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Eugene Church · 05-14-2013, 05:05 PM

THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Thursday, October 16, 2036

2036 IPA Pro Cup Finals
(best-of-seven)

ST. JOHN STILL IN IT, NIPS NORTH HILLS 5-4
There no place like home this season in the IPA playoffs... the St. John Crusaders have battled their way back in the Pro Cup Finals with another crucial win at Cathedral Stadium... they nipped North Hills 5-4 to cut their lead to three games to two... Marty Blankenship tripled in the winning runs in the last of the eighth to overcome the Hawks' one-run lead... the Crusaders are trying to become just the fourth team in IPA postseason history to come back from a 3-0 deficit.

This was a nip-and-tuck affair... St. John took the lead in the first 1-0 on two-out error by shortstop Skippy Shearer... the Hawks evened it up 1-all in the top of the second when C Mikhail Romanovsky (.350) grounded into a double play and scored RF Adam Thurgood (.206) from third... in the fourth frame the Crusaders once again took the lead when CF Art Kelley (.323) came in on 3B Marty Blankenship's (.281) sacrifice fly... North Hills regained the lead with runs in the fifth and sixth... RF Gerry Rice (.391) singled in CF Kris Anastas (.250) to tie the score... and C Mikhail Romanovsky (.350) batted in 2B Kiril Ivonoski (.389) for a 3-2 edge... St. John deadlocked at 3-3 when Blankenship's force out at second brought in RF Nicky Farrugia (.333)... the Hawks seesawed past the Crusaders 4-3 in the top of the eighth when SS Skippy Shearer (.333) tripled in pinchrunner Nicky Bowen (.333)... that set the stage for Blankenship's decisive 2-run three-bagger in the last half of the inning... but the Hawks didn't give up... the Crusaders' LF Gilbert Hall (.296) ended the game by throwing out 2B Kiril Ivonoski (.389) trying to score the tying run from first on RF Adam Thurgood's (.206) double.

St. John starter Vito Sanfratello (3-2/3.63) went 8 innings for the win, yielding 4 runs on 9 hits... closer Rayburn Burks pitched a shaky ninth for his second postseason save, giving up 2 hits, but no runs... Hall's great throw saved him and possibly the entire season... David Michael (2-2/2.08) went the route in defeat and wasn't very effective, surrendering 5 runs on 11 hits.

Marty Blankenship led the Crusaders at the plate with 2 hits and 4 RBIs... other offensive contributors were Art Kelley with 3 hits and 2 runs... and Nicky Farrugia with 2 hits and 2 runs... the Hawks collected 11 hits with Skippy Shearer, Adam Thurgood and Gerry Rice getting 2 hits each.

North Hills is ready to return home to the friendlier confines of the Hawk's Nest where they are unbeaten in 7 games in the playoffs... St. John will have to win games six and seven in enemy territory to cop the Pro Cup this season... the Crusaders are only 2-5 away from home this year.

Starters for game six will be Lou Gianakos (21-13/3.07) for St. John and Frankie Lambert (18-8/2.85) for North Hills... Lambert topped Gianakos 3-2 in game three... Lambert is 3-0 in the playoffs, but has a lofty 4.85 ERA, while Gianakos is 2-2 with 3.69 ERA.

05-14-2013, 05:05 PM	#3541
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,900	THE ISLANDIAN TIMES Thursday, October 16, 2036 2036 IPA Pro Cup Finals (best-of-seven) ST. JOHN STILL IN IT, NIPS NORTH HILLS 5-4 There no place like home this season in the IPA playoffs... the St. John Crusaders have battled their way back in the Pro Cup Finals with another crucial win at Cathedral Stadium... they nipped North Hills 5-4 to cut their lead to three games to two... Marty Blankenship tripled in the winning runs in the last of the eighth to overcome the Hawks' one-run lead... the Crusaders are trying to become just the fourth team in IPA postseason history to come back from a 3-0 deficit. This was a nip-and-tuck affair... St. John took the lead in the first 1-0 on two-out error by shortstop Skippy Shearer... the Hawks evened it up 1-all in the top of the second when C Mikhail Romanovsky (.350) grounded into a double play and scored RF Adam Thurgood (.206) from third... in the fourth frame the Crusaders once again took the lead when CF Art Kelley (.323) came in on 3B Marty Blankenship's (.281) sacrifice fly... North Hills regained the lead with runs in the fifth and sixth... RF Gerry Rice (.391) singled in CF Kris Anastas (.250) to tie the score... and C Mikhail Romanovsky (.350) batted in 2B Kiril Ivonoski (.389) for a 3-2 edge... St. John deadlocked at 3-3 when Blankenship's force out at second brought in RF Nicky Farrugia (.333)... the Hawks seesawed past the Crusaders 4-3 in the top of the eighth when SS Skippy Shearer (.333) tripled in pinchrunner Nicky Bowen (.333)... that set the stage for Blankenship's decisive 2-run three-bagger in the last half of the inning... but the Hawks didn't give up... the Crusaders' LF Gilbert Hall (.296) ended the game by throwing out 2B Kiril Ivonoski (.389) trying to score the tying run from first on RF Adam Thurgood's (.206) double. St. John starter Vito Sanfratello (3-2/3.63) went 8 innings for the win, yielding 4 runs on 9 hits... closer Rayburn Burks pitched a shaky ninth for his second postseason save, giving up 2 hits, but no runs... Hall's great throw saved him and possibly the entire season... David Michael (2-2/2.08) went the route in defeat and wasn't very effective, surrendering 5 runs on 11 hits. Marty Blankenship led the Crusaders at the plate with 2 hits and 4 RBIs... other offensive contributors were Art Kelley with 3 hits and 2 runs... and Nicky Farrugia with 2 hits and 2 runs... the Hawks collected 11 hits with Skippy Shearer, Adam Thurgood and Gerry Rice getting 2 hits each. North Hills is ready to return home to the friendlier confines of the Hawk's Nest where they are unbeaten in 7 games in the playoffs... St. John will have to win games six and seven in enemy territory to cop the Pro Cup this season... the Crusaders are only 2-5 away from home this year. Starters for game six will be Lou Gianakos (21-13/3.07) for St. John and Frankie Lambert (18-8/2.85) for North Hills... Lambert topped Gianakos 3-2 in game three... Lambert is 3-0 in the playoffs, but has a lofty 4.85 ERA, while Gianakos is 2-2 with 3.69 ERA. Last edited by Eugene Church; 05-15-2013 at 09:22 PM.