Fayetteville Woodpeckers Finish Postseason Sweep with a Dominate 7-4 Victory

By Kolby Jordan

September 15th, 2026

Fayetteville, NC – After sweeping the Fredericksburg Nationals in 2 games and gaining a 1-0 lead on the championship series after a whopping 14-4 victory against the Charleston Riverdogs on Sunday, the Woodpeckers returned to Fayetteville to cap off their perfect postseason run.

Starting on the mound for Fayetteville was the Woodpecker’s ace Juan Fraide (W, 0-1), the 20 year old righty from Mexico. After being signed by Houston last year, Fraide has maintained an impressive 2.97 ERA over his first 2 professional seasons; so he was the obvious choice to start the championship clinching game. Named the winning pitcher, the top-30 prospect went 5 innings, striking out 6 while only allowing 2 baserunners.

The scoring started early for the Woodpeckers with a Grand Slam in the bottom of the first inning from first Baseman Ben Tyron, driving in Kam During who reached on a double, Kevin Alverez who singled, and Owen Nowack who drew a walk.

All reached against Riverdogs Starter Jacob Khun (L, 0-1), who over 3 innings gave up 4 runs on 4 hits while walking 3.

After giving up a solo homer to recently named Carolina League MVP Cooper Flemming in the 6th inning, the Woodpeckers quickly fired back with a 3 run inning in the 7th from a 2 run single by Centerfielder Kevin Alverez and a sacrifice ground ball by 3rd Baseman Warner Luciano.

The Woodpeckers rolled out their closer, 22 year old Brandon Cassedy, in the 8th inning after giving up 2 runs. The righty struck out the 3 he faced in the 8th, and after giving up a single and a homer in the 9th, quickly shut down the last 3 opposing hitters to clinch the teams 1st Championship in history.