Nine innings later, his Mudcats' players proved him right, topping West Tenn 4-2 to finish off a sweep in the Northern Division Championship Series of the 2008 Southern League playoffs. Carolina will face either Mississippi or Birmingham in the finals, which could begin as soon as Monday.

The Mudcats will host Games 1 and 2 of the series.

"Anytime you get to play for a championship, its special," Raleigh said. "When you get the butterflies, it shows you that it still means something to you. We're three wins away from a championship and it feels pretty good right now."

Brad Davis gave Carolina a chance to start counting outs when he blasted a three-run home run that nearly cleared the scoreboard in left field in the bottom of the second inning. Davis' blast, combined with an earlier RBI single by Chris DeLaCruz in the inning, gave Carolina a 4-2 lead it never handed over.

"We've hit the long ball this series at the right time," Mudcats' manager Matt Raleigh said. "Davis hit a huge home run tonight and [Cameron] Maybin's home run in Game 1 really set the tone for the entire series."

Maybin had a three-run shot early in Game 1 that sent Carolina onto a series-opening win. Davis, meanwhile, helped the 'Cats keep their lead with his work behind the plate, particularly in the eighth inning.

"Davis has really had a good second half," Raleigh said. "He had some bad luck in the first half but has really come around. He's the best blocker of the ball in the league and when he threw the runner out in the eighth who kind of Cadillaced it into second base, it really helped us."

In the eight, Davis hosed down West Tenn's Erick Monzon who was trying to take second base on a wild pitch from Ryan Tucker. Mark Kiger had already taken third on the play but Davis caught Monzon slew-footing it into second and got the Mudcats out of the inning with their lead intact.

Kiger was the ninth D-Jaxx player to be stranded on the night. Two more would come in the top of the ninth when Chris Mobley, who set a franchise record for saves in a season whiffed West Tenn slugger Mike Wilson on a 1-2 slider to finish off the sweep.

The Mudcats' bullpen worked 12 innings in the series without giving up a run.

"The bullpen's been our strength the whole year," Mobley said. "And, fortunately, it's carried over into the playoffs. We've had starters who've worked good outings and got us to the fifth inning with a lead, then we've been able to feed off of each other in the bullpen and keep it going."

In the Mudcats' second, Chris DeLaCruz continued to sizzle in the series, getting Carolina on the board with an RBI single.

Then, with Lee Mitchell and De La Cruz on base, Davis rocked a 2-0 offering from West Tenn starter Luis Munoz.

Carolina starter Brett Sinkbeil, who had struggled against the Diamond Jaxx during the regular-season, picked up the win after a bit of a rough start.

Sinkbeil gave up back-to-back one-out singles to Greg Halman and Marshall Hubbard in the top of the first to put runners on the corners. Sinkbeil then complicated matters by hitting Mike Wilson with the next pitch to load the bases, but Sinkbeil got himself a chance to get out of the inning, inducing a comebacker off of the bat of Adam Moore that looked like a sure double play.

The right-hander's throw home sailed high and wide of catcher Brad Davis, however, allowing Halman and Hubbard to score. A strikeout and fly ball out got Sinkbeil out of the inning but not before West Tenn claimed the early lead.

But that was all the offense the D-Jaxx had on the night as their struggles with runners on base continued. West Tenn was 1-for-22 in the series with runners in scoring position.

Carolina's league championship series appearance will be its first since the 2003 season when the Mudcats captured the league title.