After scoring at will against the #1 pitching team in the CL statistically and marching into the CLCS in 5 games over the Vista Panthers things took a turn for the worse for the Jersey Shore D-Bags. Being the Wild Card team, Jersey headed to Toronto for the 2nd straight year in the playoffs. Last year they were triumphant in 6 games after falling behind 2-0. This year the same wasn't to be true, even though the first 3 games things were quite similar.
Game 1
Game 1 would pit 2 youngester against each other. 21 year old Jose Ramos for Jersey and 20 year old Ramiro Jimenez for Toronto. While Ramos had the better regular season, it would be Jimenez's day to shine here in Toronto.
Jose Ramos who only gave up 8 HR in over 113 innings pitched this season would give up 3 to Toronto in the first 4 innings as German Rivas, Ben Moss and Vincent Hobbs would hit 3 HR that resulted in 4 runs before the 4th inning was even over. Jimenez on the other hand was overly efficient, going 6.1 IP, only throwing 72 pitches, giving up 1 ER on 3 hits, walking no one and getting 1 strike out. He would induce 12 ground ball outs on the day. Jersey finally got to MR Koshiro Shibutani in the 7th with a 2 run HR by Dave Dodd and an RBI triple from Tim Duncan in the 8th to make it a one run game. Jersey would have runners on 1st and 3rd with no one out in the 8th but the big guns of Lawrence Schroeder, Mike Bryant and Matt Doyle couldn't put anything in play worth while of bringing in a run that would have tied the game.
Jose Gomes danced around trouble in the 9th to keep it a 1 run game. Dave Dodd would leadoff the 9th with a double putting the tying run 180 feet from the plate. 2 groundouts left Dodd at 2nd before Alberto Perez and Luis Antonio Duran drew walks to load the bases. Toronto closer Jose Murillo would come in and strike out Peter Larson to end the game. The Bags stranded 5 runners in the last 2 innings and lost by 1 run. Lost chances would be a theme in this series.
Final Score: Toronto 4 Jersey 3
POTG: Ramiro Jimenez 6.1IP, 3H, 1ER, 0BB, 1K
Game 2
Game 2 was your example of a classic pitchers duel. Taking the mound for Jersey would be their ace Art Ellis, coming off a brilliant outing where he clinched Game 5 and the series for the Bags against Vista. For Toronto Mr. Incredible Jung-keun Yi.
Not to speed things along but both pitchers were excellent through 6 innings. Art Ellis despite walking 3 batters, hadn't given up a hit through 6 innings, and Yi was just as good, walking no one and giving up only 2 hits, a double to Manny Romero and a single to Mikey Bryant.
Yi would be pulled after just 73 pitches when Bryant started off the inning with a single and Matt Doyle was plunked to put 2 runners on with no outs. But like game 1 Jersey would squander the opportunity when Dodd would strike out and Adam Morrow grounded in a double play to end the inning. Ellis would surrender his first hit in the bottom of the 7th with an Overbeek single. Ben Moss would also walk, but Toronto would strand both runners taking us to the 8th in a 0-0 game.
Art Ellis entered the 8th inning with 100 pitchers even and was coming in to face the teeth of the Toronto lineup, a trio of left handers in Rivas, Cuan and Fujita. Kim was warming up in the pen, but manager Kevin Davis stuck with Ellis. He got Rivas to groundout before walked Cuan on 4 pitches. Maybe it was time for Ellis to go. Davis stuck with him, it would prove to be costly. Fujita would take the 3rd pitch of the AB and crush it. A homerun. Only Ellis's 2nd hit given up of the game. A very costly hit. It gave Toronto a 2 run lead in the 8th inning. Ellis would get another out and give up another walk until he was replaced by Gomes who ended the inning. Overall for Ellis, 7.2 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs.
Mike Bryant would give Jersey a small sample of home with a 2 out triple but Matt Doyle of course would leave him stranded with a stikeout giving Toronto a rare shut out of Jersey, a 2-0 win and a 2-0 lead in the series with their ace scheduled to start Game 3.
Final Score: Toronto 2 Jersey 0
POTG: Jung-kuen Yi: 6.0IP, 3H, 0ER, 0BB, 6K
Game 3
For Game 3 we would go to Jersey where the Bags went undefeated their in the Vista series. Hopefully the bats would wake up after a dismal performance in the first 2 games. Going to the hill for the Bags would be veteran Dan Macias to face the ace of Toronto Guillermo Mendoza.
After Macias set Toronto down in order in the first Jersey would get started early. Doubles by Schroeder, Bryant and Dodd would bring in 2 runs giving Jersey an early 2-0 lead. Macias would cruise through the 2nd and the 3rd before the real party started. A single and 2 run HR from Bryant would start the 3rd inning, followed by 2 more singles to keep it going. An error, hit by pitch, single and a bases clearing triple from Duncan would send Mendoza to the showers for his shortest outing of the season. He was charged with 9 runs, 8 earned, in only 2.1 IP.
Jersey wasn't done as Warren Goyer added a 2-run HR in the 4th and a 2-run single from Dodd in the 5th. On the other side of the ball Macias was the Macias of old. Besides a walk and 2 singles in the 4th that brought across a Toronto run, he was masterful. Macias would pitch a complete game, 6 hitter, giving up only 1 ER, walking 2 and strike out 5. The bats would knock in 13 runs on 14 hits, giving them some breathing room and a sense that the bats were back.
Final Score: Jersey 13 Toronto 1
POTG: Mike Bryant: 3-3, 3R, 2B, HR, 2BB, 3RBI, SB
Game 4
Game 4 would be a tough decision on who to send to the mound, Jose Ramos on short rest or Rob Goodship who hadn't start since the regular season. Jersey would select Goodship but in hindsight it wouldn't matter anyways. Toronto brought game 1 hero 20 year old Ramiro Jimenez back and he would top his Game 1 performance.
Goodship wouldn't even last 5 innings when German Rivas's solo HR, his 2nd of the series, would send Goodship to the showers with his 5th ER given up of the game. Earlier Fujita hit his 2nd HR of the series as well. Jimenez on the other hand was good, really good. He sliced and diced his way through the Jersey lineup giving up 4 hits through 7 innings of work. It only took him 83 pitches, walking 1 and striking out 3. The bullpen would come in and shutout the Jersey lineup for the last 2 innings giving Toronto 2 shutouts in 3 games. Jersey had been shutout in only 4 games all season long, and Toronto magic had done it twice in the series. Jersey was down to their last breath.
Final Score: Toronto 5 Jersey 0
POTG: Ramiro Jimenez: 7IP, 4H, 0ER, 1BB, 3K
Game 5
Game 5, Jersey's last stand, going against Yi who dominated them in Game 2. Going for Jersey was their kid ace Jose Ramos. Things would get started in true Jersey fashion of this series when the final out of the 1st inning was a runner thrown out at the plate to end the inning. In the 2nd and 3rd innings the teams would trade 2-run HR's, Toronto for Ben Moss and Jersey's for Sergio Rodriguez.
The tie would last until the 5th when Toronto would push across 2 more runs and a Fujita 2-out double in the 6th would give Toronto a 5-2 lead. German Rivas would hit his 3rd HR in 5 games in the 7th giving Toronto a cushy 4-run lead and 9 outs from the World Series. For the first time in the series though, Jersey actually put up a fight. The bottom of the 7th Sergio Rodriguez would hit his 2nd HR of the game, a solo shot chipping into Toronto's lead. In the 8th Warren Goyer and Manny Romero would hit back-to-back solo HR's off of Fred Martin to make it a 1 run game.
Jersey's bullpen was good in the entire series and got them to the 9th still down 1 run. A Peter Larson lead off single would even give them a chance. He would advance into scoring position on Sergio Rodriguez's groundout. But again clutch hitting, which Jersey has had all season would allude the Bags. Rookie Lawrence Schroeder would strike out and future hopeful MVP Mike Bryant would groundout to end the series and Jersey's season. Closer Jose Murillo would get his 4th save in 6 days against Jersey and a 6-5 loss would send the Bags home for the off season to think about where things went wrong after such a great season.
Final Score: Toronto 6 Jersey 5
POTG: Sergio Rodriquez: 3-4, 2R, 2HR, 3BI
What an interesting series it was. Toronto's pitching came to play, that is everyone except Mendoza, who you would have thought would be the pitcher to shut the Bags down. Ramiro Jimenez would baffle the Jersey bats in 2 starts and Yi in another. The CL's leading team in OBP, would draw 1 walk in the 4 games that Jimemez and Yi would start which is absolutely baffling. It just wasn't meant to be for this year's D-Bags. Toronto will continue their magical run, much as Jersey did last year, beating the 2 teams with the league's best records to advance to the World Series where they will face the LA Bruins, making their first World Series. We will have a new winner in the BSA this year. Look back for a season in review and team awards, coming soon.
GO D-BAGS
Monday, February 11, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
On to the CLCS; Jersey Shore vs. Toronto
The season the Bags and Titans played each other 9 times, with Jersey going 6-3 in those games. That included an early season home sweep, Jersey taking 2/3 at home in June and Toronto getting revenge and taking 2/3 at home in August. Toronto's park is considered death to right handed bats and one of the toughest parks in the league to hit a HR for a dead pull hitter from the right side. This is due to the Left field line being 370 feet from home plate combined with a 10 foot wall, which is very similiar to Vista's home park in that matter.
Offense:
In retrospect the teams batting averages sat at 2nd and 3rd in the CL. The biggest difference in these two offenses is the power. Jersey almost hit double the HR during the year, hold a 65 point advantage in slugging and scored 180 more runs during the year. A little of this will be because of the different home parks, but Jersey has the power bats. Outside of Rivas and LuGo, no other Titan had 20+ HR, Jersey had 4 of these players, including Bryant's 40 HR season.
Without Bolden, Savador Perez and Jose Brito the starters for Toronto on paper are not nearly as tough as the starter's Toronto from last year. The Starter's ERA is almost up a full run from last years team. Let's not sugar coat it though, Mendoza is one of the best pitchers in the league and the young Jinemez can be the Wild Card for Toronto in this series. On the other hand Jersey runs with the veterans Ellis and Macias with their own youngster Jose Ramos. Both bullpens were top 3 in the CL and I would consider them a wash.
The Starter's
Jersey Shore vs. Toronto:
Art Ellis: 1GS, 0-0, 4.50ERA, 8IP, 4ER, 1BB, 5K
Jose Ramos: No starts
Dan Macias: 3GS, 1-2, 8.36ERA, 14IP, 13ER, 7BB, 14K
Rob Goodship: 3GS, 1-0, 4.66ERA, 19.1IP, 10ER, 1BB, 18K
Toronto vs Jersey Shore:
Guillermo Mendoza: 2GS, 1-1, 3.10ERA, 20.1IP, 7ER, 5BB, 23K
Jung-keun Yi: 1GS, 1-0, 2.57ERA, 7IP, 2ER, 0BB, 6K
Shawn Jackson: No starts
Ramiro Jimenez: 2GS, 0-1, 9.82ERA, 11IP, 12ER, 5BB, 5K
Lineups:
The lineups will be the same as the CLDS for Jersey. They are:
vs RHP:
1. LF Peter Larson
2. SS Lawrence Schroeder
3. 2B Mike Bryant
4. DH Matt Doyle
5. RF Dave Dodd
6. 1B Alberto Perez
7. C Luis Antonio Duran
8. CF Fransisco Torres
9. 3B Adam Morrow
vs. LHP:
1. CF Sergio Rodriguez
2. SS Lawrence Schroeder
3. 2B Mike Bryant
4. 1B Matt Doyle
5. RF Dave Dodd
6. DH Manny Romero
7. C Warren Goyer
8. 3B Alberto Perez
9. LF Tim Duncan
Hitters vs. Probable Toronto starters:
vs. Mendoza:
Rodriguez 2/4 .500
Schroeder 1/2 .500
Duran 6/13 1 HR .462
Taylor 2/7 .286
Bryant 3/11 .273
Larson 5/23 .217
Dodd 1/6 .167
Doyle 2/14 .143
Romero 1/8 .125
Perez 1/9 .111
Morrow 0/6 .000
Torres 0/3 .000
vs Yi:
Schroeder 1/2 .500
Rodriguez 5/13 .385
Bryant 6/17 2HR .353
Larson 1/3 .333
Perez 3/11 .273
Morrow 3/12 .250
Romero 2/10 HR .200
Doyle 1/9 .111
Goyer 1/16 .063
Duncan 0/4 .000
Dodd 0/2 .000
vs. Jackson:
Duran 2/4 HR .500
Doyle 1/2 .500
Larson 6/15 .400
Bryant 1/4 .250
Goyer 0/3 .000
Taylor 0/5 .000
vs. Jimenez
Duncan 4/6 .667
Perez 2/4 HR .500
Morrow 1/2 .500
Romero 2/5 HR .400
Dodd 2/6 .333
Schroeder 1/3 .333
Torres 1/7 HR .143
Goyer 0/1 .000
Doyle 0/4 .000
Bryant 0/5 .000
Rodriguez 0/6 .000
Looking at this, The Bags have obviously struggled versus Mendoza, which is a blessing they will not be facing him 3 times in this series. There has been more success against Yi, and not much to go by against Jimenez and Jackson. It should be interested to see how the Toronto starters can handle the Jersey bats, especially after considering how much they knocked around the Vista pitching in the last series. Either way we have two talented teams going at it for a berth in the World Series. Be prepared for a great series!
GO D-BAGS
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Bags Finish Off Vista in 5; Head Back to CLCS
After starting the series 1-1 playing the first two games in Vista, Jersey headed back home to The Ballpark at the Shore for their first 3 home games of these 2016 playoffs. Jersey won game 1 handily with Art Ellis pitching them to an 8-2 win. Game 2 was a masterpiece turned in by Michael Hoffmeyer who out dueled the rookie Jose Ramos for a slim 2-1 victory, a victory that GM Josh Swain was afraid of. "We have the bats, they have the arms. There's no doubt in my mind that we can beat them in a shoot out, its the 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 games that will lose us this series. We need to stay away from those," is a quote from Swain before the series, thus far he seems to be right. On to Jersey!
Game 3
Gane 3 would feature a matchup between Tyler "Big Train" Law of Vista and Dan "Simple Man" Macias of Jersey. Law, who missed more than 2 months with elbow tendonitis during the year, pitched great all season, including a no-hitter against the Reno Cards. He shut down Jersey in both his starts this season, pitching 14.2 innings of shutout ball. Macias, the the 36 year old veteran, had his worst season as a pro as his strike out totals fell and ERA rose. He did have a great September which Jersey is hoping for good signs during this postseason.
Macias, who struggled mightily in the playoffs a year ago, would get things started nicely for Jersey taking the first 3 Vista hitters in order. The stadium was packed down to standing room only tickets and gave an ovation as he got All-Star John Doby to strike out to end the first. Tyler Law would take the mound for Vista and whatever concerns Jersey hitters had about him shutting them down all season quickly disappeared. Two quick walks and a hit by pitched loaded the bases for Matt Doyle with no one out. Doyle would waste no time and take the 2nd offering to the gap in left-center bringing home 2 runs an sending Bryant to 3rd. The next batter Dodd would walk on 4 pitches to re-load the bases, still with no one out. A harmless fly ball would get Romero, but Bryant would tag and score the third Jersey run. Catcher Warren Goyer would fly out for the 2nd out before Alberto Perez would single on a line drive over shortstop to load the bases for the 3rd time in the inning. Law's control problems would continue as Tim Duncan would step in and not take the bat off his shoulder for 4 straight pitches forcing in the 4th run from 3rd base and surprisingly ending Law's night. It resulted in the shortest outing of the season for him. Carlos Arevalo would relieve Law and strike out leadoff man Sergio Rodriguez on 3 pitches. But the damage was done. After 1 inning, Jersey held a 4-0 lead.
Macias apparently came to work. Even after the long delay of batting around he came out and retired the side in order for the 2nd straight time. Jersey would waste no time getting more. SS Lawrence Schroeder led off the inning with a single and 2 batters later Matt Doyle would connect and pull a line drive down the line that barely stayed fair for a 2 run HR. It chased Arevalo from the game, and the 6 runs would be more than Jersey needed today.
An RBI triple from Schroeder would bring in the 7th run in the 3rd and an RBI single from Perez would bring home the 8th run in the 4th. Macias would stay out of the trouble until the 5th when Torres connected on a 2 run HR. Brian Cash would leadoff the 6th with a solo HR to bring the Jersey lead to 8-3 and follow that up with an RBI sac fly in the 7th to shave one more run off. A triple and wild pitch would bring home Vista's 5th run in the 8th before Macias was done for the night. Even though he gave up 5 ER he was effective enough to pick up the win. Jose Gomes and Jaime Saenz would close out the last 5 batters to preserve the 8-5 win for the Bags and give them a 2-1 series lead.
Final Score: Jersey 8 Vista 5
POTG: Matt Doyle 2-5, 2R, 2B, HR, 4RBI
Game 4
Game 4 would turn out to be the most interesting game of the series. Vista would bring Cipriano Montanez back on short rest while Jersey would send the embattled Jerry Burgess to the mound. Burgess was regulated to bullpen duty for much of August and September before coming back and throwing a quality start against Pocatello during the last series of the year.
Things did not start well for Burgess. A walk, single and walk loaded the bases with no outs, just like Jersey did the day the before. Vista would get their 4 runs but they did it on one swing. Roberto Bojorquez would only need one swing to send a Burgess offering high, deep and gone over the CF wall to put Jersey in a 4-0 hole before an out was recorded in the game. Burgess would shake it off and retire the next 3 batters before heading to the dugout in a quiet stadium. Montanez was sharp in the 1st inning, needing only 8 pitches to saw through 3 Jersey hitters to get us to the 2nd inning. Either Manager Kevin Davis had faith in Burgess or just didn't want to waste his bullpen, but Burgess headed out to the mound for the 2nd inning. A walk, double play, single and groundout ended the top half, while Jersey would go down in order in the bottom half to end the inning.
Burgess would go back to work in the 3rd giving up a lead off single Bojoquez before getting 2 straight outs. But a single from Torres and back to back walks would force in Vista's 5th run, but Brian Cash couldn't capitalize and break the game open by grounding out to end the threat. The Bags would finally show some sign of life in the 3rd getting two free passes to start things off before Luis Antonio Duran came to plate. Duran would single up the middle which would score one, and advance the runners on the throw to home. An RBI groundout from Larson would plate the 2nd run, giving the Bags a runner on 2nd with one out. An Adam Morrow single would put runners at the corners and Mikey Bryant would be the 2nd D-Bag to be hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases. Montanez probably got the biggest out of the day by getting masher Matt Doyle to weakly hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Both teams left the bases loaded. Jersey shaved part of the lead off, going into the 4th, Vista led 5-2.
Burgess would finally get the hook when he surrendered a 1 out double Doby and was replaced by Greg Schaefer. Schaefer would get an out before giving up back to back singles where Vista would plate their 6th run. Torres would strike out with 2 runners on to end the threat. As usual Jersey batters wouldn't lay down. The struggling Dave Dodd led off the inning with an exciting triple and came around to score on Perez's single before Montanez retired 3 batters in a row to end the 4th. Both teams score, 6-3 Vista lead. The 5th went by without any damage from Vista, but MVP showed up for Jersey. 2 pitches after Schroeder pulled a double down the left field line, Bryant would take a Montanez fastball the other way landing 340 feet away and bringing the Bags to within 1 and the crowd to their feet. It was Bryant's 1st HR of the series and just his 2nd and 3rd RBI in 4 games.
Both teams would pose threats in the 6th and 7th innings but no one could come up with a clutch hit until the bottom of the 8th. Vista would bring in Evan Brown to pitch to the left handed hitting rookie Torres, who would get the best of him and single on a line drive to CF. Brown would be replaced with rookie 1st round pick Edward Cadle who gave up a line drive single to former ROY Adam Morrow to put 2 runners on with no outs. Arevalo would replace Cadle who had a battle with Peter Larson before getting him to ground into a HUGE unassisted DP from Brian Cash. Arevalo couldn't get all the way out of trouble though. Lawrence Schroeder would hit a grounder pasts a diving Cash to score the runner from third and knot up this ballgame at 6 runs apiece. There could have been more trouble when he walked both Bryant and Doyle, but got Dodd to lazily fly out to send to send us to the 9th tied up.
Both teams would go down in order in the 9th sending us to our first extra inning game of the series. The 10th was no different, 6 up and 6 down. This was a pivotal game for both teams. Vista would threaten in their half of the 11th getting a lead-off single from Cash and a successful sac bunt from Cassidy to give Vista a runner in scoring position. John Doby would be given a free pass and like many other times in this series, the Vista bats wouldn't come through. Flame thrower Mungo Saenz would get Ashur and House both swinging to a huge ovation from the crowd. They wanted a Jersey win. With the meat of the order coming up, there would be no better time for the Bags. Bryant quickly got his 4th hit of the game a double into the left field corner and Doyle was walked to set up the double play. Goyer would pinch hit for Dodd and fly out to right field to bring up last year's playoff hero and this year's All Star game hero Alberto Perez. Why not? Perez took a 2-0 pitch and grounded the ball up the middle. Bryant would score without a throw and and was met at the plate by the team for a mini mosh pit to celebrate the walk off win. Down 5-0 and to come away winners was a great feeling. Going up 3-1 in the series with a chance to close it out at home was an even better one.
Final Score Jersey 7 Vista 6
POTG: Roberto Bojoquez 2-4, R, HR, 4RBI
Game 5
If you were expecting a close nail-biter this wasn't your game. Game 1 Art Ellis winner would take the mound against Game 2 winner Michael Hoffmeyer pitching on short rest. Ellis was nothing short of brilliant on this evening. Hoffmeyer labored, couldn't avoid the Jersey bats and this one was over before it even began. Jersey scored in every inning but the 3rd and the 5th highlighted by Home Runs from Bryant and Doyle in the 4th and the 6th, 4 total hits for Bryant and 4 hits from Peter Larson. Every Jersey regular besides Alberto Perez had a hit and Art Ellis would go 7 scoreless innings giving up 4 singles and 1 walk on his way to 8 strikeouts and his 2nd win of the series. Hoffmeyer wouldn't get out of the 4th inning and 4 other relievers would pitch and all would give up runs. In the end the Bags won in laughing fashion 11-0 in front of 35,000 fans and would earn their right to take on the winner of the Toronto-Greenville series, which Toronto holds a 3-2 lead in.
Final Score: Jersey 11 Vista 0
POTG: Mike Bryant 4-5, 2R, 2 2B, HR, 3RBI
Summary:
From what we said in the pre-series summary, if Vista is going to win they need to limit the Jersey bats. They did in 1 game, which resulted in a Vista win. In the other 4 games Jersey scored 8,8,7 and 11. The bats were just too much for the Panthers. I also want to give much respect to the bullpen. They were outstanding, only 3 hits in 15+ innings giving up no runs and striking out 16.
Series MVP: Mike Bryant 13-22 (.591) 7R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Other notable performers:
Alberto Perez: 8-21, .381, 5RBI
Matt Doyle: 6-21, 5R, 2HR, 8RBI
Art Ellis: 2-0, 1.42 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 14 K
Entire Bullpen: 15.2 IP, 3H, 0ER, 0R, 3BB, 16K
Game 3
Gane 3 would feature a matchup between Tyler "Big Train" Law of Vista and Dan "Simple Man" Macias of Jersey. Law, who missed more than 2 months with elbow tendonitis during the year, pitched great all season, including a no-hitter against the Reno Cards. He shut down Jersey in both his starts this season, pitching 14.2 innings of shutout ball. Macias, the the 36 year old veteran, had his worst season as a pro as his strike out totals fell and ERA rose. He did have a great September which Jersey is hoping for good signs during this postseason.
Macias, who struggled mightily in the playoffs a year ago, would get things started nicely for Jersey taking the first 3 Vista hitters in order. The stadium was packed down to standing room only tickets and gave an ovation as he got All-Star John Doby to strike out to end the first. Tyler Law would take the mound for Vista and whatever concerns Jersey hitters had about him shutting them down all season quickly disappeared. Two quick walks and a hit by pitched loaded the bases for Matt Doyle with no one out. Doyle would waste no time and take the 2nd offering to the gap in left-center bringing home 2 runs an sending Bryant to 3rd. The next batter Dodd would walk on 4 pitches to re-load the bases, still with no one out. A harmless fly ball would get Romero, but Bryant would tag and score the third Jersey run. Catcher Warren Goyer would fly out for the 2nd out before Alberto Perez would single on a line drive over shortstop to load the bases for the 3rd time in the inning. Law's control problems would continue as Tim Duncan would step in and not take the bat off his shoulder for 4 straight pitches forcing in the 4th run from 3rd base and surprisingly ending Law's night. It resulted in the shortest outing of the season for him. Carlos Arevalo would relieve Law and strike out leadoff man Sergio Rodriguez on 3 pitches. But the damage was done. After 1 inning, Jersey held a 4-0 lead.
Macias apparently came to work. Even after the long delay of batting around he came out and retired the side in order for the 2nd straight time. Jersey would waste no time getting more. SS Lawrence Schroeder led off the inning with a single and 2 batters later Matt Doyle would connect and pull a line drive down the line that barely stayed fair for a 2 run HR. It chased Arevalo from the game, and the 6 runs would be more than Jersey needed today.
An RBI triple from Schroeder would bring in the 7th run in the 3rd and an RBI single from Perez would bring home the 8th run in the 4th. Macias would stay out of the trouble until the 5th when Torres connected on a 2 run HR. Brian Cash would leadoff the 6th with a solo HR to bring the Jersey lead to 8-3 and follow that up with an RBI sac fly in the 7th to shave one more run off. A triple and wild pitch would bring home Vista's 5th run in the 8th before Macias was done for the night. Even though he gave up 5 ER he was effective enough to pick up the win. Jose Gomes and Jaime Saenz would close out the last 5 batters to preserve the 8-5 win for the Bags and give them a 2-1 series lead.
Final Score: Jersey 8 Vista 5
POTG: Matt Doyle 2-5, 2R, 2B, HR, 4RBI
Game 4
Game 4 would turn out to be the most interesting game of the series. Vista would bring Cipriano Montanez back on short rest while Jersey would send the embattled Jerry Burgess to the mound. Burgess was regulated to bullpen duty for much of August and September before coming back and throwing a quality start against Pocatello during the last series of the year.
Things did not start well for Burgess. A walk, single and walk loaded the bases with no outs, just like Jersey did the day the before. Vista would get their 4 runs but they did it on one swing. Roberto Bojorquez would only need one swing to send a Burgess offering high, deep and gone over the CF wall to put Jersey in a 4-0 hole before an out was recorded in the game. Burgess would shake it off and retire the next 3 batters before heading to the dugout in a quiet stadium. Montanez was sharp in the 1st inning, needing only 8 pitches to saw through 3 Jersey hitters to get us to the 2nd inning. Either Manager Kevin Davis had faith in Burgess or just didn't want to waste his bullpen, but Burgess headed out to the mound for the 2nd inning. A walk, double play, single and groundout ended the top half, while Jersey would go down in order in the bottom half to end the inning.
Burgess would go back to work in the 3rd giving up a lead off single Bojoquez before getting 2 straight outs. But a single from Torres and back to back walks would force in Vista's 5th run, but Brian Cash couldn't capitalize and break the game open by grounding out to end the threat. The Bags would finally show some sign of life in the 3rd getting two free passes to start things off before Luis Antonio Duran came to plate. Duran would single up the middle which would score one, and advance the runners on the throw to home. An RBI groundout from Larson would plate the 2nd run, giving the Bags a runner on 2nd with one out. An Adam Morrow single would put runners at the corners and Mikey Bryant would be the 2nd D-Bag to be hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases. Montanez probably got the biggest out of the day by getting masher Matt Doyle to weakly hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Both teams left the bases loaded. Jersey shaved part of the lead off, going into the 4th, Vista led 5-2.
Burgess would finally get the hook when he surrendered a 1 out double Doby and was replaced by Greg Schaefer. Schaefer would get an out before giving up back to back singles where Vista would plate their 6th run. Torres would strike out with 2 runners on to end the threat. As usual Jersey batters wouldn't lay down. The struggling Dave Dodd led off the inning with an exciting triple and came around to score on Perez's single before Montanez retired 3 batters in a row to end the 4th. Both teams score, 6-3 Vista lead. The 5th went by without any damage from Vista, but MVP showed up for Jersey. 2 pitches after Schroeder pulled a double down the left field line, Bryant would take a Montanez fastball the other way landing 340 feet away and bringing the Bags to within 1 and the crowd to their feet. It was Bryant's 1st HR of the series and just his 2nd and 3rd RBI in 4 games.
Both teams would pose threats in the 6th and 7th innings but no one could come up with a clutch hit until the bottom of the 8th. Vista would bring in Evan Brown to pitch to the left handed hitting rookie Torres, who would get the best of him and single on a line drive to CF. Brown would be replaced with rookie 1st round pick Edward Cadle who gave up a line drive single to former ROY Adam Morrow to put 2 runners on with no outs. Arevalo would replace Cadle who had a battle with Peter Larson before getting him to ground into a HUGE unassisted DP from Brian Cash. Arevalo couldn't get all the way out of trouble though. Lawrence Schroeder would hit a grounder pasts a diving Cash to score the runner from third and knot up this ballgame at 6 runs apiece. There could have been more trouble when he walked both Bryant and Doyle, but got Dodd to lazily fly out to send to send us to the 9th tied up.
Both teams would go down in order in the 9th sending us to our first extra inning game of the series. The 10th was no different, 6 up and 6 down. This was a pivotal game for both teams. Vista would threaten in their half of the 11th getting a lead-off single from Cash and a successful sac bunt from Cassidy to give Vista a runner in scoring position. John Doby would be given a free pass and like many other times in this series, the Vista bats wouldn't come through. Flame thrower Mungo Saenz would get Ashur and House both swinging to a huge ovation from the crowd. They wanted a Jersey win. With the meat of the order coming up, there would be no better time for the Bags. Bryant quickly got his 4th hit of the game a double into the left field corner and Doyle was walked to set up the double play. Goyer would pinch hit for Dodd and fly out to right field to bring up last year's playoff hero and this year's All Star game hero Alberto Perez. Why not? Perez took a 2-0 pitch and grounded the ball up the middle. Bryant would score without a throw and and was met at the plate by the team for a mini mosh pit to celebrate the walk off win. Down 5-0 and to come away winners was a great feeling. Going up 3-1 in the series with a chance to close it out at home was an even better one.
Final Score Jersey 7 Vista 6
POTG: Roberto Bojoquez 2-4, R, HR, 4RBI
Game 5
If you were expecting a close nail-biter this wasn't your game. Game 1 Art Ellis winner would take the mound against Game 2 winner Michael Hoffmeyer pitching on short rest. Ellis was nothing short of brilliant on this evening. Hoffmeyer labored, couldn't avoid the Jersey bats and this one was over before it even began. Jersey scored in every inning but the 3rd and the 5th highlighted by Home Runs from Bryant and Doyle in the 4th and the 6th, 4 total hits for Bryant and 4 hits from Peter Larson. Every Jersey regular besides Alberto Perez had a hit and Art Ellis would go 7 scoreless innings giving up 4 singles and 1 walk on his way to 8 strikeouts and his 2nd win of the series. Hoffmeyer wouldn't get out of the 4th inning and 4 other relievers would pitch and all would give up runs. In the end the Bags won in laughing fashion 11-0 in front of 35,000 fans and would earn their right to take on the winner of the Toronto-Greenville series, which Toronto holds a 3-2 lead in.
Final Score: Jersey 11 Vista 0
POTG: Mike Bryant 4-5, 2R, 2 2B, HR, 3RBI
Summary:
From what we said in the pre-series summary, if Vista is going to win they need to limit the Jersey bats. They did in 1 game, which resulted in a Vista win. In the other 4 games Jersey scored 8,8,7 and 11. The bats were just too much for the Panthers. I also want to give much respect to the bullpen. They were outstanding, only 3 hits in 15+ innings giving up no runs and striking out 16.
Series MVP: Mike Bryant 13-22 (.591) 7R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Other notable performers:
Alberto Perez: 8-21, .381, 5RBI
Matt Doyle: 6-21, 5R, 2HR, 8RBI
Art Ellis: 2-0, 1.42 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 14 K
Entire Bullpen: 15.2 IP, 3H, 0ER, 0R, 3BB, 16K
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Jersey Shore vs. Vista; Tied After 2
Welcome to the long awaited BSA Division round of the 2016 playoffs! The Jersey Shore D-Bags will take on the Vista Panthers in the first round. Since Vista was the division winner, games 1-2 and 6-7 will be played in Vista, while 3-4-5 will be played in Jersey.
We breakdown the first 2 games of the series played in Vista here:
Game 1
Former Cy Young winner Cipriano Montanez would take the hill for Vista, making him the first Vista starter to start a playoff game for the team. He would throw a ball to Peter Larson to start the game in front of a packed house of just over 40,000 fans. He would get Larson to pop out, rookie SS Lawrence Schroeder to ground out before coming to the teeth of the Jersey lineup. Mr. Triple Crown Mikey Bryant would run the count to 2-0 before roping a line drive the other way into the corner for a 2 out double and the game's first hit. On the first pitch to Matt Doyle he would hit a hard grounder through the hole between 3rd and SS, Bryant with a great jump would score the game's first run without a throw. Montanez would get rookie Dave Dodd swinging to the end Jersey's first.
Starting for Jersey Shore was their veteran ace Art Ellis. We learned early on that his control might be a little off today. He walked the leadoff man Brian Cash, gave up a single to John Doby and walked Matt House to load the bases with only one out. A very fortunate come-backer off the bat of Armando Macias would result in a force out at the plate for the 2nd out. Cesar Torres would step to the plate and see the 2nd pitch in the at bat in the dirt and to the screen, a passed ball, which would bring home Doby to the tie the game. Torres would strikeout in the at bat 4 pitches later to end the inning.
The 2nd innings treated both pitchers well with both getting 3 up and 3 down. The 3rd inning the Bags would get to Montanez again. A walk to Larson followed by singles by Schroeder, Bryant and Doyle resulted in 2 runs, giving the D-Bags a 3-1 lead. A single to Doby is all Vista could manage in their half of the 3rd, ending the inning trailing 3-1. A base runner apiece for each team in the 4th is all the action we would see, keeping the score the same.
Mistakes abound would kill Vista in the 5th inning. Schroeder would strike out to start the inning before Bryant would pull a scorching ground ball down the first base line for his 2nd double of the game. An intentional walk to Doyle would set up the double play ball seemed to be a good strategy until the 3rd pitch to Dodd would be a wild pitch to move the runners up. This forced Montanez to intentionally walk Dodd to load the bases. Alberto Perez would step to the plate, and what should have been an inning ending double play ate up SS Riley Cassidy, which subsequently would allow 2 runs to score and the inning to keep going, also this would chase Montanez from the game. Guillermo Martinez would relieve Montanez, give up a sac fly to catcher Duran, to bring home Jersey's 6th run, before getting rookie Fransisco Torres to ground out to end the inning and a big Jersey lead 6-1.
This would be all Jersey would need today. Vista would load the bases in the 6th against Ellis but only muster one run, and that was forced in by a walk from Matt House. This would chase Ellis who ended up pitching 5 2/3 innings, giving up 2 ER on 3 hits but walked 7. Jersey would get the run back and another in the 7th with a single from Duran that would bring home Doyle and Dodd and make the score 8-2. The only other base runner for the rest of the game would come in Vista's 9th when 1B Manny Dominguez would walk, before Hyo-chin Kim retired 3 batters in a row to end the game. Dominguez was the only batter Kim would let reach in 3 1/3 inning, which resulted in a save for him in his first postseason pitching.
Final Score: Jersey 8 Vista 2
POTG: Matt Doyle 3-4, 2B, BB, 2R, 2RBI
Game 2
Game 2 would offer an interesting pitching matchup. Vista would send Michael Hoffmeyer to the mound, who was 0-2 against Jersey this season with the combination of Mikey Bryant and Matt Doyle doing most of the damage in those 2 games. For Jersey they would send 21 year old phenom Jose Ramos, who shutout Vista in 7.1 IP in his only start against the Panthers this season.
Hoffmeyer and Ramos would dance around base runners in the first inning before both escaped trouble. The 2nd inning both pitchers would get 3 up, 3 down getting a pair of groundouts apiece to send us to the 3rd still knotted at 0. Besides a 6 pitch watch to Peter Larson, Hoffmeyer was all business in the 3rd, throwing 8 pitches to achieve 3 outs outside of the Larson AB.
In Vista's half of the 3rd we would finally get some action. After Manny Dominguez would strike out swinging, Riley Cassidy would come to the plate trying to redeem himself for his very costly error in Game 1. On the 2nd pitch of the AB, Cassidy would surprise everyone and drag a bunt down the line and beat it out by half a step. On a 1-1 count to Brian Cash, Cassidy would steal 2nd base, giving Vista a rare runner in scoring position. Ramos would get Cash to fly out for the 2nd out, but wasn't out of trouble yet. Roberto Bojorquez would slice a line drive down the RF line that would land fair by a foot scoring Cassidy from 2nd easily and giving Vista the early 1-0 lead. A John Doby walk would extend the inning before Matt House grounded out to Mikey Bryant to end the inning.
The Bags would show some life in the 4th, well Bryant would show some life. He started the inning with a single, his 2nd hit of the game and stole 2nd with Dodd at the plate after Doyle flew out to RF. Dodd would fly out for the 2nd out before disaster almost struck Vista and Mr. Cassidy. Alberto Perez would again ground to Cassidy which should have ended the inning but a bobble and a throw off target would allow him to reach and send Bryant to 3rd base. Duran would come to plate looking to tie this game up at 1. After running the count to 2-0, he took a big cut at a fastball which would result in a grounder to 1st, which would end the inning.
After the middle of the 4th, both pitchers would settle into a groove and besides a wayward single we would head into the bottom of the 6th inning with Vista still leading 1-0. Doby would lead off Vista's half of the 6th with a single before House and Macias hit lazy fly balls into the OF for easy outs. But again Vista would strike with two outs. Cesar Torres, the speedy OF, who had 46 2B on the year, would do what he does best and line a ball to the gap in left-center. CF Torres would have no chance to make a play on the ball, Doby would score with no throw and Vista goes up 2-0, but it wouldn't last long.
Dave Dodd would lead off the 7th for the Bags and take Hoffmeyer's 3rd pitch of the AB and deposit it 425 feet later into the RF bleachers. It would mark the first HR for either team in the series and erase the insurance run Vista just pushed across the plate. Hoffmeyer would struggle through the rest of the inning, getting 2 outs, but loading the bases in the process. The threat would be ended when he would get SS Schroeder to fly out to CF avoiding all danger and leaving the Bags with 3 runners left on to think about.
The bottom of the 7th and top of the 8th were very similiar for both starters seeing 3 batters apiece with Hoffmeyer getting Bryant, Doyle and Dodd to all groundout in order. Ramos's night would be over after pitching 7 very solid innings for Jersey, giving up the 2 ER on 6 hits while striking out 5. Jose "Dog Pound" Gomes would come in, getting a ground out and 2 strike outs to send us to the 9th.
Vista closer Alejandro Lopez would be called upon to end the game for Vista. Lopez saved 20 games on the season between Vista and St. Louis. His night wouldn't start well with a 5 pitch walk to Lopez. One of the more bizarre plays you will see happened when Duran stepped to the plate. On the 3rd pitch of the AB, Duran would lay down a bunt that immediately went back to the pitcher Lopez. Lopez would twirl and fire to 2nd to get Perez easy as the force out, but a heads up play by Cassidy to throw to first would end in a bang-bang double play off a bunt attempt. Duran had had't a successful sac bunt attempt in over 2 years and only 3 in his entire career. It was an odd decision. Jersey wasn't done yet as Torres reached after being hit by a pitch and last year's ROY Adam Morrow coaxed and 8-pitch walk to put the tying run in scoring position for leadoff man Peter Larson. But it wasn't meant to be for the Bags as Larson popped up the first pitch on the infield where 2B Cash would end the game with an easy catch.
Final Score: Vista 2 Jersey 1
POTG: Michael Hoffmeyer 8IP, 1ER, 1R, 4H, 4BB, 4K
We now head to Jersey for 3 games, tied 1 game apiece.
GO D-BAGS
We breakdown the first 2 games of the series played in Vista here:
Game 1
Former Cy Young winner Cipriano Montanez would take the hill for Vista, making him the first Vista starter to start a playoff game for the team. He would throw a ball to Peter Larson to start the game in front of a packed house of just over 40,000 fans. He would get Larson to pop out, rookie SS Lawrence Schroeder to ground out before coming to the teeth of the Jersey lineup. Mr. Triple Crown Mikey Bryant would run the count to 2-0 before roping a line drive the other way into the corner for a 2 out double and the game's first hit. On the first pitch to Matt Doyle he would hit a hard grounder through the hole between 3rd and SS, Bryant with a great jump would score the game's first run without a throw. Montanez would get rookie Dave Dodd swinging to the end Jersey's first.
Starting for Jersey Shore was their veteran ace Art Ellis. We learned early on that his control might be a little off today. He walked the leadoff man Brian Cash, gave up a single to John Doby and walked Matt House to load the bases with only one out. A very fortunate come-backer off the bat of Armando Macias would result in a force out at the plate for the 2nd out. Cesar Torres would step to the plate and see the 2nd pitch in the at bat in the dirt and to the screen, a passed ball, which would bring home Doby to the tie the game. Torres would strikeout in the at bat 4 pitches later to end the inning.
The 2nd innings treated both pitchers well with both getting 3 up and 3 down. The 3rd inning the Bags would get to Montanez again. A walk to Larson followed by singles by Schroeder, Bryant and Doyle resulted in 2 runs, giving the D-Bags a 3-1 lead. A single to Doby is all Vista could manage in their half of the 3rd, ending the inning trailing 3-1. A base runner apiece for each team in the 4th is all the action we would see, keeping the score the same.
Mistakes abound would kill Vista in the 5th inning. Schroeder would strike out to start the inning before Bryant would pull a scorching ground ball down the first base line for his 2nd double of the game. An intentional walk to Doyle would set up the double play ball seemed to be a good strategy until the 3rd pitch to Dodd would be a wild pitch to move the runners up. This forced Montanez to intentionally walk Dodd to load the bases. Alberto Perez would step to the plate, and what should have been an inning ending double play ate up SS Riley Cassidy, which subsequently would allow 2 runs to score and the inning to keep going, also this would chase Montanez from the game. Guillermo Martinez would relieve Montanez, give up a sac fly to catcher Duran, to bring home Jersey's 6th run, before getting rookie Fransisco Torres to ground out to end the inning and a big Jersey lead 6-1.
This would be all Jersey would need today. Vista would load the bases in the 6th against Ellis but only muster one run, and that was forced in by a walk from Matt House. This would chase Ellis who ended up pitching 5 2/3 innings, giving up 2 ER on 3 hits but walked 7. Jersey would get the run back and another in the 7th with a single from Duran that would bring home Doyle and Dodd and make the score 8-2. The only other base runner for the rest of the game would come in Vista's 9th when 1B Manny Dominguez would walk, before Hyo-chin Kim retired 3 batters in a row to end the game. Dominguez was the only batter Kim would let reach in 3 1/3 inning, which resulted in a save for him in his first postseason pitching.
Final Score: Jersey 8 Vista 2
POTG: Matt Doyle 3-4, 2B, BB, 2R, 2RBI
Game 2
Game 2 would offer an interesting pitching matchup. Vista would send Michael Hoffmeyer to the mound, who was 0-2 against Jersey this season with the combination of Mikey Bryant and Matt Doyle doing most of the damage in those 2 games. For Jersey they would send 21 year old phenom Jose Ramos, who shutout Vista in 7.1 IP in his only start against the Panthers this season.
Hoffmeyer and Ramos would dance around base runners in the first inning before both escaped trouble. The 2nd inning both pitchers would get 3 up, 3 down getting a pair of groundouts apiece to send us to the 3rd still knotted at 0. Besides a 6 pitch watch to Peter Larson, Hoffmeyer was all business in the 3rd, throwing 8 pitches to achieve 3 outs outside of the Larson AB.
In Vista's half of the 3rd we would finally get some action. After Manny Dominguez would strike out swinging, Riley Cassidy would come to the plate trying to redeem himself for his very costly error in Game 1. On the 2nd pitch of the AB, Cassidy would surprise everyone and drag a bunt down the line and beat it out by half a step. On a 1-1 count to Brian Cash, Cassidy would steal 2nd base, giving Vista a rare runner in scoring position. Ramos would get Cash to fly out for the 2nd out, but wasn't out of trouble yet. Roberto Bojorquez would slice a line drive down the RF line that would land fair by a foot scoring Cassidy from 2nd easily and giving Vista the early 1-0 lead. A John Doby walk would extend the inning before Matt House grounded out to Mikey Bryant to end the inning.
The Bags would show some life in the 4th, well Bryant would show some life. He started the inning with a single, his 2nd hit of the game and stole 2nd with Dodd at the plate after Doyle flew out to RF. Dodd would fly out for the 2nd out before disaster almost struck Vista and Mr. Cassidy. Alberto Perez would again ground to Cassidy which should have ended the inning but a bobble and a throw off target would allow him to reach and send Bryant to 3rd base. Duran would come to plate looking to tie this game up at 1. After running the count to 2-0, he took a big cut at a fastball which would result in a grounder to 1st, which would end the inning.
After the middle of the 4th, both pitchers would settle into a groove and besides a wayward single we would head into the bottom of the 6th inning with Vista still leading 1-0. Doby would lead off Vista's half of the 6th with a single before House and Macias hit lazy fly balls into the OF for easy outs. But again Vista would strike with two outs. Cesar Torres, the speedy OF, who had 46 2B on the year, would do what he does best and line a ball to the gap in left-center. CF Torres would have no chance to make a play on the ball, Doby would score with no throw and Vista goes up 2-0, but it wouldn't last long.
Dave Dodd would lead off the 7th for the Bags and take Hoffmeyer's 3rd pitch of the AB and deposit it 425 feet later into the RF bleachers. It would mark the first HR for either team in the series and erase the insurance run Vista just pushed across the plate. Hoffmeyer would struggle through the rest of the inning, getting 2 outs, but loading the bases in the process. The threat would be ended when he would get SS Schroeder to fly out to CF avoiding all danger and leaving the Bags with 3 runners left on to think about.
The bottom of the 7th and top of the 8th were very similiar for both starters seeing 3 batters apiece with Hoffmeyer getting Bryant, Doyle and Dodd to all groundout in order. Ramos's night would be over after pitching 7 very solid innings for Jersey, giving up the 2 ER on 6 hits while striking out 5. Jose "Dog Pound" Gomes would come in, getting a ground out and 2 strike outs to send us to the 9th.
Vista closer Alejandro Lopez would be called upon to end the game for Vista. Lopez saved 20 games on the season between Vista and St. Louis. His night wouldn't start well with a 5 pitch walk to Lopez. One of the more bizarre plays you will see happened when Duran stepped to the plate. On the 3rd pitch of the AB, Duran would lay down a bunt that immediately went back to the pitcher Lopez. Lopez would twirl and fire to 2nd to get Perez easy as the force out, but a heads up play by Cassidy to throw to first would end in a bang-bang double play off a bunt attempt. Duran had had't a successful sac bunt attempt in over 2 years and only 3 in his entire career. It was an odd decision. Jersey wasn't done yet as Torres reached after being hit by a pitch and last year's ROY Adam Morrow coaxed and 8-pitch walk to put the tying run in scoring position for leadoff man Peter Larson. But it wasn't meant to be for the Bags as Larson popped up the first pitch on the infield where 2B Cash would end the game with an easy catch.
Final Score: Vista 2 Jersey 1
POTG: Michael Hoffmeyer 8IP, 1ER, 1R, 4H, 4BB, 4K
We now head to Jersey for 3 games, tied 1 game apiece.
GO D-BAGS
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