Kinston Indians 2005

Kinston started off their Carolina League Title defense in style in 2005, winning 41 games on way to a Southern Division First Half Championship. Kinston was once again loaded with pitching prospects in 2005 as starters Jeremy Sowers, Adam Miller, Nick Pesco and Sean Smith combined with the rest of the pitching staff for a league best 3.65 ERA. Jeremy Sowers lived up to his billing, as the young star went 8-3, with a 2.78 ERA in 13 games. Called up to Double A at the end of the first half, Sowers would work his way to Triple A Buffalo before the season was done. Just a little over a year after he played for Kinston, Sowers made his Major League debut with Cleveland in 2006. Sowers was not the only 2005 K-Tribe hurler to move threw the ranks quickly. 2005 K-Tribe relievers Juan Lara, Tom Mastny and Edward Mujica all made Major League appearances with Cleveland just a year later in 2006.

The K-Tribe cooled off in the second half, finishing up with a 35-35 record and third place in the Southern Division standings. The K-Tribe did find some good young bats during the second half, with late season additions Brian Barton and Stephen Head providing firepower. Kevin Kouzmanoff showed he was back to form in the second half of the season, coming off injury and leading the team with a .339 batting average.

Kinston swept Winston-Salem 2-0 in the Southern Division Series and advanced to the Championship Series to try to defend their 2004 title. The Frederick Keys however, were not going to make it easy. Kinston dropped the first two games of the Championship Series in Frederick and came back to Kinston in the same position they were in last year; they had to win three games in a row to win the Mills Cup. The K-Tribe almost made history repeat itself. The Indians won games three and four behind great pitching from Sean Smith and Adam Miller. With momentum going their way and another game five for the title on the horizon, Mother Nature stopped everything. Hurricane Ophelia delayed game five for a day, stopping momentum and maybe more importantly forcing Kinston to be without clutch hitting Kevin Kouzmanoff. Kouzmanoff had to leave the team because of a death in the family, leaving Kinston without their best hitter. The absence showed as Kinston was shutout 2-0, stranding 13 runners on base; including 11 through the first five innings. Kinston was a clutch hit away from winning back to back Carolina League Titles, but as their season ended another Carolina League Championship was on the horizon.