Saturday, December 2, 2079
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!
ROLLING HILLS NABS 9TH PRO CUP TROPHY!
The Rolling Hills Racers chalked up their 9th Islandian Pro Alliance crown by rolling past the Fort Benton Cannons in six games, winning the Pro Cup Series four games
to two... the Racers fought off the determined Cannons 6-5 in an exciting game six at Old Fortress Park in Fort Benton... Rolling Hills put up a 6-1 lead midway through the
finale and then had to hang on for dear life as the Cannons came to life in the late innings and chopped that lead down to just one run... Fort Benton's third straight victory
was almost in sight... they had two innings, the 8th and the 9th, to make their startling and historic comeback from a 3-0 deficit... they only had to deal with Rolling Hills sometimes
suspect and inept bullpen... the Cannons seriously threatened in the bottom of the 9th... they got runners on first and third with 2 outs with one of their top hitters, catcher Cloyce
Farmer, at the plate... Racer reliever Ivan Malek fanned him swinging on a 3-2 pitch... it was a dynamite ending to a stirring and hard-fought series.
Thank goodness Trent Sparks had a solid start for the Racers... this was crucial to the game-six victory... Sparks stifled the Cannons for the first 5 frames, holding them to just
one run and giving the Racers a 6-1 lead... sadly, his relief almost blew the game... however, Ivan Malek finally saved the day, but just barely.
Rolling Hills scored in the top of the first on a walk to Emmett Spangler and a double by Liam Gerragty... Olev Kotli tied it up for Fort Benton with a solo homer in the last half of the
inning... the Racers came right back in the second and regained the lead when Philip Bliss singled and came around to score on Art Horn's two-bagger... Rolling Hills boosted the
margin to 4-1 in the 4th... Bliss doubled in Jaron Shufford, who had led off with a base hit... Bliss scored on Horn's RBI single... the Racers tacked on 2 more in the 6th on RBI
two-baggers by Alberto Amigo and Emmett Spangler.
Down 6-1 heading into the last of the 6th, but not out, the Cannons went to work and made a ball game of it... the 6th and 7th belonged to them... Cloyce Farmer made it 6-2 with
a single and Dwight Hogan narrowed it to 6-4 with a 2-run single... shoddy defense put Fort Benton back in business in the 7th... pinch hitter John Harding singled, went to second
on an outfield error, move to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch... now Rolling Hills was in reach... the Racers were just one run ahead 6-5... the Cannons were poised
to prevail... they just knew they could come back and win the game and then win the Pro Cup Series in game seven at home.
Nope, it didn't happen... just wishful thinking... this was real life, not a Hollywood script... Fort Benton fell one run short and had to go home for the season without their much-coveted
and much-hoped for first-ever Pro Cup Trophy.
What a great season for Rolling Hills' youthful skipper, Hugo Sutton... he replaced the legendary manager Matty Christianson in 2077... just in his third year Sutton has already
won the ultimate, the Pro Cup... "We wavered a bit in losing games four and five and letting the Cannons get back into the series... it was getting scary in game six... Thank goodness,
we hung on and wrapped it up... I really didn't want to play a 7th game, especially on their home field."
Sutton told the press, the biggest factors in the Racers' Pro Cup title run "were a rock-solid bunch of batters and some crucial bullpen work... Ringer, Bliss and Spangler got on base
and Horn, Shufford, Cronin and Gerraghty drove 'em in... everybody in the batting order did their part at one time or another... we needed a high-powered attack to win the Pro Cup and
we got it in the playoffs... we got just enough pitching to get by... truly, it was team effort... we got some good starts from Dickens and Sparks... and some good work from the bullpen,
led by Malek... they really came through in the Pro Cup Finals... that's how we beat the Cannons".
Fort Benton manager Max Gregory praised the Rolling Hills offense, "Man, they are an awesome group... the good hitters never stop coming... we just couldn't shut them down... I
was also impressed with their pitching staff... especially the starters Dickens and Sparks... they were better than we expected... my Cannons can swing a bat with the best of them,
but they shut us down in games two and three... and we couldn't recover from those losses... otherwise I thought we held our own at the plate."
For the Pro Cup Series Rolling Hills posted a .283 BA with 60 hits in 212 at-bats, 18 doubles, 1 homer with 31 walks and 45 strikeouts... they outscored Fort Benton 38-31 in the
six games... the Cannons went 65 for 220 for a .295 BA with 11 doubles, 3 homers, 14 walks and 31 strikeouts... on-base was a key factor in the series, along with starting pitchers...
the Racers won those categories by a wide margin... Rolling Hills starters posted a solid 2.91 ERA in the six-game series, while Fort Benton starters only managed a 5.93 ERA... overall
the Racers staff had a 4.09 ERA to 5.30 ERA for the Cannons.
