Camilletti walks it off in 10th as Charlotte survives Memphis rally, 9-8

Mario Camilletti needed one swing to turn a night of whiplash into Charlotte’s most dramatic win of the young season, lining a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the 10th to beat Memphis, 9-8, at Truist Field.

The Knights looked in control for most of the evening. Charlotte led 7-0 through six innings behind early offense from Dru Baker, who opened the scoring with an RBI single in the second, and Oliver Dunn, who added a solo home run in the third. The sixth inning blew the game open for a moment, with Michael Turner and LaMonte Wade Jr. delivering RBI hits before Camilletti and Sam Antonacci each drew bases-loaded walks to stretch the cushion and put the Redbirds in a deep hole.

Memphis changed the tone of the game in one brutal frame. The Redbirds scored seven runs in the top of the seventh to erase the entire deficit and drag the game back to level, a surge that made Charlotte’s earlier control feel irrelevant. Drew Romo briefly gave the Knights back the lead with a solo homer, but Memphis answered again and forced extras in a game that kept bending until Camilletti finally ended it.

Tyler Davis held the line in the 10th with a scoreless inning, setting up the chance for Charlotte to finish the job. Camilletti then delivered the walk-off hit, a pressure swing that gave the Knights their ninth win of the season and sent a crowd of 4,114 home after a finish that had already swung from routine to chaotic and back again.

For Charlotte, the win was about more than one entry in the standings. The Knights moved back to .500 at 6-6, tied the six-game series with Memphis at 2-2 and still had two weekend games left in the set. It also strengthened Camilletti’s case as a reliable bat in close games. The 26-year-old infielder from Troy, Michigan, was a 2022 eighth-round pick by the Chicago White Sox out of Central Michigan, and on a night when Charlotte needed a hitter who could handle the last and loudest moment, he was the one who finished it.