The umpire loved the lower part of the zone so I felt like if I got the ball there I’d be all right.

“… To win it all here is special. I’m here celebrating with the guys and it’s just something I’ll always remember.”

A year to remember at the plate, in the field

Infielder Chesny Young – who led the Carolina League with a .321 batting average in the regular season – paced the Pelicans on offense this year. Mark Zagunis came up huge, too, as he posted a .271 average and a .406 on-base percentage, which was second in the league.

While Chen came up big in the postseason and in championship series, he also was pretty consistent during the regular season. Chen batted .268 with four homers, 52 runs and 34 RBIs in 96 games. The Kaohsiung City, Taiwan native also batted .538 (7-for-13) with three runs and one RBI in the Mills Cup championship series and batted .384 with four runs and three RBIs in six playoff games.

Infielder Jacob Rogers led the team in home runs with 12, good for fifth in the Carolina League.

Jason Vosler, who started the year with Low-A South Bend (Ind.), was a late season call-up to Myrtle Beach and jumped right in and contributed right away. While he batted just .244, Vosler had six home runs, 20 RBIs and 19 runs in 38 games with the Pelicans. He also had a .389 on-base percentage as he drew 26 walks and even strung together at least one free pass in 11 straight games during the regular season.

The Pelicans also got a lot of help from players that started the year in Myrtle Beach but got promoted in the middle of the year. Outfielder Billy McKinney had a .340 average and 25 RBIs in 29 games, outfielder Jacob Hannemann batted .328 in 16 games and third baseman Jeimer Candelario had a .270 average, five homers and 39 RBIs in 82 games with the Pelicans and all three finished the year at Double-A Tennessee.

As a team, Myrtle Beach was second in the Carolina League in slugging percentage (.365), second in on-base percentage (.333), third in batting average (.253), third in home runs (66) and had the second-fewest strikeouts (866).

Also what has been overlooked on this Pelicans squad is its defense. Myrtle Beach committed just 84 errors in 138 games, the lowest mark in the Carolina League.

“This year has been incredible,” said Young, who committed just three errors in 102 games. “I love this group of guys here and all the grinding has definitely paid off.”

Soler powered

Also playing a big part in the Pelicans’ championship victory was Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler, who was with Myrtle Beach for a rehab assignment. In Soler’s first action with the Pelicans, he played a key role in the club taking down Winston-Salem 4-3 in Game 3 of the southern division championship.

“Soler is so humble and that kid has more fun than anybody on this team right now,” said Pelicans batting coach Mariano Duncan, who coached Soler in 2013 at Daytona (Fla.). “He helped our ballclub a lot; he set the tone for us to win some games. But you’ve got to give a lot of credit to our team and also to him. I think it’s great for our ballclub to have [Soler] here to help us win the championship.”

Soler didn’t have the best results at the plate during his rehab assignment. But what made him such a commodity was that he forced the opposition not to pitch around batters in the heart of the order with the power-hitting Soler middle of the lineup.

Soler batted just .231 (3-for-13) with one RBI and two runs scored in four games for Myrtle Beach, but just having him the lineup helped the club’s morale.

Meanwhile, Soler was activated from the disabled list just a day after helping Myrtle Beach win the Mills Cup and will rejoin the big-league team – which has promising playoff hopes – in attempt to help halt the 106-year drought of a World Series title.

“I enjoyed my time with the Pelicans and helping them win a ring,” said Soler, who is batting .265 with seven home runs and 42 RBIs in 90 games with Chicago. “Now I want to help [the Cubs], too.”

Looking forward

The future looks promising for the Cubs organization, which has five prospects featured on MLBPipeline.com’s Top 100 prospects list.

Also, 18 players on the Pelicans’ current roster were a part of last year’s Kane County (Ill.) team that won a Midwest League championship under Johnson.

Winning is becoming a trend.

“We were in Kane County last year and now we’re in Myrtle Beach and brought that winning environment here,” Underwood said. “It’s been lovely.”

Said Johnson: “They’re the same team from last year in Kane County. They’re resilient as hell and they work their butts off every day and they’re very smart. When you put those intangibles together along with throwing strikes and hitting and catching the baseball, you’ve got a good formula.”

And with Johnson, Duncan, Rosario and assistant hitting coach Chris Gutierrez at the helm of the Pelicans, the team once again found great success. At Kane County last year, Johnson led the Cougars to the best record in all of minor league baseball and was named the Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America.

“I give the coaching staff all the credit in the world,” Underwood said. “Without these guys – I’ve been with most of them for three years – we wouldn’t be here right now. I love them to death and I’ve been blessed to have them as a coaching staff.”

And following the championship celebration, the coaching staff was plenty thankful for the players they’ve helped develop.

“It’s a great feeling. There’s no doubt about it,” said Duncan, who won two World Series titles as a player with the Cincinnati Reds (1990) and New York Yankees (1996). “Any time you win a championship – it doesn’t matter if you’re in the minor leagues or you play in college or in the big leagues – there’s nothing better. For all the hard work we’ve done from the start of the year until now, the credit goes to all the kids in the clubhouse. I’m very happy for us to win this championship.”

Said Rosario: “It’s always great to win, especially in the minors because you’re trying to teach kids to do things the right way, play the game the right way and get them better. And when you teach the right way, the results show up and that’s what you’re seeing. I’ve been with this group for three years and I’m really happy to have the same bunch of kids doing it one more time. It’s awesome.”

Reflecting on the season, Johnson was just thankful to have such an easy-going group of guys.

“Incredible year. It’s been a pleasure to come here and work with these young men,” he said. “They want to work, they want to learn, they’re willing to adjust and that’s all you can ask for. It’s just been a pleasure to be around these guys for two summers.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 10:44 PM with the headline "Pelicans use dominant pitching, timely hitting to end Mills Cup drought."