[stevem810]

The Soleis brought the pitcher with the best stuff to face Bour in an elimination game that Marseille had to win. Early on Soleis ace Philippe Da Silva looked very tough. In the third inning he still had not allowed a hit. But, that's when he called the trainer to the mound. No report on the extent of the injury, but Da Silva had to leave the game. He tried a few pitches but it was a no go, nothing on the ball.

In that same inning the Diamonds got a HR from Pierson off reliever Harris for a 1-0 lead. Then, in the 4th, the Diamonds tacked on three more using walks, an error, a passed ball, and a few softly hit balls that fell in to build the lead.

Down 4-0 with your ace done for the day, the Soleis could have packed it in. But, in successive innings Kiever and pinch hitter Schwietzer cracked homers to tie the game at 4-4 apiece. In the 8th they added another for a 5-4 lead as a bevy of relievers kept Le Diamant scoreless.

To the 9th with Javalino on the mound. He notched 24 saves on the year but was asked to step it up with the shortened bullpen. After 43 pitches he was gassed. With runners on the corners and 1 out, pinch hitter Julien Henri came to the plate. On an 0-1 pitch, Henri lined a solid single scoring the tying run. The Marseille bullpen escaped without any further damage.

In the 10th, with 2 out, it was Laurant Mercier with the run scoring single that brought Legendre in with the winning run. 5-4 Le Diamant wins it in 6 games.

After last season's back to back sweeps, this year really put Le Diamant to the test as they had to rally from a 2-3 deficit in the first round to qualify for the final series. So, back to back titles for Le Diamant and the smallest of the three French locations, Martinique.