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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Thursday, October 4, 2047
2046 IPA LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - Game 7
Ruthlandian Union
VALMARA UPSETS SNAPPERS IN SEVEN
The number-six pick Valmara upset the number-three pick Rocky Rapids for the Ruthlandian League crown in seven games... Primo Sirak, pitching at home, came up big in a 5-3 win over the Snappers and 30-game winner Jamie Taylor... Sirak (4-1/1.49) whipped Taylor for the second time in the series, permitting three runs on eight hits with three walks and four strikeouts... Sirak (.125) also doubled in two critical runs in the last of the fourth frame to tie the score at 3-3... later in the same inning LF Jacek Prusak's (.293) sac fly gave the Vipers the lead and CF Don Ritchie (.388) made it 5-3 with an RBI single... closer Paul Holloway (2.45) relieved in the ninth and registered his second save... with one away and one runner on he got the final two outs on a double-play ball.
In a disappointing complete-game outing Jamie Taylor (3-2/2/57) was touched for five runs and eight hits in defeat... he fanned four and walked four... Each club had eight hits... Ritchie led Valmara with a pair of hits, while 2B Marty Featherstone (.341) and C Carney Kirkpatrick (.366) garnered two hits apiece for the Snappers.
At the press conference after the game, Viper manager Vanya Vasylenko spoke to the media and said, "Sirak was the key... he really is a special pitcher... and Ritchie and Prusak came through for us at the plate... beating Rocky Rapids says something... the Snappers are a strong club with very few weaknesses... we feel that we will represent Ruthlandia well in the Pro Cup Finals... we won it in 2043 and it sure would be nice to add another one to our trophy case."
Hank Bethel, the Snapper skipper, reiterated the words of Vasylenko, "Primo Sirak is certainly one fine pitcher... take him out of the equation and Rocky Rapids is headed to the IPA Finals... no excuses... we gave it a very good shot... sweeping Sugar Valley was fantastic... but we couldn't get past the Vipers."
Tycobbian Union
5 HOMERS TOO MUCH, HARTSDALE DOWNS RED BLUFF 8-2
On a three-game losing streak, Hartsdale had to win game seven of the Tycobbian League Championship Series on the road... the Hellcats' five homers made it fairly easy as they powered by Red Bluff 8-2 to capture the series four games to three and advance into the IPA Pro Cup Finals against the Valmara Vipers, the champion of the Ruthlandian Union.
Greg Melton (.333) walloped two out of the park to ignite the victory and Robinson Alomar (.314), John Ford (.283) and Darrell Nesbitt (.279) also put runs on the scoreboard with roundtrippers... Hartsdale also got a route-going performance from Gil Younger (3-2/3.38), who limited hard-hitting Red Bluff to just two runs and eight hits in game seven... Jud Cox (2-2/2.58) was treated harshly by the Hellcats... they bashed him for four homers, seven runs and 10 hits in five-plus innings... it was 7-1 when he departed for the day.
Melton had two homers and three RBIs for the winners, who collected 12 hits... Nesbitt, RF Emilian Burgess (.304) and LF Marv Shaw (.286) all chipped in with two hits apiece... 2B Myrt Breland (.311) scored twice and 1B John Ford had a homer and two runs batted in... Jud Cox (.438) went deep in defeat for the Red Sox and C Ed Warren (.261) posted two hits and drove in a run.
"When you lose a 3-0 lead in a series, you don't take anything for granted." That was winning manager Jud Turchin's comments after the Hellcats' victory in game seven. "We knew we had a good team, but we couldn't finish off the Red Sox... luckily Younger slowed 'em down and we hit the heck out of the ball."
Upbeat and downcast at the same time, vanquished Red Bluff manager Jim Schubert said, "It was quite a series until game seven when we just didn't have a good day... but we sure fought them hard in all six games... I'm especially proud that we came back from 3-0 and almost won the series... that's speaks volumes for our team's character and resilience."
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