Fredericksburg Nationals
We head to Virginia Credit Union Stadium in Fredericksburg to see the Single-A Fredericksburg Nationals host the Salem Red Sox on Superman Night!
After missing out on the Norfolk Tides the night before, Dad and I were ready to make up for some lost innings. We hit the jackpot on a busy Saturday night at Virginia Credit Union Stadium, home of the Fredericksburg Nationals, the Single-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals.
It was Superman Night (more on that later), and we would get to see the professional debut of Dylan Crews, the former Louisiana State University superstar who helped lead his team to a national championship a few months earlier. Crews, who hit a ridiculous .426 in his senior year at LSU, had been the #2 overall pick in the June draft. It looked to be a big night.
The Nationals origin story goes back to 1978 and the Alexandria Dukes, who played as a Class-A Carolina League team in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1984, they moved south to nearby Woodbridge and were renamed the Prince William Pirates. Like a species of sport, the franchise evolved into the Prince William Yankees, Prince William Cannons, Potomac Cannons, and, in 2005, the Potomac Nationals, beginning their current affiliation with the Washington Nationals.
In 2018, owner Art Silber announced plans for what would become Virginia Credit Union Stadium about 30 miles south in Fredericksburg. The club moved there when the park opened in 2021, changing its name to the Fredericksburg Nationals — but please call them the FredNats.
The ballpark has a 360-degree concourse — a relative rarity at the Single-A level — and seats 5,000. The FredNats averaged an impressive 4,157 fans in 2023.
Players who appeared for the Potomac Nationals and earlier incarnations include Barry Bonds, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Albert Pujols, Mike Cameron, Coco Crisp, Edwin Encarnación, Magglio Ordóñez, and Jorge Posada.
I soon bumped into FredNats primary mascot Gus, a friendly, fuzzy, purple creature with an unexpected connection to George Washington. As a child, Washington reportedly had an imaginary friend named Augustine, which was also his father’s name. The FredNats took this story and let their own imaginations run wild.
It was Superman Night at the ballpark, supercharging an already patriotic brand. The FredNats wore special Superman-themed jerseys, which were auctioned off for charity after the game. Fredericksburg was defending its home turf against the visiting Salem Red Sox (think British Red Coats or Communists), who brought their boring old team name and their predictable jerseys. It was easy to spot the good guys.
Dad had long since acquired his hot dog with mustard and relish. I took my time perusing the ballpark’s many concessions options. Aside from burgers, hot dogs, nachos, and chicken tenders, I found Washington’s Wok, Constitution Cheesesteaks, and Smokies Sausages.
I asked a couple of passing team employees what they would recommend. Both said the foot-long hot dog with grilled peppers and onions. It was absolutely worth it: juicy and delicious.
The pre-game ceremonies commenced. Gus led a troop of scouts onto the field for the National Anthem. It was Truth, Baseball, and the American Way on full display.
Fredericksburg started Dominican right-hander Jarlin Susana — only 19 years old, like many at this entry level of Minor League Baseball. He put the Red Sox down in order in the top of the first, throwing just five pitches.
Salem sent another 19-year-old right-hander to the mound, Venezuelan Jedixson Paez. The Boston Red Sox had signed Paez two days before his 17th birthday, and he had spent the last two seasons playing in developmental leagues in the Dominican Republic and Florida.
Paez gave up a single to start the inning. That brought Dylan Crews to the plate. The crowd roared with anticipation. They knew they were witnessing what could be a historic moment, a story they could pass on to their children — the night when they saw Dylan Crews’ first professional at-bat.
Jedixson Paez
Dylan Crews
A no-doubt fired-up Crews swung at the first pitch, grounding sharply to third. He began to sprint up the line toward first to avoid the double play but stumbled and fell — face first, arms outstretched, not unlike Superman himself. The crowd let out a saddened groan as the Red Sox turned the double play.
It was not the best of starts to a professional career. Crews would go 0-for-5 on the night, but he quickly turned things around, hitting .355 with five home runs in 14 games with Fredericksburg before getting a quick promotion to Double-A Harrisburg.
Just behind us, local luminaries Mary and George Washington passed through to say hi.
The Red Sox put a run on the board in a hitless third inning when Susana walked two batters, hit another, then allowed a simple sacrifice fly to put Salem in front.
In the fourth, Susana loaded the bases again with two singles and another hit batter. This time, he did not get off so easily. Red Sox second baseman Johnfrank Salazar turned on an 0-2 pitch and sent it over the left-field wall for a grand slam. Salem jumped out to a 5-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Paez was cruising, giving up just two hits over six innings of work. He would finish his season in Salem with a tidy 3.31 ERA in 84-plus innings.
With the game in full swing, I took advantage of the lack of crowds to get a good look at my merchandise options in the team store. I had done my research and knew exactly what I wanted: the sweet red-white-and-blue cap with George Washington swinging his cherry-tree axe like a baseball bat — easily one of my favorite hats of the entire trip. On our way into Fredericksburg, Dad and I had listened to an interview on the Baseball by Design podcast with logo legend Dan Simon of Louisville-based Studio Simon, which had designed the logo I now so coveted.
FredNats staff kept things as fun as they could between innings while their team toiled at the plate, playing games like a tricycle race through pylons, a balloon-blowing competition, and a race in which shoes were tossed into left field and participants had to find a pair and put them on before running to the finish line.
The Red Sox put together three consecutive singles against FredNats reliever Pedro González in the sixth to add two more runs to their tally. With the score now 7-0, I took a walk around the outfield concourse for some additional angles of the action.
Behind the outfield wall, I found a slick History Wall timeline of baseball in Fredericksburg, beginning with the introduction of “Town Ball” in America in 1791 and including this fun fact: In 1862, Union general Abner Doubleday kept his troops fresh by organizing baseball games before the anticipated Battle of Fredericksburg.
By the end of the eighth, Fredericksburg had still managed to collect just two hits in the game. Hope had been snuffed out innings ago.
Which is why what happened next was so incredible.
In the bottom of the ninth, FredNats left fielder Johnathon Thomas led off with a single to left off Red Sox reliever Cody Scroggins, a 26-year-old playing his fourth season in the minor leagues. An error and a walk loaded the bases, and a single by Leandro Emiliani brought home what appeared to be two consolation runs for the FredNats.
But Scroggins walked the next batter, then hit another, forcing home a third run and bringing the tying run to the plate with bases loaded and just one out. The crowd was back into the game completely, almost expecting something amazing to happen.
FredNats catcher Wilmer Perez popped up for the second out. That brought to the plate 19-year-old second baseman Armando Cruz, who would finish his season in Fredericksburg with a weak batting average of .190. Scroggins missed the plate with his first two pitches to the young Dominican. He grooved the third, and Cruz sent it just barely over the left-field wall to tie the game 7-7. Pandemonium.
That was all for Scroggins, but the FredNats were not done. Thomas singled again to put the winning run aboard. He was off and running for second when Andrew Pinckney singled to center behind him. The ball got away from Red Sox center fielder Jhostynxon Garcia, and Thomas was waved home. Garcia recovered and threw a laser to the plate, just getting Thomas and improbably sending the game to extra innings.
With a Red Sox runner placed at second in the 10th, FredNats reliever Bubba Hall walked two batters to load the bases. Salem right fielder Gilberto Jimenez then gave us our third grand slam of the night with a bomb to right-center, putting the Red Sox up 11-7. And that’s how it ended. The bad guys took the W.
(Check out all of the late-inning action in the video below!)