NCA #1 Nordhagen Beach Party Boys (79-29) vs SCA #3 Atom Cats (64-44)
Game 4 - Atom 4, Nordhagen Beach 3
Atom Breaks Through for First Win in Sole Survivor Series; Now Trails 3-1
Already down in the Sole Survivor Series, the Atom Cats put on their best show, beating the Nordhagen Beach Party Boys by a final score of 4-3 today. Beachboy Nut was special. He threw 7.0 innings of 5-hit ball. Atom now trails Nordhagen Beach 3-1 in the best-of-7 affair.
The clutch at-bat came in the bottom of the ninth inning, when Atom third baseman Justin Daros, facing Matt Breakball, had a run-scoring walk. It gave the Cats the 4-3 win.
"What a buzz," said Daros after it was over.
The next game is set to be played tomorrow at Coolest Field in Town in Boston.
Analysis
It took a blown save, but the Atom Cats can claim that they avoided a sweep in their first trip to the ZSole Survivor Series. The loss for Nordhagen Beach erased a seven-inning gem by Beachboy Nut, allowing one earned run on five hits with eight strikeouts. However, closer Matt Breakball had control issues, leading to the three-run 9th-inning rally by the Cats.
Breakball looked OK when he came on in the bottom of the 8th, allowing a single to Justin Daros before striking out Machete Thompson and Earthbound Bussey and then getting Rabbit Forest to ground out.
However, the 9th looked entirely different. Leading 3-1, Breakball walked Jeremy Schoolboy and Will Ashfire to lead off the inning. Then Jake Doucette hit an RBI double, moving Ashfire to third and cutting the Boys' lead to 3-2. After Breakball intentionally walked Melon Sanderson, Garrett Machine singled with the bases loaded to tie the game at 3-3 with still no outs. Daros had a chance to play hero, but then Breakball missed on four straight pitches, walking in Doucette and ending the game, 4-3.
Heading into the top of the 6th, the game was tied 1-1. Michael Fogcrawler put the Party Boys on the board in the top of the 1st when he doubled in Maxx Murtagh. In the bottom of the 5th, Atom got its only run off Nut when Kareem Caravan led off the inning with a double and then Machine singled him in.
In the 6th, Nordhagen Beach looked to take control of the game. After Deedee Martinson, who only game up one run as a starter in 5.0 innings pitched, left for Mike Waterdrinker, the Boys' offense looked to wake up. With one out, Jonathan Angelou doubled. Waterdrinker then intentionally walked Fogcrawler, but Brian Masterson doubled to score Angelou and move Fogcrawler to third. Waterdrinker intentionally walked Mike Swift, but threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded to score Fogcrawler. Waterdrinker was then able to escape the bottom of the order with no further damage after both Jon Hitman and Nut flew out. Waterdrinker intentionally walked three batters in the inning, but the Boys only managed two runs.
Despite not getting a decision, and his team ultimately losing, Nut looks as though he could be in the lead for the Series MVP. In 14.0 innings pitched, Nut has allowed just two earned runs and 10 hits and has struck out 18. While he struggled with walks (4) in Game 1, he did not walk a single Cat in Game 4. If he has any competition, it may be Fogcrawler, who is 7 for 14 in the series. A big game in Game 5 could tip the scales in his direction.
For now, the Atom Cats get to live on for another day and get one more chance at The Coolest Field in Town to make some noise. They have to face Tommy Beach again, but if they can find a way to rattle him, they could find the opening they need to top their high in this series of four runs.
For the Boys, if Beach outpitches Scruffy Taguchi, then it is guaranteed to be series over. We expect a low-scoring affair, but we also expect the Party Boys to pull out this game, and if not, Game 6 would end it. We do not expect the Cats to come back from a 3-0 deficit despite their comeback win today.