Welcome to Kinston

I write this blog post sitting in the Hampton Inn in Kinston, the day before my first day as a member of the Kinston Indians broadcast team.
Despite losing the final game of a three-game set with Myrtle Beach, the K-Tribe are coming off a 4-2 road trip and sit just 6.5 games out of first place with 27 games to go in the first half of the season. They play five games in three days to complete two suspended games against Winston-Salem, before a key four-game series against Frederick, who sits a game out of first in the North Division.
The Indians hit the road for seven at Potomac and Wilmington, and it will be safe to tell by then whether Kinston has a shot to contend down the stretch of this first half, or whether the second half title is a better goal to shoot for. With series wins in five of their last six, however, the ship is starting to turn around.
The team is continuing to hit well with Nick Weglarz continuing to pace things. He's hitting .275 and now leads the team with five home runs. The Tribe sent second baseman Adam Davis down to extended Spring Training to try him out at catcher and received Chris de la Cruz from AA Akron to take his place. He will split time with Niuman Romero, who will be tough to get out of the lineup hitting .258 in just 20 games this season.
Carlton Smith turned in another impressive performance Wednesday in Kinston's romp against Myrtle Beach, winning 13-2 and improving to 2-2 on the season. Jim Deters has been an unsung workhorse in the bullpen, and got a win in a spot start of the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader in Winston-Salem.
Chris Hemeyer and I will take you through the rest of this first half with every pitch on the Kinston Indians Radio Network and kinstonindians.com. Just click on the radio page and see which stream works best for you. So long for now and hope to see you at the ballpark!