|
THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Friday, October 13, 2051
2051 IPA PRO CUP SERIES: Game 4
ARLON NEARS FIRST PRO CUP TITLE
For the first time in four games in this year's Pro Cup Finals there was no shutout... Arlon got 19 hits in game four, left 17 runners on and finally pulled away to win 6-3 in 10 innings over the Waleska Westerners at Westener Field... the victory put the Champs in the driver's seat for their first-ever Pro Cup trophy... with a three to one lead, all Arlon needs is one more win in the best-of-seven series to capture the IPA title..
After blowing a 3-0 lead in the seventh and eighth frames, the Champs cracked six straight base hits in the top on the 10th to put away the Westerners... 3B Todd Grant (.274) made it 4-3... CF Ferdie Freese (.210) added another score... and SS Timmy Tarbell (.246) ran it up to 6-3... that was all reliever Mackie McDuff (1-1/1.29) needed to wrap up the win... McDuff was the winning pitcher as he worked two scoreless innings in the ninth and tenth... he retired all six batters he faced, fanning three of them... Waleska closer Vince Gibson (1-2/3.24/1 save) took the loss as he was slammed for three runs and seven hits in his two and two-thirds innings.
Arlon outhit Waleska 19-8... 3B Todd Grant (.274) and 1B Ivan Cisneros (.284) both had four hits to spark the Champs with help from RF Cary Rockwell (.465) adding three hits and driving in three runs... Rockwell poked a three-run homer in the top of the third... 2B Carlo Campanella (.315) also had three hits... RF Gene Stevenson (.340) went 3 for 4 to pace the Westerners with 2B Hershel Briggs (.281) adding two more hits.
In the third inning Rockwell's roundtripper off starter Lou Carlson gave the Champs an early lead... Arlon's rookie phenom Erik Branham's scoreless streak ended at 16 innings, when he allowed three runs in the seventh and the eighth frames... Branham (5-0/1.76) permitted three runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and no walks, while Carlson (2-1/2.12) was tagged for three runs and 11 hits with seven Ks and three bases on balls.
Tomorrow afternoon at Westerner Field in Waleska it'll be southpaw Lanny Gray (21-14/2.89) on the mound for Arlon trying to win the first IPA title in the club's history... Gray will be opposed by Waleska right-hander Trey Earnest (18-10/2.97)... they met in game two of the series with Earnest spinning a 3-0 shutout... Earnest is 4-2 in six postseason starts with a fine 2.83 ERA, while Gray is 3-3 with a 2.15 ERA in six assignments.
|