Sunday, October 17, 2088
SUNBIRDS FORCE FIREBIRDS TO 7TH-GAME FINALE
Game six of the Ruthlandian Union First Round Series at Riverside Stadium in Forest City was a spine-tingling back-and-forth affair finally decided in the 10th inning 5-4. Visiting Belair Beach scored the winning runs without the benefit of a base hit, taking advantage of reliever Curt Leininger's 4 walks. He walked in both runs by walking Jermaine La Rocque and Dutch Van Donk with the bases loaded. Forest City made it close in the bottom of the 10th frame, cutting it to one run on a sacrifice fly by Brodie Northern. The Sunbirds knotted up the best-of-seven series and forced a 7th-game finale, which will be played Monday again on the Firebirds' turf at Riverside Stadium.
Both starters, Georgie Adams (0-0/2.57 ERA/2 starts/14 IP) for Belair Beach and Kerby Mars (0-0/3.38 ERA/1 start/8 IP) did a quality job. They battled to a 3-3 draw after 8 innings. Alejandro Valera's double and Lucky Hayden's single put the Sunbirds ahead 1-0 in the 3rd. Brodie Northern was the man of the hour in the last of the fourth when he singled in 2 runs, putting Firebirds into the lead 2-1. Belair Beach regained the seesaw lead 3-2 back in the top of the 5th on a solo swat by Alejandro Valera and an RBI base hit by Dutch Van Donk. Cale Borden walloped a game-tying clout in the 7th frame, knotting it up a 3-all.
Valera (.167 BA) paced the Sunbirds with a homer, double and 3 runs scored. Van Donk (.238 BA) had 2 hits and 2 ribbies, while Hayden (.208 BA) contributed a pair of hits and an RBI. Northern (.200 BA) sparked the Firebirds at the plate with 3 hits and 3 RBIs. Cale Borden (.286 BA) cracked two hits, including a roundtripper.
Orval Columbus (1-1/1.69 ERA/1 save/3 games) notched the win with a scoreless 9th frame. Leininger (0-1/0.00 ERA/3 games) was stung with the loss. Belair Beach skipper Brock Josephson will send Gardiner Palmquist (14-11/3.65 ERA) to the hill in the deciding clash. Forest City manager Randy Snow has his ace Matty O'Mara (20-7/3.21 ERA) on the mound. In the postseason Palmquist is 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA in his 2 starts, while O'Mara is 2-0 with a nifty 1.50 ERA.
