CL SKIPPERS WIN AGAIN; FORCE 7TH-GAME FINALE
Poor Kenwood. Oh, the Pro Cup Series was going oh so well for them. The Wildcats won 3 of the first 4 games for a huge three games to one margin over the Pro Cup favorite
Crystal Lake Skippers. All they needed was just one measly win in the last 3 games of the Pro Cup Series and the Pro Cup Trophy would be theirs. Two games and two Crystal
Lake "must win" victories later Kenwood's almost-certain IPA title is now in grave jeopardy. The Pro Cup Series is all knotted up at three games each with the 7th-and-deciding
game set for Lakefront Park in Crystal Lake Monday afternoon.
Game six was a game for the ages. It went 10 tense innings and was decided by Crystal Lake center fielder Sookie Murphy with a game-winning home run. The Skippers nipped
the Wildcats 5-4 for their second win in a row and set the stage for a climactic finale.
Jordi Thornberry started for Kenwood. He toyed with the Skippers for the first 5 innings, stopping them cold on just one hit, while the Wildcats put 4 runs on the scoreboard. Yeah,
buddy, Kenwood was well on its way to its second Pro Cup crown. Then the bubble burst. The mound magic disappeared. Crystal Lake got back into the game with 3 runs. But wait,
Kenwood is still ahead by a run with just 9 more outs and 3 more innings to go. The Skippers went runless in the 7th and 8th. It's the last of the 9th with only 3 more outs to go. The
Wildcats are still up 4-3. Andre LaFrance retired the first two batters on easy ground balls. Just one more out to go and Kenwood is the IPA champion. Lo and behold, Jake Osborne
comes to Crystal Lake's rescue with a soaring home run to tie the score and send it into extra innings.
In the top half of the 10th frame Kenwood got a double from Kenny Sergeant with two outs. He went to third on a pass ball. The Pro Cup-winning run was just 90 feet away. A career
.334 hitter, Celistino Silva is coming to the plate to pinch hit. Nope, he is not a Pro Cup hero today and for the rest of his life. All it would take was one bloop single and the Wildcats
would be IPA champion. Chip Irby whiffed him swinging on 4 pitches.
Now its the Skippers turn. Losing pitcher Stacy Grimmer (2-1/4.50 ERA/7 games) got the first batter Gino Lorenzetti on a fly ball for out number one. 36-year-old Sookie Murphy, a
modest .247 lifetime batter with good power, steps up to the plate and send a 3-2 pitch soaring out of park and gives his team another day of life. God had smiled on Crystal Lake
today and answered their prayers. Who will He smile on tomorrow in game seven? Yeah, buddy. God really loves us all and He must love baseball, too.
Chip Irby (1-1/0.90 ERA/6 games) was the winning pitcher. He held Kenwood scoreless in the 9th and 10th. He got some help from Angelo Marinello (1-2/2.55 ERA/2 saves/12 games),
who didn't allow any runs in his 2 innings.
Josh Osborne (.292), who has won the Tycobbian Union batting crown in his first 3 years in the league, led the Skippers with 2 hits. Cookie Garland (.323) drove in a pair of scores.
Kenwood outhit Crystal Lake 10 to 8. Kenny Sergeant (.342) and John Bircher (.314) collected 6 of the hits. They had 3 each. Sergeant knocked his 4 homer of the playoffs, while
Bircher got his 2nd one.
Kenwood skipper Rusty Bradford will depend on Jim Singer (19-5/3.47 ERA) in game seven, while Crystal Lake manager Pat Dillon will go with Lloyd Mason (16-7/2.83 ERA) for
all the marbles. Mason has stood out in the postseason with a 4-0 mark and an impressive 2.33 ERA in 5 starts. He beat Singer 9-1 in game three. Singer has been shaky in the playoffs
with a 1-2 record and a lofty 5.03 ERA in his 5 starts.
Crystal Lake has the law of averages going against them in game seven. Only two teams have ever rallied from a 3-1 deficit and won the Pro Cup Trophy. The Skippers will be trying to do
what only the Far Mountain Redhawks and the Kenwood Wildcats have ever done.
