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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Monday, October 10, 2044
2044 IPA PRO CUP FINALS - Game 1
FAVORED SUN SOX GRAB PRO CUP OPENER 5-3
Behind solid pitching from Billy Hoover, Pro Cup favorite Southport, grabbed the opening game of the 2044 IPA Pro Cup Finals from Wynnamac 5-3... after a rocky first 4 innings, Hoover (4-1/1.01) settled down and blanked the Sundowners over the final 5 frames on 2 hits to nail down his fourth victory in the postseason... Hoover's only loss was 1-0 in game four against Red Bluff... he went all the way in this one, holding the Sundowners to 3 runs and 7 hits with 4 strikeouts and only one base on balls.
The Sun Sox's attack got 10 hits, headed up by CF Barney Lewis (.341) and 1B Eddy Douglas (.268) with 2 RBIs apiece... Douglas' two-run blast in the third proved to be the game-winner... it put Southport ahead 5-1... SS Gonzalo Topez (.390) collected 3 hits and scored 2 runs, while RF Pat Kinney (.262) and Lewis each boasted 2 hits... the Sundowners were paced by 2B Dale Fisher (.227) with a 2-run blast in the third frame... RF Davy Lamour (.364) chipped in 2 hits and Jack Pope (.314) doubled in their other run... Wynnamac continued to miss the big bat of injured superstar Nokia Inkamara from the lineup... he is expected back for game three... Inkamara has been out for about a week with a bad hamstring.
37-year-old Jimmy Willard (2-4/3.69) lost it, but only permitted 2 earned runs... all 3 Sun Sox runs in the first were unearned... overall Willard allowed 5 runs and 10 hits in 7 innings in a bad outing for him... he was 24-10 with an impressive 2.93 ERA during the regular season.
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