Thursday, October 23, 2081
RACERS 9TH-INNING RALLY TIES SKIPPERS IN PRO CUP FINALS; TEAMS SPLIT FIRST TWO GAMES
In a remarkable rally on the road at Lakefront Park in Crystal Lake, Rolling Hills clipped the hometown Skippers 4-3 to split the first two games of the IPA Pro Cup Series. Subdued 3-1 going into the top of the 9th frame the Racers tore into reliever Ethan Zahn (1-1/6.35 ERA) for 3 runs to stun the Skippers, who were on the verge of taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
"All we needed was just 3 outs and we could have taken command of the series. Now we are back to square one and it's anybody's to win." That's what manager Paul Dillon told reporters after the very disappointing defeat.
"Thank goodness, we wore out Mason and finally got him out of the game," Hugo Sutton facetiously said. Mason, the Skipper starter only allowed one run in his 7 innings and left his team with a 3-1 edge.
Losing pitcher Ethan Zahn was greeted with a bang in the top of the 9th by 3 base hits, setting the stage for Emmett Spangler's base-clearing two-bagger to put Rolling Hills in front 4-3. Crystal Lake threatened in the last half of the inning and got two men on against Ron Halloran, but he finally finished them off for the comeback victory.
The Racers' starter Skeets Kazlauskas pitched well in his 8 innings. The Skippers got 3 runs and 8 hits off of him. Kazlauskas (3-1/2.13 ERA) got the win, struck out 5 and walked only one batter. Halloran posted the save with a scoreless 9th frame.
Rolling Hills went in front 1-0 on Liam Gerraghty's solo swat in the 3rd inning. Slowly but surely Crystal Lake got back into the game and took the lead. Culver Jensen doubled in a run in the bottom of the 3rd to tie it up, Dave Sewell made it 2-1 in the 5th with an RBI double and Gino Lorenzetti padded it to 3-1 with his homer in the last of the 8th.
Rolling Hills socked 12 hits, led by Emmett Spangler (.309) with 3. Crystal Lake picked up 9 hits, paced by Dave Sewell (.395) and Heck Fraiser (.184) with 2 each.
Thursday is a travel day as the clubs head to Rolling Hills and the Midtown Base Ball Grounds for the next 3 games. Angelo Marinello (22-4/3.44 ERA) toes the rubber for Crystal Lake. It will be J.B. Deeds (4-2/3.62 ERA) for Rolling Hills. Marinello is having the better postseason with a perfect 3-0 mark and an impressive 2.33 ERA. Deeds has been good and bad with a 1-1 mark and a 5.95 ERA.
