Charleston Dirty Birds looking at first baseball title since 1990

CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — The Charleston Dirty Birds have a chance to win their first championship since 1990.

The last time they won a championship was in 1990 when they were known as the Charleston Wheelers.

Tuesday marks Game One of the 2024 Atlantic League Championship Series. The Dirty Birds will face the York Revolution in a five-game series. The winner will be crowned the league champion.

The team is led by PJ Phillips, who took over as manager this season. They finished the season as one of the league’s highest-scoring clubs.

In 2024, they rank third in the league in runs scored, second in home runs, and second in RBIs.

Their opponents, the Revolution, are hot at bat as well. York was the best team in the league at scoring runs and RBIs.

Play-by-play broadcaster Jill Gearin said if the statistics are any indication, this will be a high-scoring series.

“Our bats know how to hit. However, the last few weeks, they’ve only been scoring two or three runs in a game, and that’s been the deciding factor. If our bats can come alive, we can come back from a 7-0 deficit, like we did in Game 4 against Gastonia,” Gearin said.

Gearin said the team faced obstacles to reach the championship. Their starting first baseman and shortstop were both signed by major league teams midseason, forcing the Dirty Birds to adjust on the fly.

“We were kicking butt in the beginning of the year and I didn’t expect us to bounce back from those players’ contracts being purchased,” Gearin said. “But the ability of these players to step up when needed and these coaches finding amazing players to plug in those holes, anything can happen with this team.”

The first pitch is at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday from GoMart Ballpark. Game Two starts at the same time, also from Charleston. Thursday will be a travel day and the series will resume in York, Pennsylvania on Friday.

If you want to buy tickets to the games in Charleston, you can find them by clicking here .

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