The ride here has been anything except boring for the boys of the Jersey Shore D-Bags. After leading the CL East for most of the season, it took winning 5 of their last 7 games, including a sweep of Greenville just to reach a 1 game playoff for the 84's. Late home runs by Boyd and Doyle lifted the Bags to their 1st division title in 6 years and a chance to host Pocatello, a team in the playoffs for the 1st time in 15 years, in the division round.
Jersey Shore quickly found themselves down 3-1 in the series with Boccabellas facing elimination on the road. But the team wouldn't let that happen. An 8-2 win fueled by 12 hits and a gritty 6 inning outing by Sergio Martinez on 3-day's rest sent the D-Bags back home, where they had to win both games, including beating the reigning 3-time Cy Young award winner Kevin Bush. Cristobal Santos would match Bush for 7 innings before handing things off the bullpen and a walk-off RBI double from Pat Zimmerman off of All-Star closer Adrian Martinez would send us to Game 7. Call it a high, momentum or just plain confidence but Jersey Shore would dominate Game 7, led by Roland Martin's 7 shutout innings and emerging star catcher Luis Rios with 3 hits out of the 9 hole as well seldom used 4th outfielder Wilson Martinez who doubled twice and knocked in 2 runs. A final score of 8 to nothing couldn't even be celebrated as the D-Bags loaded up and flew to Springfield that same night to face the Stars in Game 1 of the CLCS the very next day.
The Stars finished with the best record in the CL as well as best record in team history at 111-51. It was the Springfield's franchise 1st playoff appearance since 2011 when they were known as the Kansas City Cougars. That 2011 team was led by some names you might have heard of. They include the great Jean-Thomas Francoeur, John Garrett and John Crowe. The 2026 Stars might not have the HOF names yet, but they are loaded with talent. Trotting out the most productive outfield the BSA has ever seen in Derek Davidson, Calvin Bennett and Felipe Guerrero. Trotting out other bats that include Elliot Newell and Juan Rodriguez, the Stars led the BSA in runs with 1006. They became just the 2nd CL team in history to cross the 1000 run threshold, as the only other team to do so were the 2022 Greenville 84's. BTW....the 2022 Springfield Stars? A CL record of just 555 runs scored. What a difference 5 seasons can make.
The Stars strolled into the postseason with the #1 seed and looked part in beating the powerhouse Greenville team by scoring 28 runs in 5 games and finishing off the 84's with a shutout in a Game 5, 3-0 win on the road. They would get 3 days off to rest before Jersey Shore would come to town for the CLCS. Maybe the off days got them out of a rhythm or a funk, but the offense never came for the Stars. Jersey would take the first two games of the series in Springfield. Game 1 a close 4-3 contest, as the D-Bag bats put up 4 runs on Kyu-Pyeong Pak with the go ahead runs coming in the 6th inning off of the bat of Pat Zimmerman by way of a 2-run HR. Game 2 saw a slugfest in the 1st 3 innings, as Jersey came out in the 4th inning up 6-5. Jesse Green would pitch out of trouble multiple times in the next 3 innings before handing things off to the bullpen who tossed 3 nearly perfect innings leading to a 7-5 Jersey win to take a firm grip on the series, which was heading to Jersey Shore for the next 3 games.
Game 3 saw an early rain delay knock both starters out before the 6th inning while the Stars took advantage of 2 Jersey errors for 3 unearned runs. The score of 4-3 after 4 innings wouldn't change as both bullpens were dynamite. The bullpens combined for to throw 9 innings, giving up 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB and 6 strikeouts. Springfield would avoid going down 3-0 and breathed new life going into Game 4. The Stars would send Pak back to the mound and would face Roland Martin, the Jersey ace for the 1st time in the series. Pak would go on to toss a gem, allowing just 2 singles in 7 shutout innings and would get help with a 3 run 3rd inning fueled by a Derek Davidson 2-run HR as the Stars would go onto win the game 4-2 and even the series at 2 games apiece. The pressure would move to Game 5 with the winner getting a clear cut 3-2 advantage. We would see Sergio Martinez take on Long Haul Lopez. The Bags would get the scoring started right away with home runs by Boyd and Doyle in the 1st innings as well as a solo HR by Serna in the 4th. The Stars would cut into the 4-0 in the 7th with back to back homers from Davidson and Guerrero, but give them right back in the bottom half with a 2-RBI double from Doyle. Davidson would again homer in the 8th, but the Stars just started scoring too late and the boys from Jersey would win the contest 7-4 and go back to Springfield with the series lead.
With the series on the line, Springfield would go to Game 5 hero of the CLDS Hyo-Chin Ch'oe to try and send this series to a deciding Game 7. Cristobal Santos would take the mound on 3 days rest for Jersey. It was smooth sailing for both pitchers through 2 innings until Jersey would appease the hometown crowd with 4, third inning runs coming off the bats of Dodd and Doyle. The Bags would add 2 more runs in the 4th to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Ch'oe would be knocked out in the 5th inning, but that didn't stop the D-Bags from adding on runs. After 6 innings, the lead was 10-2 and would stay like that. Springfield would load the bases with no outs in the 7th, but would fail to score. With the Irvine-Baffin Island series still going on, Jersey Shore would finally get to celebrate the victory with cases of champagne in their own clubhouse taking their 1st CL Pennant since the 2022 team did.
Now comes Irvine. The wire-to-wire best team in the BSA all season long. The team with the best staff in the league. Their 477 runs given up rank 2nd all time, only behind the epic staff of the 2015 Hendersonville Hitmen. Their ace Masutaro with a historic 13.8 WAR season which shattered Scott Hill's previous record. They led the NL in OBP and finished 3rd in runs scored. The BSA will have a new champion this year. Either way, I think we are in for a great series. Congrats Larry and good luck!
GO D-BAGS
Showing posts with label world series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world series. Show all posts
Friday, November 11, 2016
Jersey Shore Ousts Pocatello and Springfield to Reach 4th World Series
The ride here has been anything except boring for the boys of the Jersey Shore D-Bags. After leading the CL East for most of the season, it took winning 5 of their last 7 games, including a sweep of Greenville just to reach a 1 game playoff for the 84's. Late home runs by Boyd and Doyle lifted the Bags to their 1st division title in 6 years and a chance to host Pocatello, a team in the playoffs for the 1st time in 15 years, in the division round.
Jersey Shore quickly found themselves down 3-1 in the series with Boccabellas facing elimination on the road. But the team wouldn't let that happen. An 8-2 win fueled by 12 hits and a gritty 6 inning outing by Sergio Martinez on 3-day's rest sent the D-Bags back home, where they had to win both games, including beating the reigning 3-time Cy Young award winner Kevin Bush. Cristobal Santos would match Bush for 7 innings before handing things off the bullpen and a walk-off RBI double from Pat Zimmerman off of All-Star closer Adrian Martinez would send us to Game 7. Call it a high, momentum or just plain confidence but Jersey Shore would dominate Game 7, led by Roland Martin's 7 shutout innings and emerging star catcher Luis Rios with 3 hits out of the 9 hole as well seldom used 4th outfielder Wilson Martinez who doubled twice and knocked in 2 runs. A final score of 8 to nothing couldn't even be celebrated as the D-Bags loaded up and flew to Springfield that same night to face the Stars in Game 1 of the CLCS the very next day.
The Stars finished with the best record in the CL as well as best record in team history at 111-51. It was the Springfield's franchise 1st playoff appearance since 2011 when they were known as the Kansas City Cougars. That 2011 team was led by some names you might have heard of. They include the great Jean-Thomas Francoeur, John Garrett and John Crowe. The 2026 Stars might not have the HOF names yet, but they are loaded with talent. Trotting out the most productive outfield the BSA has ever seen in Derek Davidson, Calvin Bennett and Felipe Guerrero. Trotting out other bats that include Elliot Newell and Juan Rodriguez, the Stars led the BSA in runs with 1006. They became just the 2nd CL team in history to cross the 1000 run threshold, as the only other team to do so were the 2022 Greenville 84's. BTW....the 2022 Springfield Stars? A CL record of just 555 runs scored. What a difference 5 seasons can make.
The Stars strolled into the postseason with the #1 seed and looked part in beating the powerhouse Greenville team by scoring 28 runs in 5 games and finishing off the 84's with a shutout in a Game 5, 3-0 win on the road. They would get 3 days off to rest before Jersey Shore would come to town for the CLCS. Maybe the off days got them out of a rhythm or a funk, but the offense never came for the Stars. Jersey would take the first two games of the series in Springfield. Game 1 a close 4-3 contest, as the D-Bag bats put up 4 runs on Kyu-Pyeong Pak with the go ahead runs coming in the 6th inning off of the bat of Pat Zimmerman by way of a 2-run HR. Game 2 saw a slugfest in the 1st 3 innings, as Jersey came out in the 4th inning up 6-5. Jesse Green would pitch out of trouble multiple times in the next 3 innings before handing things off to the bullpen who tossed 3 nearly perfect innings leading to a 7-5 Jersey win to take a firm grip on the series, which was heading to Jersey Shore for the next 3 games.
Game 3 saw an early rain delay knock both starters out before the 6th inning while the Stars took advantage of 2 Jersey errors for 3 unearned runs. The score of 4-3 after 4 innings wouldn't change as both bullpens were dynamite. The bullpens combined for to throw 9 innings, giving up 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB and 6 strikeouts. Springfield would avoid going down 3-0 and breathed new life going into Game 4. The Stars would send Pak back to the mound and would face Roland Martin, the Jersey ace for the 1st time in the series. Pak would go on to toss a gem, allowing just 2 singles in 7 shutout innings and would get help with a 3 run 3rd inning fueled by a Derek Davidson 2-run HR as the Stars would go onto win the game 4-2 and even the series at 2 games apiece. The pressure would move to Game 5 with the winner getting a clear cut 3-2 advantage. We would see Sergio Martinez take on Long Haul Lopez. The Bags would get the scoring started right away with home runs by Boyd and Doyle in the 1st innings as well as a solo HR by Serna in the 4th. The Stars would cut into the 4-0 in the 7th with back to back homers from Davidson and Guerrero, but give them right back in the bottom half with a 2-RBI double from Doyle. Davidson would again homer in the 8th, but the Stars just started scoring too late and the boys from Jersey would win the contest 7-4 and go back to Springfield with the series lead.
With the series on the line, Springfield would go to Game 5 hero of the CLDS Hyo-Chin Ch'oe to try and send this series to a deciding Game 7. Cristobal Santos would take the mound on 3 days rest for Jersey. It was smooth sailing for both pitchers through 2 innings until Jersey would appease the hometown crowd with 4, third inning runs coming off the bats of Dodd and Doyle. The Bags would add 2 more runs in the 4th to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Ch'oe would be knocked out in the 5th inning, but that didn't stop the D-Bags from adding on runs. After 6 innings, the lead was 10-2 and would stay like that. Springfield would load the bases with no outs in the 7th, but would fail to score. With the Irvine-Baffin Island series still going on, Jersey Shore would finally get to celebrate the victory with cases of champagne in their own clubhouse taking their 1st CL Pennant since the 2022 team did.
Now comes Irvine. The wire-to-wire best team in the BSA all season long. The team with the best staff in the league. Their 477 runs given up rank 2nd all time, only behind the epic staff of the 2015 Hendersonville Hitmen. Their ace Masutaro with a historic 13.8 WAR season which shattered Scott Hill's previous record. They led the NL in OBP and finished 3rd in runs scored. The BSA will have a new champion this year. Either way, I think we are in for a great series. Congrats Larry and good luck!
GO D-BAGS
Jersey Shore quickly found themselves down 3-1 in the series with Boccabellas facing elimination on the road. But the team wouldn't let that happen. An 8-2 win fueled by 12 hits and a gritty 6 inning outing by Sergio Martinez on 3-day's rest sent the D-Bags back home, where they had to win both games, including beating the reigning 3-time Cy Young award winner Kevin Bush. Cristobal Santos would match Bush for 7 innings before handing things off the bullpen and a walk-off RBI double from Pat Zimmerman off of All-Star closer Adrian Martinez would send us to Game 7. Call it a high, momentum or just plain confidence but Jersey Shore would dominate Game 7, led by Roland Martin's 7 shutout innings and emerging star catcher Luis Rios with 3 hits out of the 9 hole as well seldom used 4th outfielder Wilson Martinez who doubled twice and knocked in 2 runs. A final score of 8 to nothing couldn't even be celebrated as the D-Bags loaded up and flew to Springfield that same night to face the Stars in Game 1 of the CLCS the very next day.
The Stars finished with the best record in the CL as well as best record in team history at 111-51. It was the Springfield's franchise 1st playoff appearance since 2011 when they were known as the Kansas City Cougars. That 2011 team was led by some names you might have heard of. They include the great Jean-Thomas Francoeur, John Garrett and John Crowe. The 2026 Stars might not have the HOF names yet, but they are loaded with talent. Trotting out the most productive outfield the BSA has ever seen in Derek Davidson, Calvin Bennett and Felipe Guerrero. Trotting out other bats that include Elliot Newell and Juan Rodriguez, the Stars led the BSA in runs with 1006. They became just the 2nd CL team in history to cross the 1000 run threshold, as the only other team to do so were the 2022 Greenville 84's. BTW....the 2022 Springfield Stars? A CL record of just 555 runs scored. What a difference 5 seasons can make.
The Stars strolled into the postseason with the #1 seed and looked part in beating the powerhouse Greenville team by scoring 28 runs in 5 games and finishing off the 84's with a shutout in a Game 5, 3-0 win on the road. They would get 3 days off to rest before Jersey Shore would come to town for the CLCS. Maybe the off days got them out of a rhythm or a funk, but the offense never came for the Stars. Jersey would take the first two games of the series in Springfield. Game 1 a close 4-3 contest, as the D-Bag bats put up 4 runs on Kyu-Pyeong Pak with the go ahead runs coming in the 6th inning off of the bat of Pat Zimmerman by way of a 2-run HR. Game 2 saw a slugfest in the 1st 3 innings, as Jersey came out in the 4th inning up 6-5. Jesse Green would pitch out of trouble multiple times in the next 3 innings before handing things off to the bullpen who tossed 3 nearly perfect innings leading to a 7-5 Jersey win to take a firm grip on the series, which was heading to Jersey Shore for the next 3 games.
Game 3 saw an early rain delay knock both starters out before the 6th inning while the Stars took advantage of 2 Jersey errors for 3 unearned runs. The score of 4-3 after 4 innings wouldn't change as both bullpens were dynamite. The bullpens combined for to throw 9 innings, giving up 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB and 6 strikeouts. Springfield would avoid going down 3-0 and breathed new life going into Game 4. The Stars would send Pak back to the mound and would face Roland Martin, the Jersey ace for the 1st time in the series. Pak would go on to toss a gem, allowing just 2 singles in 7 shutout innings and would get help with a 3 run 3rd inning fueled by a Derek Davidson 2-run HR as the Stars would go onto win the game 4-2 and even the series at 2 games apiece. The pressure would move to Game 5 with the winner getting a clear cut 3-2 advantage. We would see Sergio Martinez take on Long Haul Lopez. The Bags would get the scoring started right away with home runs by Boyd and Doyle in the 1st innings as well as a solo HR by Serna in the 4th. The Stars would cut into the 4-0 in the 7th with back to back homers from Davidson and Guerrero, but give them right back in the bottom half with a 2-RBI double from Doyle. Davidson would again homer in the 8th, but the Stars just started scoring too late and the boys from Jersey would win the contest 7-4 and go back to Springfield with the series lead.
With the series on the line, Springfield would go to Game 5 hero of the CLDS Hyo-Chin Ch'oe to try and send this series to a deciding Game 7. Cristobal Santos would take the mound on 3 days rest for Jersey. It was smooth sailing for both pitchers through 2 innings until Jersey would appease the hometown crowd with 4, third inning runs coming off the bats of Dodd and Doyle. The Bags would add 2 more runs in the 4th to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Ch'oe would be knocked out in the 5th inning, but that didn't stop the D-Bags from adding on runs. After 6 innings, the lead was 10-2 and would stay like that. Springfield would load the bases with no outs in the 7th, but would fail to score. With the Irvine-Baffin Island series still going on, Jersey Shore would finally get to celebrate the victory with cases of champagne in their own clubhouse taking their 1st CL Pennant since the 2022 team did.
Now comes Irvine. The wire-to-wire best team in the BSA all season long. The team with the best staff in the league. Their 477 runs given up rank 2nd all time, only behind the epic staff of the 2015 Hendersonville Hitmen. Their ace Masutaro with a historic 13.8 WAR season which shattered Scott Hill's previous record. They led the NL in OBP and finished 3rd in runs scored. The BSA will have a new champion this year. Either way, I think we are in for a great series. Congrats Larry and good luck!
GO D-BAGS
Sunday, September 2, 2012
BSA Championship: Jersey Shore vs Hendersonville
For awhile it's now been, Jersey is the best team never to make the playoffs. Falling short every year despite having 2 90+ win seasons and never falling below .500. Obviously this was the year the Bags would make the playoffs, winning 97 games, claiming the Wild Card and getting that proverbial monkey off of their backs. Happy just to be in the playoffs, they quickly got down 0-2 to Toronto before the "shine" faded and they won 4 games in a row to take out Toronto. An epic inner-division 7 game series with Greenville could have gone either way and the Bags snuck by on a late 2 run HR by Perez to send fans into a frenzy and into their first ever World Series. We already knew Hendersonville, who finished off LA in 5 games, would be watching and waiting. What turned into an entertaining series, the Bags couldn't finish off the Hitmen and fell in 7 games. Regardless the season was much a success. Here is the BSA Championship breakdown.
Game 1
The first game of this series would pit former teammates and respected aces Art Ellis and Scott Hill against each other on the mound. Ellis who was Hill's teammate in Hendersonville for 4 seasons before being traded to Madison in October 2013. Both pitchers on full rest turned out to be quite the pitchers duel, which was to be expected. Vic Robertson got the crowd into the game as the #2 hitter for Hendersonville blasted a 407 foot HR into the right field bleachers to open the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. While Hill cruised the 2nd, Ellis was again in trouble when a walk to Jud Younger and a single from Victor Franco led off the inning. A K of Anastasio Lopez was the first out followed by a single from veteran Gregg Burkholder loaded the bases for Robertson again. This time Ellis got the best of him striking him out swinging on a full count for the 2nd out. Ellis would make MVP candidate Jeff Cole look silly striking him out on 3 pitches to end the threat. The pitchers would both cruise along until the Top of the 4th inning with 1 out, Mike Bryant got out in front of a Hill fastball and knocked it into Souvenir City in right field to tie the game at 1. Looking into stats, this was the first HR period Hill had given up since before the All Star break and only the 2nd HR given up to a left handed hitter in the past 2 years.
The Bags would again get to Hill in the 5th when SS Marvin Taylor would slice a double down the left field line with 2 outs. On a 2-2 count to Scott Powers, Hill would throw wide of Lopez for a wild pitch sending Taylor to 3rd and would score on the next pitch when Powers would fist a ball into right center for a Jersey lead of 2-1. From here, the pitcher's would take over. Hendersonville left the bases loaded in the 6th, and runners on first and 2nd in the 7th. Relievers both entered the game in the 8th relieving the starters and Jersey, with the help of some bad defense, broke the game open in the 9th. A one out single by CLCS MVP Alberto Perez got the ball rolling. Manny Romero hit a grounder, that should have been an inning ending double play, that gobbled up Younger at 3rd for an error leaving both runners safe. The next batter Al Ryan hit a grounder to Jeff Cole that he couldn't handle which loaded the bases for Taylor. Unlike the Hitmen, Jersey took advantage. Taylor hit a hard liner to the gap in left center that would get to the wall and bring everyone home making it a 5-1 Jersey lead. Bryant would add an RBI single later in the inning to make it 6-1 and Mungo Saenz would close out the game with a 1-2-3 inning to mark Jersey's first ever WS win and give them a 1-0 advantage in the series.
Game 2
If Jersey had any chance in this series they would have to play Hill tough, and that they did. Game 2 would get no easier with the Hitmen throwing 2014 Cy Young award winner Walter Bamber to take on the left handed Rob Goodship. One Cy Young award winner to the next. Maybe the D-Bags didn't know who Bamber was, because they sure didn't treat him like an elite starter. 3 singles and a walk to the first 4 hitters gave Jersey a 1-0 lead and the bases loaded with 1 out. A strikeout for Leon Foster would be the first out, followed by a double for Romero that brought in 2 and a single from Perez to bring in another run as Jersey batted around in the first and put up 4 runs on Bamber. But that by no means would put the Hitmen out of this one. They got 1 in the 2nd on a Younger single and broke out in the 4th. A solo HR by Jorge Cruz made it 4-2, back to back doubles by Robertson and Younger made it 4-3 and a single from the catcher Lopez tied the game at 4 as we headed to the 5th inning. The tie didn't last long as in the bottom half of the inning superstar Shumei Yokoyama would send Goodship to the showers with a tie breaking 399 foot solo HR to give the Hitmen their first lead of the game.
But you had to assume more scoring from these two juggernaut offenses. The Top of the 7th rolled around with Sergio Rodriguez and Mike Bryant hitting back to back 1 out singles before Matt Doyle flew out to put Bamber 1 out from getting out of trouble. But Foster would get revenge from the earlier K and ground a ball down the line past a diving Younger to bring home both runners and give Jersey back the lead at 6-5. Bamber would be yanked and replaced by Tommy Smith who got Romero to softly ground to the SS Franco who threw wild and allowed Foster to score to pad Jersey's lead and put Romero at 2nd. Smith couldn't get Perez to end the inning as he singled in the hole to give Jersey an 8-5 lead catcher Albert Lopez struck out. Relievers would take care of the rest of the game for Jersey as Jose Gomes, Greg Schaefer, Saenz and Daniel Morris combined to go 4 2/3 innings, giving up 1 hit, 1 walk and striking out 5 to slam the door shut on a game 2 win for Jersey. This win essentially gave the D-bags home field advantage and a commanding 2-0 lead.
Game 3
The third game of the series would be the first in Jersey as 35 year old Dan Macias would take the hill against hard throwing right hander Greg Casey. Things didn't start well for Macias. After giving up a single, he got 2 quick outs before Yokoyama singled and, quiet through the first 2 games, Manny Coprivizia lauched a 3 run HR to left to give the Hitmen an early 3-0 lead. Macias would settle in after that though. Both pitchers continued with out much trouble until the bottom of the 4th when Jersey would get a 2 out rally going. Matt Doyle would coax a 2 out walk, which tuned into trouble for Casey. The next batter Al Ryan would take a 2-1 mistake of a fastball and clobber it into the stands to bring Jersey within 1 run. Macias and Casey would go toe-to-toe giving up nothing but the occasional walk or single until the bottom of the 7th. A one out single would send Casey to the showers and was replaced by Smith. He got Taylor to fly out before walking Peter Larson. OF Jose Ortiz would single on a 3-1 count to CF to load the bases. Questions were asked after the game why catcher Lopez was not pinch run for with speedster Sergio Rodriguez on the bench because Smith would get Bryant to weakly ground out ending the inning and Bags last real threat of the game. The top of the 8th saw Macias get the first 2 outs before he got into trouble as well. A Cole double followed by back to back walks of Yoko and Cobra loaded the bases for the left handed hitting Cruz. Team manager Kevin Davis would have no more of this as he brough in left handed specialist Mungo Saenz who threw 2 curveballs and a fastball clocked at 100 MPH to get Cruz on 3 pitches.
Daniel Morris would come to pitch the 9th and this is when the Hitmen bats would wake up. A single from Franco, walk to Lopez, single from Robertson and a double from Cole would bring in 3 runs. Schaefer was brought in to stop the bleeding and was met with a Yoko 2-run HR before finally getting Cruz to end the inning, but not before 5 runs pretty much ending the game. The Bags would go down in order in the 9th, conceding the first game at Jersey to Hendersonville by a final score of 8-2.
Game 4
In a surprise move by most, Hendersonville would start Marcus Guerra in game 4 instead of going to Hill on short rest. Jersey would send two-time hero Jerry Burgess to the mound to face his old team. Teams traded 1st inning runs on a HR from Roman Guzman and an RBI triple for Mike Bryant. Jersey would wait til the 4th to blow open the game. A single from Doyle would lead off the inning and a mile high fly from Ryan would land 370 feet away giving him his 2nd HR of the series and the D-Bags a 3-1 lead, but they weren't done there. After the HR Guerra would Perez to fly out before losing control. He walked Foster-Lopez and Taylor back to back to back to load the bases for Peter Larson. The left handed hitting Larson flew a ball deep the right-center gap allowing all 3 runners to come around, extending the lead to 6-1 for the Bags. Guerra would be done before getting out of the 4th and Felipe Rodriguez would come to see and Ortiz groundout bring in Larson and Mikey "Coffin" Bryant hit a first pitch HR into the right field bleachers capping off a 7 run inning, giving the Bags a 8-1 lead.
The 5th saw the Bags capitalize on a single, hit by pitch and 2 walks to extend the lead to 9-1. Burgess would cruise into the 7th allowing only the 1st inning HR. The Hitmen lead off the inning with a double, walk and single to load the bases and get Burgess out of the game and get into the Jersey bullpen. Jose Gomes would come in and immediately get a strikeout before allowing a run scoring single from Cobra. A walk to Cole forced in the 2nd run and things looked up when he got Yoko to ground back to the mound for a force out at home and the 2nd out of the inning. That wouldn't happen because Cruz came through with a 2 out single which scored 2 more before Gomes was yanked from the game. At this point the Hitmen had made it 9-5 and a much more manageable game. Brian White was brought in and walked Robertson to load the bases once more and Hendersonville scored a 6th run when White couldn't handle a come backer from Younger resulting in an error. The inning finally ended when Cole Bradley struck out giving us a 3-run game at 9-6.
The once jovial Jersey crowd was quiet as the 8th inning got underway and a 1 out double from Guzman brought us our 3rd reliever of the night in Jaime Saenz. Back to back single from Cobra and Cole brought in a run and an RBI ground out from Yoko gave us a 1 run game. Cruz would ground out ending the Hitmen's 8th inning, but a 9-1 deficit was now 9-8. Jersey's bats in the 8th went down in order and Daniel Morris came out for the 9th. He got Robertson to ground out in 1 pitch and struck out younger in 3 pitches. Burkholder would pinch hit and single to right putting himself on as the tying run. The catcher Lopez would foul off 2 pitches before striking out swinging giving Jersey the win and a 3-1 series lead and a huge sigh of relief. Only 1 win from the BSA title, could the Bags do it? If anyone could win 3 in a row it would be the Hitmen, especially considering Hill-Bamber were going in the next 2 games.
Game 5
Game 5 should have been better. It was the last game at home for Jersey for the season. Their ace Ellis was on the mound. A win would give them a title. The game was not good. Ellis started out wild walking the first 2 batters, 1 which would come around to sore a fielder's choice. This in turn would be all Hendersonville would need. You wouldn't even think it was the same Hill we saw in Game 1, because he was dominate, and so were the Hendersonville bats. 2 runs in the 3rd and 3 more in the 5th made it 6-0. This would last til the 9th where a HR, a triple, a walk and 3 singles would add 5 more to put a exclamation point on a dominate 11-0 victory. Hill pitched 7 innings, giving up 5 hits, all singles, walking 1 and striking out 3. Ellis was charged with 6 ER on 5 hits in 4.1 IP. The surprise was he walked 7 batters, which in turn was a season high.....by a lot. Nothing good happened for Jersey. Bats were non existent and now they had to go back to Hendersonville still holding on to a 3-2 series lead.
Game 6
After an off day we headed back to Hendersonville for the pivotal Game 6. This game would bring back the Game 2 staters and pit Goodship against Bamber. Neither pitched very well in Game 2, but this game would see both these starters reverse that trend. Hendersonville, as they had done lately, would get on the board early and no surprise courtesy of their big 3. Jeff Cole walk, Yoko double and Cobra single attributed to the games first run in the bottom of the 1st inning. Not a half inning later Jersey would reply when Doyle and Foster would lead off the inning with back to back double to put Jersey in business. Perez followed up with a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Manny Romero would ground into a double play with somehow not scoring Foster from third and a ground-out from Morrow would end the inning with amazingly only one run coming across the score.
After the score in the 2nd, both Goodship and Bamber would bore down matching zeros across the board until Bamber was pulled in the Top of the 7th throwing 104 pitches. We went to the bottom of the 7th still deadlocked at 1. A walk from younger, sacrifice bunt from Franco and a strikeout by Lopez put a runner on 2nd with 2 outs. Guzman came to the plate and belted a ball to deep center that was barely out of the reach of Foster which would have ended the inning. Instead Guzman ended up with a a triple, plating the go ahead run. End of 7, Hitmen up 2-1. Alfredo Gonzalez came in and set down the Bags in order in the 8th while Goodship came out for the 8th. A monster solo HR from Yoko would put the finishing touches on his day and give Hendersonville an insurance run as Goodship would pitch 8 innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits and striking out 6. Donahue gave up a leadoff single to Doyle to give the Bags some hope, but 3 straight outs would end the game and deadlock the series at 3. We would go to a game 7 for the BSA Championship for the 2nd year in a row.
Game 7
Being up 2-0 and 3-1 most Jersey fans weren't excited to see game 7, especially on the road away from their park. GM Josh Swain made the decision to go away from Dan Macias and pitch Jerry Burgess in Game 7. Would this pay off? If you like a classic pitchers duel, this game was for you. Greg Casey would start opposite Burgess who already had a Game 3 win under his belt. Both pitchers would go 1-2-3 in the first inning breezing through the top part of the orders. Jersey was the one to strike first in game 7 though. It started with a lead off walk for the young budding superstar Doyle. Casey would zone in and get Ryan and Perez both to fly out before a Jose Ortiz single put runners on 1st and 2nd. Albert Lopez who in this series played great for the injured Duran came through with a single to center which scored a sliding Doyle and put Ortiz at 3rd. Scott Powers couldn't extend the lead or keep the inning alive as he grounded out to short to end the inning.
Both pitches would avoid trouble for the next inning would the Hitmen would strike back in the bottom half of the 3rd. Back to back singles to lead off the inning from Franco and Lopez put runners at the corners with no outs and looked like a classic Hendersonville big inning. Bugess got Guzman swinging for the first out. That brought Vic Robertson to the plate. On a 0-1 count Burgess lost control of Curveball and sent it to the backstop which allowed Franco to score the tying run before Robertson would hit a screeching liner that Morrow would snag and step on 2nd base for an inning ending double play. But the damage was done and we had a tie ball game. From this point forward pitchers dominated the game. No runner reached past 2nd base through the end of the 8th inning. Burgess went 6 1/3 giving up the 1 ER while striking out 6, Gomes and Saenz would relieve him and get the Bags into the 9th inning with no damage done. Game 7 would come down to the 9th inning.
Tommy Smith would place Casey, who pitched brilliantly. A lead-off walk to Bryant would get things going. Smith would get Doyle on a huge strikeout bringing Al Ryan to plate. On the first pitch, one which Ryan took, Bryant would break for 2nd and get thrown out stealing on a bang-bang play. No one knows for sure if it was meant to be a hit and run but it erased the runner and Ryan would ground out on the next pitch to end the inning. Daniel Morris would replace Saenz, in what could be his last appearance as a Bag. Yoko would single to lead off the inning which would bring up Coprivizia. Cobra has been known for his big hits in big situations and this would be no different. He would run the count to a favorable 3-1 before lacing a double to the gap. Runners on 2nd and 3rd, no outs, tie game, bottom of the 9th, game 7, Championship on the line. Didn't look good for the Bags. Jorge Cruz was intentionally walked to load the bases setting up the force at home. It wouldn't matter. Jud Younger came to the plate to be the hero. After taking 2 quick strikes and fouling off a pitch, he took a ball high before hitting a grounder to the hole between 1st and 2nd. With the infield playing in the grounder squirted past the drawn in infield and Yoko would score and be mobbed by teammates as the crowd went wild as Hendersonville notched another walk-off win and send the Bags home empty handed.
For Hendersonville it was business as usual, winning their 4th title in 6 season and 4th title in 4 tries. For the Bags it reaching within 1 run of a championship in their first postseason experience, not to mention knocking off the CL's two best teams and coming oh-so-close to knocking off the best team in baseball. Disappointing but nothing to shake your head at.
For Hendersonville it was pitching in the last 3 games that clinched it. They managed to hold down the Jersey powerhouse offense to 2 runs in the last 3 games. Not to mention the combined Big 3 of Yoko-Cole-Cobra knocked in 18 runs in the 7 game series. In perspective the Dynamic Duo of Bryant-Doyle knocked in 17 runs between the two of them for the entire post season. Great series of ups and downs. Gm Swain denied a press conference so that's it for now. We will bring to you the season review and off season agenda here soon at the Bag Report.
GO D-BAGS
Game 1
The first game of this series would pit former teammates and respected aces Art Ellis and Scott Hill against each other on the mound. Ellis who was Hill's teammate in Hendersonville for 4 seasons before being traded to Madison in October 2013. Both pitchers on full rest turned out to be quite the pitchers duel, which was to be expected. Vic Robertson got the crowd into the game as the #2 hitter for Hendersonville blasted a 407 foot HR into the right field bleachers to open the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. While Hill cruised the 2nd, Ellis was again in trouble when a walk to Jud Younger and a single from Victor Franco led off the inning. A K of Anastasio Lopez was the first out followed by a single from veteran Gregg Burkholder loaded the bases for Robertson again. This time Ellis got the best of him striking him out swinging on a full count for the 2nd out. Ellis would make MVP candidate Jeff Cole look silly striking him out on 3 pitches to end the threat. The pitchers would both cruise along until the Top of the 4th inning with 1 out, Mike Bryant got out in front of a Hill fastball and knocked it into Souvenir City in right field to tie the game at 1. Looking into stats, this was the first HR period Hill had given up since before the All Star break and only the 2nd HR given up to a left handed hitter in the past 2 years.
The Bags would again get to Hill in the 5th when SS Marvin Taylor would slice a double down the left field line with 2 outs. On a 2-2 count to Scott Powers, Hill would throw wide of Lopez for a wild pitch sending Taylor to 3rd and would score on the next pitch when Powers would fist a ball into right center for a Jersey lead of 2-1. From here, the pitcher's would take over. Hendersonville left the bases loaded in the 6th, and runners on first and 2nd in the 7th. Relievers both entered the game in the 8th relieving the starters and Jersey, with the help of some bad defense, broke the game open in the 9th. A one out single by CLCS MVP Alberto Perez got the ball rolling. Manny Romero hit a grounder, that should have been an inning ending double play, that gobbled up Younger at 3rd for an error leaving both runners safe. The next batter Al Ryan hit a grounder to Jeff Cole that he couldn't handle which loaded the bases for Taylor. Unlike the Hitmen, Jersey took advantage. Taylor hit a hard liner to the gap in left center that would get to the wall and bring everyone home making it a 5-1 Jersey lead. Bryant would add an RBI single later in the inning to make it 6-1 and Mungo Saenz would close out the game with a 1-2-3 inning to mark Jersey's first ever WS win and give them a 1-0 advantage in the series.
Game 2
If Jersey had any chance in this series they would have to play Hill tough, and that they did. Game 2 would get no easier with the Hitmen throwing 2014 Cy Young award winner Walter Bamber to take on the left handed Rob Goodship. One Cy Young award winner to the next. Maybe the D-Bags didn't know who Bamber was, because they sure didn't treat him like an elite starter. 3 singles and a walk to the first 4 hitters gave Jersey a 1-0 lead and the bases loaded with 1 out. A strikeout for Leon Foster would be the first out, followed by a double for Romero that brought in 2 and a single from Perez to bring in another run as Jersey batted around in the first and put up 4 runs on Bamber. But that by no means would put the Hitmen out of this one. They got 1 in the 2nd on a Younger single and broke out in the 4th. A solo HR by Jorge Cruz made it 4-2, back to back doubles by Robertson and Younger made it 4-3 and a single from the catcher Lopez tied the game at 4 as we headed to the 5th inning. The tie didn't last long as in the bottom half of the inning superstar Shumei Yokoyama would send Goodship to the showers with a tie breaking 399 foot solo HR to give the Hitmen their first lead of the game.
But you had to assume more scoring from these two juggernaut offenses. The Top of the 7th rolled around with Sergio Rodriguez and Mike Bryant hitting back to back 1 out singles before Matt Doyle flew out to put Bamber 1 out from getting out of trouble. But Foster would get revenge from the earlier K and ground a ball down the line past a diving Younger to bring home both runners and give Jersey back the lead at 6-5. Bamber would be yanked and replaced by Tommy Smith who got Romero to softly ground to the SS Franco who threw wild and allowed Foster to score to pad Jersey's lead and put Romero at 2nd. Smith couldn't get Perez to end the inning as he singled in the hole to give Jersey an 8-5 lead catcher Albert Lopez struck out. Relievers would take care of the rest of the game for Jersey as Jose Gomes, Greg Schaefer, Saenz and Daniel Morris combined to go 4 2/3 innings, giving up 1 hit, 1 walk and striking out 5 to slam the door shut on a game 2 win for Jersey. This win essentially gave the D-bags home field advantage and a commanding 2-0 lead.
Game 3
The third game of the series would be the first in Jersey as 35 year old Dan Macias would take the hill against hard throwing right hander Greg Casey. Things didn't start well for Macias. After giving up a single, he got 2 quick outs before Yokoyama singled and, quiet through the first 2 games, Manny Coprivizia lauched a 3 run HR to left to give the Hitmen an early 3-0 lead. Macias would settle in after that though. Both pitchers continued with out much trouble until the bottom of the 4th when Jersey would get a 2 out rally going. Matt Doyle would coax a 2 out walk, which tuned into trouble for Casey. The next batter Al Ryan would take a 2-1 mistake of a fastball and clobber it into the stands to bring Jersey within 1 run. Macias and Casey would go toe-to-toe giving up nothing but the occasional walk or single until the bottom of the 7th. A one out single would send Casey to the showers and was replaced by Smith. He got Taylor to fly out before walking Peter Larson. OF Jose Ortiz would single on a 3-1 count to CF to load the bases. Questions were asked after the game why catcher Lopez was not pinch run for with speedster Sergio Rodriguez on the bench because Smith would get Bryant to weakly ground out ending the inning and Bags last real threat of the game. The top of the 8th saw Macias get the first 2 outs before he got into trouble as well. A Cole double followed by back to back walks of Yoko and Cobra loaded the bases for the left handed hitting Cruz. Team manager Kevin Davis would have no more of this as he brough in left handed specialist Mungo Saenz who threw 2 curveballs and a fastball clocked at 100 MPH to get Cruz on 3 pitches.
Daniel Morris would come to pitch the 9th and this is when the Hitmen bats would wake up. A single from Franco, walk to Lopez, single from Robertson and a double from Cole would bring in 3 runs. Schaefer was brought in to stop the bleeding and was met with a Yoko 2-run HR before finally getting Cruz to end the inning, but not before 5 runs pretty much ending the game. The Bags would go down in order in the 9th, conceding the first game at Jersey to Hendersonville by a final score of 8-2.
Game 4
In a surprise move by most, Hendersonville would start Marcus Guerra in game 4 instead of going to Hill on short rest. Jersey would send two-time hero Jerry Burgess to the mound to face his old team. Teams traded 1st inning runs on a HR from Roman Guzman and an RBI triple for Mike Bryant. Jersey would wait til the 4th to blow open the game. A single from Doyle would lead off the inning and a mile high fly from Ryan would land 370 feet away giving him his 2nd HR of the series and the D-Bags a 3-1 lead, but they weren't done there. After the HR Guerra would Perez to fly out before losing control. He walked Foster-Lopez and Taylor back to back to back to load the bases for Peter Larson. The left handed hitting Larson flew a ball deep the right-center gap allowing all 3 runners to come around, extending the lead to 6-1 for the Bags. Guerra would be done before getting out of the 4th and Felipe Rodriguez would come to see and Ortiz groundout bring in Larson and Mikey "Coffin" Bryant hit a first pitch HR into the right field bleachers capping off a 7 run inning, giving the Bags a 8-1 lead.
The 5th saw the Bags capitalize on a single, hit by pitch and 2 walks to extend the lead to 9-1. Burgess would cruise into the 7th allowing only the 1st inning HR. The Hitmen lead off the inning with a double, walk and single to load the bases and get Burgess out of the game and get into the Jersey bullpen. Jose Gomes would come in and immediately get a strikeout before allowing a run scoring single from Cobra. A walk to Cole forced in the 2nd run and things looked up when he got Yoko to ground back to the mound for a force out at home and the 2nd out of the inning. That wouldn't happen because Cruz came through with a 2 out single which scored 2 more before Gomes was yanked from the game. At this point the Hitmen had made it 9-5 and a much more manageable game. Brian White was brought in and walked Robertson to load the bases once more and Hendersonville scored a 6th run when White couldn't handle a come backer from Younger resulting in an error. The inning finally ended when Cole Bradley struck out giving us a 3-run game at 9-6.
The once jovial Jersey crowd was quiet as the 8th inning got underway and a 1 out double from Guzman brought us our 3rd reliever of the night in Jaime Saenz. Back to back single from Cobra and Cole brought in a run and an RBI ground out from Yoko gave us a 1 run game. Cruz would ground out ending the Hitmen's 8th inning, but a 9-1 deficit was now 9-8. Jersey's bats in the 8th went down in order and Daniel Morris came out for the 9th. He got Robertson to ground out in 1 pitch and struck out younger in 3 pitches. Burkholder would pinch hit and single to right putting himself on as the tying run. The catcher Lopez would foul off 2 pitches before striking out swinging giving Jersey the win and a 3-1 series lead and a huge sigh of relief. Only 1 win from the BSA title, could the Bags do it? If anyone could win 3 in a row it would be the Hitmen, especially considering Hill-Bamber were going in the next 2 games.
Game 5
Game 5 should have been better. It was the last game at home for Jersey for the season. Their ace Ellis was on the mound. A win would give them a title. The game was not good. Ellis started out wild walking the first 2 batters, 1 which would come around to sore a fielder's choice. This in turn would be all Hendersonville would need. You wouldn't even think it was the same Hill we saw in Game 1, because he was dominate, and so were the Hendersonville bats. 2 runs in the 3rd and 3 more in the 5th made it 6-0. This would last til the 9th where a HR, a triple, a walk and 3 singles would add 5 more to put a exclamation point on a dominate 11-0 victory. Hill pitched 7 innings, giving up 5 hits, all singles, walking 1 and striking out 3. Ellis was charged with 6 ER on 5 hits in 4.1 IP. The surprise was he walked 7 batters, which in turn was a season high.....by a lot. Nothing good happened for Jersey. Bats were non existent and now they had to go back to Hendersonville still holding on to a 3-2 series lead.
Game 6
After an off day we headed back to Hendersonville for the pivotal Game 6. This game would bring back the Game 2 staters and pit Goodship against Bamber. Neither pitched very well in Game 2, but this game would see both these starters reverse that trend. Hendersonville, as they had done lately, would get on the board early and no surprise courtesy of their big 3. Jeff Cole walk, Yoko double and Cobra single attributed to the games first run in the bottom of the 1st inning. Not a half inning later Jersey would reply when Doyle and Foster would lead off the inning with back to back double to put Jersey in business. Perez followed up with a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Manny Romero would ground into a double play with somehow not scoring Foster from third and a ground-out from Morrow would end the inning with amazingly only one run coming across the score.
After the score in the 2nd, both Goodship and Bamber would bore down matching zeros across the board until Bamber was pulled in the Top of the 7th throwing 104 pitches. We went to the bottom of the 7th still deadlocked at 1. A walk from younger, sacrifice bunt from Franco and a strikeout by Lopez put a runner on 2nd with 2 outs. Guzman came to the plate and belted a ball to deep center that was barely out of the reach of Foster which would have ended the inning. Instead Guzman ended up with a a triple, plating the go ahead run. End of 7, Hitmen up 2-1. Alfredo Gonzalez came in and set down the Bags in order in the 8th while Goodship came out for the 8th. A monster solo HR from Yoko would put the finishing touches on his day and give Hendersonville an insurance run as Goodship would pitch 8 innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits and striking out 6. Donahue gave up a leadoff single to Doyle to give the Bags some hope, but 3 straight outs would end the game and deadlock the series at 3. We would go to a game 7 for the BSA Championship for the 2nd year in a row.
Game 7
Being up 2-0 and 3-1 most Jersey fans weren't excited to see game 7, especially on the road away from their park. GM Josh Swain made the decision to go away from Dan Macias and pitch Jerry Burgess in Game 7. Would this pay off? If you like a classic pitchers duel, this game was for you. Greg Casey would start opposite Burgess who already had a Game 3 win under his belt. Both pitchers would go 1-2-3 in the first inning breezing through the top part of the orders. Jersey was the one to strike first in game 7 though. It started with a lead off walk for the young budding superstar Doyle. Casey would zone in and get Ryan and Perez both to fly out before a Jose Ortiz single put runners on 1st and 2nd. Albert Lopez who in this series played great for the injured Duran came through with a single to center which scored a sliding Doyle and put Ortiz at 3rd. Scott Powers couldn't extend the lead or keep the inning alive as he grounded out to short to end the inning.
Both pitches would avoid trouble for the next inning would the Hitmen would strike back in the bottom half of the 3rd. Back to back singles to lead off the inning from Franco and Lopez put runners at the corners with no outs and looked like a classic Hendersonville big inning. Bugess got Guzman swinging for the first out. That brought Vic Robertson to the plate. On a 0-1 count Burgess lost control of Curveball and sent it to the backstop which allowed Franco to score the tying run before Robertson would hit a screeching liner that Morrow would snag and step on 2nd base for an inning ending double play. But the damage was done and we had a tie ball game. From this point forward pitchers dominated the game. No runner reached past 2nd base through the end of the 8th inning. Burgess went 6 1/3 giving up the 1 ER while striking out 6, Gomes and Saenz would relieve him and get the Bags into the 9th inning with no damage done. Game 7 would come down to the 9th inning.
Tommy Smith would place Casey, who pitched brilliantly. A lead-off walk to Bryant would get things going. Smith would get Doyle on a huge strikeout bringing Al Ryan to plate. On the first pitch, one which Ryan took, Bryant would break for 2nd and get thrown out stealing on a bang-bang play. No one knows for sure if it was meant to be a hit and run but it erased the runner and Ryan would ground out on the next pitch to end the inning. Daniel Morris would replace Saenz, in what could be his last appearance as a Bag. Yoko would single to lead off the inning which would bring up Coprivizia. Cobra has been known for his big hits in big situations and this would be no different. He would run the count to a favorable 3-1 before lacing a double to the gap. Runners on 2nd and 3rd, no outs, tie game, bottom of the 9th, game 7, Championship on the line. Didn't look good for the Bags. Jorge Cruz was intentionally walked to load the bases setting up the force at home. It wouldn't matter. Jud Younger came to the plate to be the hero. After taking 2 quick strikes and fouling off a pitch, he took a ball high before hitting a grounder to the hole between 1st and 2nd. With the infield playing in the grounder squirted past the drawn in infield and Yoko would score and be mobbed by teammates as the crowd went wild as Hendersonville notched another walk-off win and send the Bags home empty handed.
For Hendersonville it was business as usual, winning their 4th title in 6 season and 4th title in 4 tries. For the Bags it reaching within 1 run of a championship in their first postseason experience, not to mention knocking off the CL's two best teams and coming oh-so-close to knocking off the best team in baseball. Disappointing but nothing to shake your head at.
For Hendersonville it was pitching in the last 3 games that clinched it. They managed to hold down the Jersey powerhouse offense to 2 runs in the last 3 games. Not to mention the combined Big 3 of Yoko-Cole-Cobra knocked in 18 runs in the 7 game series. In perspective the Dynamic Duo of Bryant-Doyle knocked in 17 runs between the two of them for the entire post season. Great series of ups and downs. Gm Swain denied a press conference so that's it for now. We will bring to you the season review and off season agenda here soon at the Bag Report.
GO D-BAGS
Monday, August 27, 2012
Jersey Shore vs. Greenville; Winner to WS
These 2 are no strangers to each other. Playing 17 times per season over the last 5 years does that to teams. In this matchup, Greenville has the edge. 2 years ago they took the season series 10-7, last year 11-6 and this year a closer but still with the edge 9-8. This marks the 4th in a row that Greenville has won the CL East. Jersey has come in 2nd twice and 3rd twice, this year being the first they snuck into the playoffs via the Wild Card spot. This would mark the 3rd straight year that Greenville has advanced to the CLCS; 2 years ago being beaten in 7 games by Regina and last year beaten by Toronto in 5 games. The 84's are no strangers to big games. A 7 game series, winner to the World Series.
Game 1
We expected runs, high scoring, good bullpen pitching and high end drama and this series didn't disappoint. Game 1 featured two of the better starters in the CL this year as Art Ellis took the mound for Jersey and Tom Crowder for Greenville. After 2 innings we were knotted at 1 as the big boys knocked in the first runs of the game. Cooper Newell an RBI double and Matt Doyle his first HR of the postseason, a solo shot in the 2nd. A Carlos Perez solo HR made it 2-1 in the 3rd but the big break came for Jersey in the 4th. With Leon Foster coaxing a 2-out walk from Crowder, Manny Romero hit what should have been an inning ending grounder to SS. The usually soft and sure handed Raul Trejo couldn't field it cleanly allowing everyone to be safe and extend the inning. And wouldn't you know on the first pitch of the next AB, 3B Alberto Perez would hit his 2nd postseason HR and put Jersey up 4-2. Jose Alvarez kept the 84's close by hitting a 2 run bomb in the 5th to tie the game back up. The tie didn't last long. Bryant led off the 5th with a walk and advanced to 3rd on Matt Doyle's double. Leon Foster hit a long pop fly that looked routine......until it landed 5 feet over the short 325 foot porch in Right to put the Bags on top 7-4. Ellis would allow one hit in the last 4 innings going the distance for the CG and the Bags would add 3 more runs oh hits from Doyle and Foster for a convincing and statement making 10-4 opening game win.
Game 2
Before Game 2, John Bosma said in his press conference that the 84's needed to leave Greenville with a 1-1 split. He was probably right as going down 0-2 at home would have been devastating, while on the other hand Jersey could put an early strangle hold on the series with a Game 2 win. Dan Macias would face off against Oliver Beaudoin. It was a see-saw battle that changed leads 4 times and feature 1 tie in the first 6 innings. HR's by Carlos Perez and Manny Romero mixed in with Dan Macias escaping several jams left Greenville leading 5-4. Alberto Perez who with 3 hits in Game 1, tied the game at 5 with an 8th inning single, knocking in Mike Bryant. They failed to capitalize leaves 2 runners on base though. The bullpens did their join to send the game into extras and in the bottom of the 10th of of closer Daniel Morris, a Raul Trejo single, Jose Navarro sac bunt and a Greg O'Day grounder that found the OF gave the 84's a much needed walk off win. In retrospect the game should never have been that close. Greenville out hit Jersey 14 to 9 and left 23 men on base. The series would head to Jersey tied at 1 game apiece.
Game 3
Game 3 would feature a matchup of mid-season pickups from both sides. Greenville would send Donald Manning whom them acquired from Maui and Jersey would send Game 6 hero Jerry Burgess whom they acquired from El Paso. This game would get out of hand quickly. The 84's would knock Burgess out of the game before the 3rd inning ended tagging him for 7 earned runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. Jersey would fight back and make it a 7-4 game after 6 innings but Greenville was resilient in this one. They scored 5 runs off of the usually sure fire bullpen, getting 4 off of Lucio Tapia, including a Carlos Perez HR, his 3rd in 3 games for a decisive 12-5 Greenville win. Greenville had 14 hits and left 24 men on base making a statement with their bats for the 2nd night in a row.
After the game Swain skipped his press conference but was heard saying, we have been here, down 2-1 before, we aren't worried. Game 4 would be one of coulda, shoulda, woulda.....so many chances on both sides. This game is one that might haunt John Bosma in his sleep. The starters were Ron Eager for the 84's and Rob Goodship going for Jersey. Both pitchers were sharp through 2 when Greenville got to Goodship in the 3rd. A double by Perez got the offense going. The next batter, Brian Cash, knocked in Perez with a single to open the scoring. After a flyout from the reigning MVP Felix Morales, little used OF Arthur Donahue would blast a 2 run HR out of CF to put Greenville on top 3-0, a score that would stick until the Jersey half of the 5th inning.
Up until the 5th, Ron Eager had been perfect, retiring all 12 batters he had faced. That would change on the 2nd pitch of the inning as Matt Doyle lined a ball to the gap in right center and would coast in with a stand up double. A flustered Eager hit Al Ryan with the next pitch to put two runners aboard with no outs. O'Day would talk to Eager helping to settle him down and getting the recent hot hitting Alberto Perez to hit into a fielder's choice getting the out at 2nd. That brought up Leon Foster to the plate with runners on the corners. Foster took a 1-2 hanging curveball and pounded it to the left-center gap where Doyle scored the 1st run of the day for the D-Bags easy and Perez coasted into 3rd base. The next batter was the catcher Albert Lopez, playing for the injured Duran, who lined a ball between short and third for a running scoring single setting up runners on the corners again for SS Marvin Taylor. Taylor walked on 5 pitches to load the bases for Peter Larson, who was making his first appearance in over a month after being on the DL. After fouling off 4 straight 2-2 pitches Eager would strike out Larson looking for a huge 2nd out. He still wasn't out of the trouble because Jose Ortiz would hit next with the bases loaded. Ortiz turned on a ball that barely snuck into the OF. It was enough to score Foster, but Lopez was held at 3rd. That tied the score at 3 and brought up MVP candidate Mike Bryant with a chance to bust the game open. Bryant, struggling thus far through the playoffs, eventually flew out to left to end the inning, but the damage was done and we had ourselves a tie game.
Both pitchers threw a perfect 6th and Goodship started of the 7th by striking out Stan Hickman. Cooper Newell hit a ball to the gap that nearly went out for a double and Goodship almost got out of the inning by getting SS Marcos Mesa to groundout, but Game 2 hero Greg O'Day lined a single into left scoring Newell for the go ahead run for the 84's. Goodship would get out of the inning with no more damage and Eager would set down the Bags in order in the their half of the 7th. Jersey elected to keep Goodship in the game in the 8th and set Greenville down on 12 pitches witch included a strikeout of Morales. Jersey's half of the 8th started off with a walk to Peter Larson which chased Eager from the game and entered was Randy Ellison, who was used for one batter, and got Ortiz to ground into a FC getting the force out at second. Manuel Medina then entered getting Bryant to groundout to first which advanced Ortiz to second with two outs. Medina's night was done and the 84's brought in Miguel Negrete to face Doyle. Doyle worked a full count before delivering the clutch single that brought Ortiz in from second and tied the game once again at 4.
Goodship would be pulled after pitching 8 strong innings and Dog Pound Gomes would take over. After getting Alvarez and Hickman in 6 pitches, again Newell was the instigator doubling down the left field line, setting himself up as the go ahead run at second. Pinch hitter Jose Navarro would come in and silence the Jersey crowd with a single into RF to put Grenville up 5-4 and 3 outs from a 3-1 series lead. Closer Jorge Valentin would come in to attempt to close it out for the 84's in the 9th. Alberto Perez would lead off the inning with a much needed single and add to the hopes for Jersey fans. Scott Powers would come in and hit for Leon Foster and lay down a beauty of a bunt between the mound and 3rd. On a very close bang-bang play Powers was called safe and the Bags were in business. Jersey would send Manny Romero to hit for C Lopez and on an 0-2 count he sat back on a curveball and lined it into LF to load the bases with no one out. What started out as a sacrifice attempt, turned into the bases loaded with no outs. Valentin would get Taylor to ground out to the short, where they would go home for the force out and the first out of the inning. Peter Larson would stroll to the plate next and would do what he does best, be selective. He walked on 5 pitches which brought home Powers to tie the game and leave the bases juiced. The next batter Jose Ortiz would fight off 2 pitches before punching a ball between LF and CF for a single that would plate Romero and send the crowd into a frenzy. The Bags mobbed the field as Romero crossed the plate and what looked like a 3-1 deficit turned into a 2-2 series tie.
Game 5
Game 5 you would think Jersey would have all the momentum. Coming back at home, maybe they partied a little late coming off their win. This game saw Art Ellis being unusually off as he walked 4 batters, only lasted 5.1 IP, the bullpen gave up 3 earned runs and Carlos Perez hit his 4th and 5th HR of the series as Greenville coasted to an 8-2 to win and a 3-2 series advantage. Also in this game Alberto Perez was hit on the hand and had to be taken out of the game. Derrick Wright came in, who plays very little 3B, to fill in for Perez. Luckily for the D-Bags nothing was broken but with Morrow being out, the only player who played any 3B was Wright, which forced them to go with Perez at 3B despite the sore and swollen hand.
Game 6
We would get a day off before Game 6, which was a rematch of Game 2, facing Macias against Beaudoin. This would turn from laugher to classic and another head scratcher for the 84's. Sore hand and all Perez lauched a 2 run HR in the 2nd and 2 batters later catcher Albert Lopez added another 2 run blast for an early 4-0 Jersey lead, which also chased the starter Beaudoin. In the 4th with Sugimoto Kuhabara on the mound Al Ryan led off the inning with a solo blast and 3 batters later Lopez hit his 2nd HR of the night and the route was on. 6-0 Jersey just 3.5 innings into the game with Macias on cruise control thus far. That's when things got interesting.
After striking out Newell to start the inning, Cash singled between walks to Hickman and Trejo which loaded the bases for Jose Navarro. Navarro took full advantage running the count to full against Macias before depositing a Gland Slam HR 447 feet away. To make matters worse for Jersey is two batters later O'Day hooked a ball around the left field foul pole for a solo HR which sent Macias to the showers and left us with a 6-5 game. And the inning wasn't over. Mungo was called in from the bullpen and has been almost perfect over the last 2 months. He gave up a single to Alvarez before getting Perez to fly out. Outs are hard to come by sometimes in a lineup like the 84's. The next batter was MVP Morales, who showed us why he was the MVP by putting the 84's on top for the first time today with a 2 run HR to make it 7-6 Greenville. A 6 run lead vanished in the blink of an eye and after a scoreless 5th and 6th, Jersey was 9 outs away from elimination.
The 7th was no different as left handed specialist got the left handed top of the order in order and Greg Schaefer came in and gave up a harmless single before sending the game to the 8th. The playoffs are built on heroics. Greenville used their bullpen effectively using RH Ellison against Doyle, who struck out, and LF Herrera against Ryan, who grounded out. Who else would start the 2 out rally other than, sore hand and all, Alberto Perez. A single into left kept the inning going and a wild pitch sent him to second. Pinch hitter Scott Powers hit a HUGE single into right field which tied the game. On a 1-0 pitch Lopez, Powers took off for 2nd testing the arm of O'Day. Usually one of the most accurate throwers in the league, O'Day sailed the ball into center field and Powers raced to 3rd. The go ahead run 90 feet away. Lopez, one of the slower runners on the roster, chopped a ball off the plate over the mound and was able to beat it out for an infield hit which scored Powers from 3rd and put the Bags back on top 8-7 and deflating which was once a loud, raucous crowd. Tapia pitched the 8th for Jersey, walked a batter after two groundouts, then struck out the hot hitting Carlos Perez to send the game to the 9th. The Bags were set down in order and Daniel Morris was sent out to save the game against the heart of the Greenville order. Morris was all business looking like the Morris of old. Using his slider he got Morales and Newell looking and quickly got ahead of Hickman 0-2 before lazily flying out to Powers in CF which would send us to a Game 7.
Game 7
Why not 7 games for this series? 9-8 during the season. Division rivals. Hendersonville, who took care of the LA Bruins in 5 games, sat awaiting. The matchup, why not, Manning-Burgess, rematch of the mid season pick ups. The stars aligned to send us this one. As the game got under way, Donald Manning was business as usual, breezing through the Jersey lineup through the first 4 innings. Burgess on the other hand was erratic but effective. In the first 4 innings Greenville stranded 8 runners, 2 per inning, many of those times getting runners on with less than 2 outs. You can only give a great team so many opportunities before they take advantage. Manning set down Jersey in order in the 5th and Felix Morales led off the 5th and said....to hell with runners on base and launched a solo HR for the first run of the game. Manning got into his first jam in the 6th when the Bags put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, but he K'ed Powers and got Rodriguez to fly out to end the threat. After 6, Greenville 1, Jersey 0.
If Jersey was going to make noise it was now. They led off the 7th with the heart of their order. Bryant continued to struggle and flew out to left. Matt Doyle on the other hand continued his hot series by singling before pinch hitter Peter Larson struck out. With 2 outs Manny Romero crushed a ball to the gap in left center. Even though Doyle was running on the pitch the ball was hit so hard it didn't give Doyle a chance to go home, instead putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. You can't write stories like this. Stepping to the plate was who else, but Alberto Perez. This had been his series so far, injury and all. Manning ran the count to 3-1 before Perez got a pitch he liked. A chest high fastball that he turned on and sent the ball sailing into the left field bleachers. A 3 run HR in 1 run, in the 7th inning of Game 7 of the CLCS. Heroics. 27 year old rookie who played most of the season in AAA. Like I said you can't make this stuff up. But we weren't done yet.
Now with a 3-1 lead to work with Burgess came back out in the 7th. On his 4th pitch, Brian Cash hit a screaming line drive into the same left field bleachers to get a run back, 3-2 Jersey. Burgess struck out Morales before being yanked after a gutsy quality start. Gomes came in, walked Donahue before getting Alvarez and Hickman to ground out. Onto the 8th. Manning got the 1st out in the 8th before being pulled and left to an ovation. He pitched one helleva game. One mistake to Perez. Randy Ellison came in and got Powers to ground out for the 2nd out of the inning. Sergio Rodriguez came up and doubled to left and Bryant finally had a meaningful AB and knocked Rodriguez in for that all important insurance run. Doyle would single before Larson popped out to end the inning. Gomes, Saenz and Tapia combined to give up 2 hits, both singles, but escaped the inning when Navarro grounded out to 2nd. Onto the 9th. Jersey is 3 outs away from a World Series berth.
After what Greenville's pitching did in the 9th, you would think they were a lock to win this game. Back-to-back singles by Romero and Perez put Bags on the corners with no outs. A big Al Ryan strikeout followed by a Taylor ground out to 1st kept Romero and 3rd. Scott Powers was walked to load the bases and Herrera got Sergio Rodriguez looking on a full count to send Greenville up to the plate just down 2 runs. Everyone in the stadium including the Greenville dugout was shocked and bewildered when Daniel Morris was not brought in to close the game out. Tapia was sent back out and immediately gave up a single to Morales which awoke the crowd. Arthur Donahue stepped to the plate and Tapia quickly jumped in front 0-2. Tapia through a high fastball that Donahue reached up and got and hit a one hopper back to Tapia who gloved, immediately turned and fired to 2nd where Bryant was waiting and threw to 1st for the easy 1-4-3 double play. Jersey was one out from the World Series! Jose Alvarez stepped into the batter's box, took a big swing and a miss for strike 1. He fouled the 2nd pitch, a 97 MPH fastball straight back to send him in the hole at 0-2. With the Jersey dugout against the railing and Greenville crowd down to their last hope, Tapia got Alvarez to chase a changeup in the dirt for strike 3!! The Bags are the CL Champions! The crowd was quick to file out as Jersey celebrated on the field, which included Gatorade buckets, a mob on the field and even a pie. They had come back twice from 2-1, and once from 3-2 to knock off the 1 and 2 seeds on the road. They were making their first trip to the playoffs well worth it. Jersey will be the first CL East team to represent the division in the World Series.
As usual we will now go live to Josh Swain's press conference. ::Swain enters along with Jerry Burgess and Alberto Perez, all 3 clad in CL Champions gear, half soaked in champagne:::
Swain: "Give it up to the stars of Game 7 and to your CLCS MVP Alberto Perez!"
Reporter Dan Miles, NY Times: "Jerry, what is going on?? You get lit up in both of your early starts in both series and then come back and pitch great in both deciding games. Do you just up your game with pressure?"
Jerry Burgess: "If I do, it's not intentional! Haha! I go out there to pitch my best every time out and I've had some not so good ones recently. Today, I labored. I don't think I went through an inning without a base runner on. I gotta thank my defense and just thank myself for trusting my arm in a lot of situations. They are a powerful, powerful team. Just feels great to come through for my team."
Beat Writer Melissa Franklin, Jerseysports.com: "Josh, do these guys make you nervous? The Bags have not lost one game where they were ahead late in the game. Every tight game has been a win outside of Game 2, and that's where your boys came back to the tie game, but lost it in extras. You doing ok?"
Swain: "If anything they excite me! If you have watched Jersey baseball over the past couple of years you know that the bullpen has been our strong point. We have had our bumps this year, but for the most part when we get that lead, we rarely give it back. Clutch hitting is really what it's about. We could have folded in game 4, 6 and 7 but got the hits we needed. And really look no further than this guy, Alberto Perez. The kid was amazing."
Reporter Sally Trumpert, Trenton Free Press: "Alberto, first off, amazing series! 2nd how is your hand? And 3rd what changed from the Toronto series to this one?"
Perez: "Thank you! My hand is sore, but I will be fine. I got a good pitch to hit today and took advantage of it. The Toronto series I think I was trying to hard. Everyone loves Morrow, those are some big shoes to fill. After he went down people talked about how we had no chance, and that's hard to swallow for me because I was taking his spot. I was swinging to hard and that led to my 1-20 in the Toronto series. I allowed myself to relax these past couple games and got back into my rhythm. Hopefully I can carry it forward against Hendersonville."
Beat writer Sam Toddenfield, BSAreport.com: "Rumors have it that Adam Morrow might be available for the Hendersonville series and what is the status on Luis Antonio Duran, will he be back?"
Swain: "Sadly for Luis his hand is shattered, it will take 5-6 weeks to heal and if you know Luis he wants to be here so bad. We are going to place him on the DL and that will free up a roster spot. The trainer tells us Morrow has about a week til he can play, so if we add him to the roster we could possibly see him in game 5, 6 or 7. We are undecided if adding him will happen, but it is a possibility."
Reporter Vanessa Antuaco, Morgantown Today: "Jersey is in the World Series, give us a comment on what's that like and early thoughts on Hendersonville."
Swain: "It's one of those things where I still don't think it has hit me. We have built this team from the inside out and never reached anything like this yet. This team has the pieces, the role players are coming through and we feel great that we get to represent the CL in the series. As for Hendersonville, what can I say? They are the best of the best. Their stars are the best in the game. Scott Hill is the most intimidating person in the BSA. It will be an uphill challenge, but I think this team is good enough to compete and beat them. We will need some bounces to go our way and players to step up, but it can happen. Thank you everyone for your support!"
After going 1-20 against Toronto, Perez completely turned his game around to win the CLCS MVP. Perez hit 12-25, for an average of .480, including at least 1 hit in every game and drove in 9 runs. After he injured his hand he went 4-6 with 2 HR and RBI.
Jersey plans to start Art Ellis for Game 1 of the World Series which starts Tuesday. Lineups and a breakdown will be announced later. Welcome to the Series D-Bags!
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