The Carolina Mudcats endured one of their longest days in franchise history Wednesday night/early Thursday morning but it was worth it.

The Mudcats clinched the second half title in the Southern League's Northern Division by going 1-2 in a rare tripleheader caused by rain from what's left of Hurricane Fay. Tennessee's 5-4 loss to Chattanooga early Thursday morning pushed the Mudcats' lead to five-and-a-half games with just five games to play.

Carolina will host Tennessee for a regular-season ending five-game set beginning tonight at Five County Stadium.

The best-of-five Northern Division Championship Series between Carolina and West Tenn will begin on next Thursday (Sept. 4).

We'll preview the Southern League playoffs in next week's print edition of The Herald.