Monday, October 25, 2088
BOTH SERIES ALL EVEN IN IPA UNION TITLE SERIES
Both the Ruthlandian Union and Tycobbian Union Title Series are all even after four games of the best-of-seven series. Forest City rebounded with a flourish and outscored Belle Plaine 10-7 in the fourth game of the series, while Ozarka won it second consecutive extra-inning clash with Summerland 9-6.
FIREBIRDS FLAME MUSKIES IN SCORING FEST
The Firebirds cracked 11 hits, sparked by Milt DeRozier's (.222/1 HR/10 RBI) 3 ribbies and a pair each from Willie Collingham (.275/1 HR/5 HR) and Fuzz Smiley (.385/4 HR/10 RBI). Smiley slugged his 4th playoff homer. Forest City ran up a 10-3 advantage at the end of 7 frames and then held off Belle Plaine's belated rally. Matty O'Mara recorded his 5th straight victory in the postseason, but was not at his best. He was tagged for 7 runs and 10 hits in 8 and two-thirds innings by the Muskies, who gamely made a game of it. Darrell Shaw got the final out for O'Mara. Belle Plaine got 2 hits apiece from Claude Mayeux (.368/2 HR/8 RBI), Luc Barbier (.265/1 HR/5 RBI) and Jean-Paul Lacombe (.433/5 HR/13 RBI). Barbier clouted a 3-run roundtripper, Lacombe added 2 RBIs and Dominque Roche (.306/0 HR/4 RBI) and Jace De Grom (.257/1 HR/5 RBI) chimed in with one each. Pinned with the defeat was starter Anton Petit (1-2/5.19 ERA), ripped for 7 runs in just 4 and two-thirds innings. Only 4 were earned. The postseason has been hard on Petit, who was 17-10 with a strong 2.84 ERA during the regular season. O'Mara stood out with a 20-7 mark and 3.21 ERA in his rookie season for Forest City.
NATS BREAK LOOSE WITH THE BATS, POWER BY SUNSETS IN SCORING FEST IN 10TH
In a shocking turnaround, Ozarka lashed out with 14 hits and smacked the Summerland Sunsets 9-6 in 10 innings in game four at Sunset Stadium to tie the low-scoring series at 2-2. Even Summerland cracked 12 hits. Sarge Chester (2-0/2.25 ERA/4 IP/3 games) posted the win with a perfect 9th inning, aided by Jimmy Gable, who picked up the save with a scoreless 10th. It was Gable's first playoff outing this season.
It was a 2-2 draw for 7 innings between Paul Pegram for Summerland and Mordecai Partridge for Ozarka, then the bats went wild. The Naturals were paced by Vladya Grigorovich (.364/1 HR/8 RBI) and Ernie Packenham (.448/6 RBI) with 2 hits and 2 RBIs each. Pinch hitter Guido DiMaggio got the only home run for the Nats. Pinch hitter Mick MacKinnon put Ozarka ahead 7-6 in the 10th with a single and Tommy Kingston (.182/2 HR/6 RBI) put the finish touches on the victory with a 2-run base hit. Sparking the Sunsets were substitute second baseman Deveraux Dieppe (.667/2 HR/7 RBI) with a 3-run clout and Bok de Korver (.172/4 RBI) with a 2-run two-bagger.
Game five for both series will be in Belle Plaine and Summerland. Games six and seven will be in Forest City and Ozarka.
