FRONTIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME 2
Columbus (Marcos Diaz (1-0 1.13)
@
Chicago (Spike Davis 1-0 3.00)
Davis gets the first 2 before Gomez hits a 2 out single and Dean Strong hammers his 4th post season HR to make it 2-0 Clippers.
A 3 up 3 down first for Diaz.
Davis runs into trouble after walking Stanton Hall to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs, but gets Ray Myers to fly out to left to end the inning.
Alexander leads off the 2nd with a double and scores with 2 outs when Paul Riggs grounder eludes 2B. 5 pitches later Eric Hudson belts a 2 run shot to left center, 445 feet, to put Chicago up 3-2 after 2 full.
Davis gets them in order, as does Diaz, in the third.
Jeffrey Hudson leads off the 4th with his first playoff HR, tying it at 3.
And it stays that way into the 5th.
Ray Myers doubles to lead off, Lambert grounds him to 3rd and Angelo Gomez erases all doubts with a 411ft blast to left center to put Columbus up 5-3 and end Davis’ day (4.1-6-5-5-2-2). Johnson comes in to get Strong, who reaches on an error by Lorenzelli. Hudson grounds out but Schall singles and a throwing error by Feliz allows Strong to keep going, and score, making it 6-3. After a walk to Sanches Johnson retires Hamidov. 6-3 after 4 ½
Stanton Hall greets Johnson with a leadoff HR in the 6th. Myers singles to end Johnsons day and Moore comes on. Myers steals 2nd and then scores on Angelo Gomez’s RBI single to make it 8-3. Strong hits into an inning ending 6-4-3 but the damage is done. Columbus by 5 heading to the bottom half of 6.
Hugh Collins singles with 1 out, and Alexander doubles right behind him. With runners on 2nd and 3rd Wes Morgan again K’s in a huge spot. Ron Miller (starting for Feliz to mix it up since he’s slumping) grounds out to 3rd to end the 6th, 8-3 Columbus, Diaz at 98 pitches through 6.
Moore gets into the 8th, still 8-3, when Stanton Hall goes deep again to make it 9-3.
Diaz makes an error to start the 9th and Wes Morgan makes him pay, drilling his 4th playoff homer to make it 9-5 with no outs. Diaz settles in to retire the next 3, and tosses 144 pitches in a 9-5 Columbus win. 9-6-5-1-0-5.
COL 9 CHI 5
W Diaz (2-0) L Davis (1-1)
HR COL Gomez (2) Strong (4) Hall 2 (2) J Hudson (1) CHI E Hudson (1) W Morgan (4)
Columbus leads the series 2-0
COASTAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES GAME 2
Tulsa (Esteban Valdez 1-1 1.93)
@
Pittsburgh (Vince Bray 1-0 0.00 their medical staff must be good, he wasn’t expected back until game 3)
A Curt Whimster 2 out 1st inning 2 run homer off Vince Bray puts Tulsa up 2-0. Tulsa 2B and WC Series MVP is injured in the top half running the bases and Omar Kamyshinsky is now in.
In the bottom half Miguel Deleon singles with 1 out, Allen Hedden chases him to third with his own single. A 12 pitch Ross Tunstall AB ends with an RBI groundout and 3 pitches later Ken Sanders drills an RBI double to knot it at 2.
In the bottom of the 2nd, with 2 outs, Roberto Morales hits a run scoring single, plating Anibal German who’d doubled earlier. 3-2 Dawgs after 2.
The Drillers would get right back on Bray. Wally Reed hit a 1 out single, Kamyshinsky hit a double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd and Rich Alfred’s RBI ground out tied it at 3 after 2 ½.
Ross Tunstall would put Bray back in front the very next inning with a 1st pitch homer to right.
The game would stay 4-3 into the 6th. With 2 quick outs, Whimster, Ladd and Arturo Olivo singled, Olivo’s driving in Whimster and tying it at 4.
In the bottom of the 7th Deleon drew a lead off walk, and Allen Hedden drilled an 0-1 triple to deep center, ending Valdez’s day after he intentionally walked Tunstall with 1 out.
Reliever Ken Porter came on and got a HUGE double play and a 1st pitch pop up to keep the game 5-4.
Bray would work around a leadoff Whimster single in the 8th.
In the bottom half, with 2 outs, Roberto Morales singled, and Miguel Deleon battled Wilson Valentin in a 10 pitch at bat before walking to load the bases.
Hedden would hit a shot to short but the inning would end, 5-4 Pittsburgh.
Joe Boswell would stroll into the 9th, relieving Bray after a 8-11-4-4-0-2 outing.
In typical Boswell fashion…. Ambrose Cox K’d, German Valdez K’s and Wally Reed hit a shallow pop to right to end it.
PIT 5 TUL 4
W Bray (2-0) L Valdez (1-2) S Boswell (3)
Pittsburgh leads the series 2-0