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2024 Charleston Dirty Birds vs York Revolution - Game #3

York Revolution Sweeps Charleston For 1st Atlantic League Title Since 2017

York Revolution Sweeps Charleston For 1st Atlantic League Title Since 2017

Here’s a look back at the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Championship Series and how the York Revolution won their fourth title in club history.

Sep 30, 2024 by Briar Napier
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The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball goes through southeastern Pennsylvania.

For the past two years, the championship trophy was held by the back-to-back champion Lancaster Stormers. For 2024, however, it’s now the York Revoltuion’s time to shine. 

In one of the most commanding postseason performances that you’ll find anywhere in professional baseball this season, the Revolution broke their seven-year drought atop the ALPB and swept the Championship Series with electric performances and moments through it all.


York is now home to the kings of one of the strongest independent baseball leagues on the continent, and until someone proves that they can stop the Revs when they get cooking in the postseason, they’ll be in for a well-deserved reign of the ALPB.

Here’s a look back at all that went down in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Championship Series and how the York Revolution sealed the deal on their fourth title in club history:

Doing It In Style

What was the overarching theme of the York Revolution’s ride to the ALPB title?

Dominance.

Throughout the playoffs, York proved that it could rarely be contained, and though it did have some hairy moments in the Championship Series, it was never in danger of being toppled.

In Game 1 in West Virginia, the Revolution found themselves down 3-2 entering the eighth inning and needing a spark in the batter’s box as York’s pitchers were doing all they could, eventually combining to throw the first one-hitter in ALPB playoff history, too.

Jacob Rhinesmith, the team’s Player of the Year, then came to the rescue by smashing a two-run home run to right-center to give York its first lead of the ball game. He then put the exclamation point on the Revolution’s rally back into the game by hitting a RBI double in the ninth to help make it a 7-3 York win.

Game 2, meanwhile, saw the Revolution have no problems putting up runs early and often. 

They pounded out 15 hits for a Championship Series record 19 runs to take a commanding 2-0 lead going back to York, with four-RBI nights from both Rudy Martin Jr. and Zander Wiel (who went 5 for 5 at the plate with five runs) leading the way as Aaron Fletcher (five innings, two hits, one unearned run allowed) got the pitching win.


All the drama left in the Championship Series was saved up for Game 3, and was it ever a dramatic finish to the 2024 ALPB season.

A low-scoring game at WellSpan Park that only saw the Dirty Birds score — through a solo homer from Jared Carr in the second — going into the bottom of the ninth, David Washington tied it for York by hitting a RBI double to bring home Wiel with one out. 

Alerick Soularie then had a base hit to bring Washington to third, and while Rhinesmith right after subsequently grounded to second for what could’ve been for Charleston a game-saving double play, he beat out the throw to first as Washington’s dash for home counted and won York the title.

Rhinesmith was named the MVP of the playoffs, and York has now joined an exclusive fraternity of clubs to win at least four ALPB titles along with the Somerset Patriots, Long Island Ducks and Stormers. 

Revolution’s Roll

York’s ride to the title was about as cool, calm and collected as it could make it, never feeling the pressure of elimination and putting up record performances throughout the postseason.

Making the playoffs by way of being the North Division’s first-half champion, York finished 80-45 overall in the regular season for the league’s second-best record behind Gastonia Baseball Club, which was eliminated by Charleston before it could make it to the Championship Series. The Dirty Birds’ huge upset victory in the Division Series didn’t end up mattering, however, as the Revolution was a buzzsaw and couldn’t be stopped on its way to its first league championship since 2017.

Now a four-time league champion, it only took York seven playoff games in total to capture the 2024 ALPB championship as it eliminated the two-time defending champ Stormers in four games in the North Division Series to qualify for the Championship Series, where the Revolution then swept the Dirty Birds in as quick of a time as possible to make it an anticlimatic final stage, until the walk-off hit that capped off the last game.

York improved to 12-1 all-time in Championship Series games with the sweep, proving throughout their history that they are essentially a surefire bet to win it all once they make it to the title round. It was also skilled at coming back from deficits and fighting until the last out; the Revolution went 3-1 in the playoffs in games in which they were trailing after seven innings, compared to being 4-16 all-time in such situations entering this year’s postseason.

It’s one thing to win a league title, but it’s another thing entirely to do it in the way that York did it by being unfazed by whatever came its way.

Relying on Rhinesmith

The Revolution call him “Rhino,” but they can also now call Rhinesmith a champion.

Playing his second season for York and third in independent baseball after a minor-league career with the Washington Nationals organization, the outfielder improved his regular-season stats from a year ago in just about every major category despite playing in 10 fewer games, jumping his batting average from .282 to .316 and RBIs from 50 to 67, among others.

The playoffs, however, were when the Tennessee native put his foot on the gas and became a club legend.

Rhinesmith batted 11 for 24 (.458 average) with a home run, three doubles and seven RBIs across the Revolution’s seven playoff games, earning himself a well-deserved playoff MVP award even if he didn’t have the walk-off RBI to clinch the Revolution the ALPB title. His clutch hitting in the postseason was a major boost for a York team that was heavily reshuffled after the 2023 campaign with only him and Martin Jr. being the consistent returning starters — especially after all-star outfield partner Donovan Casey left in midseason to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.

The 28-year-old former MLB Draft pick has now firmly established himself as one of the top hitters in the ALPB after his epic postseason run, and no matter where Rhinesmith ends up going after this season, the Revolution will have him to thank forever for bringing another ALPB championship to York and plenty of good memories along with it.


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