Monday, October 16, 2090
LA CLAIRE-WHITE RIVER SHOWDOWN IN TU TITLE SERIES
The Ruthlandian Union decided its Union Title Series combatants quickly with four-game sweeps by Pro Cup favorite Forest City and the Valmara Vipers. Not so in the Tycobbian Union. The La Claire-South Fork duel went the full seven games with the Lynx coming away the winner. It took White River six games to subdue the Summerland Sunsets. Round two is set with Forest City at home against Valmara in the Ruthlandian Union and La Claire hosting White River in the Tycobbian Union.
White River, the #6-ranked team, upset #4 Summerland by outpitching the Sunsets in the last two games. The Rascals trimmed them 3-2 and 4-2 to take the series. Satchell Pike was spot on and went the distance in game five, restricting the Sunsets to 7 hits. He outdueled Paul Pegram, who also hurled a complete game. Pete Pettavina slugged a 2-run homer in the first inning. The Rascals added another run in the 8th on an infield error by first sacker Danny Defoe. That run was a critical factor. Without it Summerland would have tied it up in the 9th and forced extra innings. Game six was a tense battle decided in the 9th by 5th-game savior Pete Pettavina's two-run homer. He drove in all 4 Rascal runs in the deciding game. White River's bullpen held up a tad better than Summerland's. Reliever Phil Western got the win, but blew the save. Pettavina's blast saved the day for Western. Pettavina homered twice in the game and drove all of the Rascals runs. He batted .421 with 3 home runs and 7 RBIs in the six games. Boogie Mickelson posted his 2nd save in the postseason with a runless 9th to seal the fate of the Sunsets and send White River to the TU Title Series against La Claire. Summerland closer Duke Snijder dropped his 2nd game in the series. A good bullpen is a vital necessity to win the Pro Cup Trophy.
South Fork won pivotal game five 2-1 to go in front three games to two, but the Stallions couldn't put La Claire away in game six and game seven. Winning hurler Owen Frank delivered 7 solid innings in game five, stopping the Lynx on one run and 6 hits. Don Bartels was strong for La Claire, yielding only 2 runs on 6 hits. He also twirled a complete game. There was very little offense in the game. The Lynx drew first blood in the opening frame when Rick Wall put them ahead with an RBI base hit. South Fork came right back in the last half of the inning and tied it up on Biggy MacLemore's solo shot. It stayed 1-1 until the 6th frame. A leadoff walk to Tommy Leduc started the inning. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, went to third on a MacLemore single and rode home with the go-ahead score on Yank Yankovich's sac fly.
In game six La Claire got 5 marvelous shutout innings from starter Shuggie Garsett and just enough bullpen help from Paul Unruh and Billy Ray Troxell. They struggled and gave up 2 runs in the last 4 frames, but they managed to hang on to the 3-0 lead Garsett gave them. The Lynx just barely beat the Stallions 3-2 to even the series at 3-all. La Claire put 2 scores on the scoreboard in the first inning. Dennis Culpepper singled in the first one. Run 2 scored on a wild pitch. 2 South Fork errors gave the Lynx a 3-0 margin in the last of the 6th. The Stallions only runs were provided by Rupert Kruger's base hit in the 7th and by Cristian Morales' solo roundtripper in the 9th. Troxell gave up Morales' clout and also issued a one-out walk, but he got the final 2 outs on routine fly balls. Stallion starter Dobie Wilbur lost the game. He was tagged for 3 runs in his 5 innings. The South Fork bullpen blanked the Lynx the final 3 innings and kept them in the game.
Game seven started off on a happy note for South Fork. They jumped out in the opening frame 1-0 on Yank Yankovich's double. However the season went sour and south in the second inning. 6 hits, 4 walks and 9 runs later, it was all over but the crying for the South Fork Stallions. La Claire did them in with one huge inning and then staved them off 9-5 to grab the series four games to three. . Rick Gautreau was just good enough to get the win. The bullpen wasn't good, but it was good enough. They held on. Finally, the Stallions ran out of innings. Thank goodness for the offense in that one massive inning. Overall in the game Bill Gallagher, Judah Pickens, Gino Manda and Rick Wall rapped 2 hits each. Manda drove in 3 runs and Howie Ellenberger belted a 2-run homer. Gallagher, Pickens, David Glascock and Rolf Zimmerman also had an RBI apiece. South Fork starter Kenny Falconer suffered the heartbashing defeat. He will long remember the 8 runs he gave up in one and two-thirds innings. It is something he will want to keep secret from his grandkids.
Tycobbian First Round - Game 5 Recaps
Tycobbian First Round - Game 6 Recaps
Tycobbian Union First Round - Game 7 Recap
