Virginia Credit Union Stadium - Fredericksburg Nationals

Fayetteville Woodpeckers (HOU) @ Fredericksburg Nationals (WAS)

August 24, 2025

Woodpeckers 6, Nationals 3

W: Raimy Rodriguez
L: Victor Farias

HR: Brenner Cox (FBG), Jorgelys Mota (FBG)

Attendance: 3,661
Time of Game: 2 hours, 31 minutes

Stadium Facts

Location: Fredericksburg, VA
Opened: 2021
Capacity: 5,000
Level: Single A
League: Carolina

After Spending Saturday night in Norfolk, I began my trip back home the following day.  Along the way, I stopped in Fredericksburg to see the Nationals Low A affiliate play in a ballpark I had yet to visit.  Following the pandemic cancelled 2020 minor league season, the Potomac Nationals moved from Woodbridge to Fredericksburg, about 30 miles south, making it a slightly longer trip from DC and also from where I live.  I attended a few games in Woodbridge over the years.  While this additional distance to the commute makes it a little less convenient for me to take in a game, I retroactively wholeheartedly agree with the decision to move the franchise because Virginia Credit Union Stadium is such a massive upgrade over old Pfitzner Stadium.  This Sunday evening game started with clear skies and comfortable temperatures.  It didn't quite end that way though.

Virginia Credit Union Stadium is located just off of I-95 in Fredericksburg.  On one hand, that location makes it easily accessible from a route standpoint.  On the other, I-95 is best to be avoided at most times due to usually excessive traffic, particularly the stretch between DC and Fredericksburg.  It is a relatively small and unassuming facility from the outside.  It actually reminds me a great deal of the only other Low A ballpark I've visited so far in this two year minor league tour:  Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis, NC.  No frills in the design of the park, but an open and well laid out concourse that encircles the entire park.  I'm starting to discover that having bullpens outside the field of play in the outfield isn't as rare in the minors as I had previously thought.  This stadium has that setup.  On top of that, there is a very unique field box section in left field that allows patrons to peer into the home bullpen and look through the left field fence to watch the game at field level.  Right field houses a picnic area and a scoreboard deck with a manually operated scoreboard, providing a bit of an old fashioned flare to an otherwise very modern park.  Down each of the baselines are full service terrace boxes.  Thanks to a work colleague, I was sitting at a table in the left field terrace section for this game.  The upper level contains party decks on each end with suites in between.  This is a pretty cozy facility on the whole, so virtually every seat in the park is quite close to the field of play.  My only real complaint with the stadium is the fact that they chose to make the playing surface artificial turf.  It makes no sense to me for a brand new facility in this part of the country not to have a natural grass field.  Hopefully that is something they can rectify down the road.

While I planned this stop well in advance, the timing turned out to be quite fortuitous.  With the first overall pick in this July's MLB Draft, the Nationals selected shortstop Eli Willits.  It was a bit of a surprise selection at the time as most figured they would be targeting either fellow prep shortstop Ethan Holliday or LSU pitcher Cade Anderson.  Willits is only 17 years old, so he's even quite young by high school draftee standards.  That made it uncertain if the Nats would send him to a full season affiliate to get his professional career started this year.  They did indeed send him to Fredericksburg just a few days before I arrived.  He got off to a hot start with three hits in his debut and at least one knock in each of the games leading up to this one.  In this game, he recorded a single as well.  But his most impressive moment actually came in a strikeout, which I will get to later.  Things were looking pretty good for the FredNats early in this one.  They had multiple hits in each of the first three innings off of Woodpeckers starter Cody Bolton who was on a minor league rehab assignment and has some big league experience over the past few years.  The Nationals scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second on a two out triple to the left-center gap by Luke Dickerson, scoring Willits who had singled right ahead of him.  Then in the third, leadoff man Brenner Cox started the inning lining a Bolton fastball the opposite way over the left field fence to give Fredericksburg a 2-0 lead.  Unfortunately for the FredNats, the offense completely dried up after that.  They did not have another base runner until the ninth inning.  Fayetteville bulk reliever Raimy Rodriguez was dominant.  He pitched four scoreless, hitless innings.  Meanwhile, the Woodpeckers offense finally got to work in the sixth inning, with a whole lot of help from the Fredericksburg pitchers and defense.  The frame started with an error by third baseman Jorgelys Mota.  Then FredNats pitcher Victor Farias beaned the next two batters.  The latter of those was the third time Woodpeckers shortstop Kyle Walker was hit by a pitch in this game.  Next came a bases loaded liner by German Ramirez that Willits almost made a leaping catch, but couldn't quite hang onto it.  He got a force out at third, but the first Fayetteville run of the game scored on the play.  Farias then reloaded the bases with yet another beanball.  That was the third hit batter of the inning and sixth of the game by Nats pitchers.  Farias was mercifully pulled after that one.  He was relieved by Ryan Minckler who was rudely greeted with a two run single by Brandon Forrester on the first pitch he threw.  A couple walks pushed in another run to make it a four run frame for the Woodpeckers.  This was very much a Low A minor league kind of inning.  Forrester, the nine hole hitter for Fayetteville, kept his big game rolling in the seventh with another RBI single, scoring the second of two Woodpeckers runs in that inning.  So in two innings, the Woodpeckers turned a two run deficit into a four run lead.  During that seventh inning rally, rain began to fall.  It was a fairly light but consistent drizzle for the remainder of the game.  Fayetteville turned to Leomar Rosario to pitch the final two innings.  He was throwing gas, touching 100 MPH on the radar a few times.  To start the ninth, he surrendered an absolute bomb by Mota off the roof of the bar in left field, cutting the lead to three.  A walk allowed Willits to bat one last time with two outs in the ninth.  Rosario kept throwing heaters that Willits kept fouling off.  Eventually, the impressive nine pitch battle ended on Willits swinging at a pitch in the dirt for his first professional strikeout, which ended the game as a 6-3 Fayetteville victory.

At such a young age, I would expect Willits to spend most of next season in Fredericksburg as well.  So perhaps I will go down there to see him play again at some point.  It was a nice cherry on top of this weekend trip in Virginia.  That left me with just one more minor league game to attend in 2025:  a stop in Indianapolis on my way to South Bend for a Notre Dame football game.

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Next ballpark: Victory Field in Indianapolis, IN

Harbor Park - Norfolk Tides

Charlotte Knights (CHW) @ Norfolk Tides (BAL)

August 23, 2025

Tides 4, Knights 2

W: Jose Espada
L: Zach Franklin

HR: Jose Barrero (NOR), Livan Soto (NOR)

Attendance: 8,241
Time of Game: 2 hours, 22 minutes

Stadium Facts

Location: Norfolk, VA
Opened: 1993
Capacity: 11,856
Level: Triple A
League: International

A week after I saw the Orioles AA ballclub play in Bowie, I drove down to Norfolk to see their AAA squad in action.  This was not my first visit to Harbor Park.  In 2017, Norfolk was my first stop on a trip down south to see each of the White Sox full season affiliates, including Charlotte, who were playing in Norfolk during the start of that trip.  This year's game in Norfolk was also against Charlotte, my fourth time seeing the Knights in person this season.  Despite having lived in Virginia for over two decades now, I am a bit of a novice when it comes to the Tidewater region.  So it was nice to finally make it back down there.

Interestingly, the three highest levels of the Orioles organization, starting with the big league ballclub, all play in facilities that opened in a three year span from 1992-1994.  Camden Yards is the gem of the trio, of course, but Harbor Park in Norfolk has aged quite well too.  It is located right on the banks of the Elizabeth River in downtown Norfolk.  The river is not too far beyond the right field fence.  Many points from within the park provide scenic views of the river and surrounding shipyards.  The area beyond left field was a parking lot last time I was there, but will soon be the site of a riverside casino.  There are no regular seating areas in the outfield.  Only a picnic area in left field and a party deck immediately down the right field line.  This does leave space for two large video boards, including one of the largest I've ever seen in any park, much less a minor league one, in right field.  Both boards have been greatly enhanced since my last visit here.  One unique feature of the park is a full service indoor restaurant down the first base line with windows allowing patrons to watch the game while having a meal.  The lack of outfield seats in the park is made up for with an extensive second deck covering much of the area down each of the baselines and suites on the upper level behind the plate.  The main seating bowl is split into two sections with a walkway between them.  An expansive concourse runs above the lower level.  Harbor Park has a very impressive variety and quantity of concession areas all along the concourse.  There was a very large crowd on hand for this Saturday night game on a nearly perfect weather day.

Jonathan Cannon was the starting pitcher for Charlotte in this game.  He had spent almost the entire season in the White Sox rotation before being demoted to AAA a few weeks prior to this game.  For the most part, he's been struggling for Charlotte since the demotion, but had a solid outing on this night.  He was opposed by Carson Ragsdale, a tall righty who the Orioles claimed off waivers from the Giants a few weeks prior.  Neither offense was firing on all cylinders for this game.  From a contact perspective though, it was a tale of two halves of the game for the Knights.  They were able to consistently put the ball in play against Ragsdale, who did not record a strikeout in his four innings of work.  But then in the final four innings, Charlotte did almost nothing other than strike out at the plate.  Neither team scored until the fourth inning.  In the top of the fourth, Knights slugger Tim Elko led off with an opposite field double off the right field wall.  Ragsdale had a good chance of stranding him on base.  However, with two outs and runners on the corners, Jacob Amaya blooped one into shallow center that centerfielder Jordyn Adams got a poor read on and the ball clanked off his glove on a sliding catch attempt, turning it into a two run single.  That would turn out to be the Knights fourth and final hit of the ballgame, and the only two runs they would score.  Norfolk answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run by Jose Barrero.  He lined an 0-2 fastball into the picnic area in left.  That was the only damage done against Cannon who pitched into the seventh inning.  Neither team did much of anything during the next four and a half innings.  Tides relievers struck out 10 Knights hitters in the final four innings, including the last eight who stepped up to the plate.  As it turned out, Charlotte could have used a few more runs.  For the first time all game, Norfolk put multiple runners on base in the bottom of the ninth, facing Zach Franklin who was looking for the save.  Former Knight Ryan Noda walked with one out, followed by TT Bowens reaching on an infield hit on an excuse me swing chopped back to Franklin who slightly bobbled the ball before making a late throw to first.  Noda and Jud Fabian, who pinch ran for Bowens, successfully executed a double steal to put the tying and winning runs in scoring position with just one out.  A strikeout then set the stage for Livan Soto with the game on the line.  He crushed a first pitch fastball into the bullpen beyond the right field fence for a three run walk-off homer.  It was just Soto's third home run of the season and he entered the game hitting well below the Mendoza line, so probably safe to say that was the biggest moment of his season.

This was definitely not the first time I've witnessed a White Sox org team lose to an Orioles org team in excruciating fashion (for a Sox fan).  In fact, it seems to happen almost every time I see the Sox play in Baltimore.  So perhaps this was a fitting conclusion to this game.  Despite how it ended, it was an enjoyable night in Norfolk.  Next up was a game in Fredericksburg on my way home the following day.

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Next ballpark: Virginia Credit Union Stadium in Fredericksburg, VA