2017 DIVISION SERIES GAME 1's
NEWS from outside the playoffs….
MINORS
Bakersfield 1B Max Briddon took home the A(S) Hitter of the year. He went .299-18-93. He was signed as a minor league FA.
GAME 1’s
FRONTIER LEAGUE
Chicago Iron Pigs (Walt Thompson 21-4 2.91) @ Columbus Clippers (Marcos Diaz 11-5 4.13)
From the outside looking in am I the only one seriously worried about a 1st round bounce? I don’t think, outside Tulsa, there’s another team that can hang, but this one. Here goes nothing….
As is the case every year, I am going to do inning by inning of my game. This year I’ll just give a rundown of the other series, not feeling like folks care too much about in depth stuff on the other series.
1st
We go in order, Diaz needing 15 pitches.
Bill Ryan walks with 1 out, Jeffrey Hudson follows with a single. Christian Schall K’s and Ubadah goes 3U. 18 pitches.
2nd
Salinas grounds out to start the inning, and the old hands Wes Morgan and Bill Alexander silence the Clipper crowd with back to back solo homers. Eric Coats singles and Knox grounds into a 1-6-3 inning ending DP.
Thompson retires the side in order on 11 pitches. 2-0 Chicago at the end of 2. Thompson with 29 pitches, 26 for Diaz.
3rd
Both guys go 1-2-3, Diaz on 7 pitches, Thompson on 14, 33 for Diaz. Diaz at 33, Thompson 43 after 3. SS Bill Ryan is ejected for arguing balls and strikes.
4th
Diaz retires the side in order again, 2 punchouts, 13 pitches. Schall walks, Lorenzelli boots a grounder and Ubadah gets to 2nd, Schall to third. Thompson clutches up and punches out Dean Strong and Kurt Peterson to end the 4th, 2-0 Chicago.
5th
Alexander hits a leadoff single, 1 out later George Knox hits a 2 run homer to left making it 4-0.
Michael Griffin doubles to lead off the bottom half of the 5th, after Leonardo Garcia K’s Jorge Garcia slams a 2 run shot to right to make it 4-2 after 5. Thompson has 9 k’s on 87 pitches. Diaz is at 62 pitches after 5.
6th
Riggs walks and 1 out later Salinas singles, Morgan hits into an inning ending 4-6-3 DP.
Thompson K’s 2 more around a Strong 2 out single. 4-2 after 6, Thompson with 11 k’s.
7th
Diaz gets the side again in the 7th, 17 pitches.
Thompson K’s another and allows a 2 out Jorge Garcia single. 4-2 Chicago after 7.
8th
A 2 out Riggs single is all in the 8th, and after a Jeffrey Hudson ground out Randy Pennington comes on in the bottom half. He gets Schall on a ground out, and Ubadah looking at strike 3. 4-2 Iron Pigs at the end of 8. Thompson ends 7.1-5-2-2-2-12.
9th
Diaz is done after Pedro Salinas leads off the 9th with another solo shot, 8-8-5-5-1-5. Rafael Dejesus comes on and retires the side. 5-2 heading to the bottom half.
Ernesto Cruz comes in and gets Strong looking, Peterson looking and Michael Griffin on an F7.
Chicago 5 Columbus 2
W Thompson (1-0) L Diaz (0-1) S Cruz (1)
HR CHI Salinas (1) Alexander (1) Knox (1) Morgan (1) COL J Garcia (1)
Chicago leads 1-0
New York Knights (Jesus Romano 14-11 3.67) @ El Paso Diablos (Artie Johnson 22-8 4.10)
The teams trade 1st inning runs, but El Paso gets a 3 run shot from William Griffin in the 2nd and Artie Johnson buckles down, throwing a CG (9-9-3-3-1-7). Stephen Conway goes 2-5 with 2 RBI’s, Griffin ends 2-3 2 runs 3 RBI’s.
El Paso 9 New York 3
W Johnson (1-0) L Romano (0-1)
HR EP Barron (1) Holland (1) Griffin (1)
El Paso leads 1-0
COASTAL LEAGUE
Sacramento River Cats (George Bean 15-5 2.78) @ Pittsburgh Bulldogs (Vincent Bray 22-7 2.72)
Pittsburgh goes up 3-0 in the 6th but Sacramento gets a 6 spot after 2 huge Bulldog errors. Bray goes (6.2-10-6-0-1-6) in the loss. Zach Christofis goes 1-5 with a 3 run homer, Jorge Ortiz goes 3-4 and scores twice.
Sacramento 9 Pittsburgh 3
W Gamble (1-0) L Bray (0-1) S Amaya (1)
HR SAC Christofis (1) PIT Palacios (1)
Sacramento leads 1-0
Tulsa Drillers (Antonio Rodriguez 19-12 3.23) @ Houston Roughriders (Vincente Romero 19-8 3.13)
A battle of offenses and bullpens, that’s won by Houston. Cy May goes 3-4, scoring and driving in 1, Emmett Gould drives in 2. Curt Whimster goes 3-4 with a run and an RBI.
Houston 7 Tulsa 6
W De La Garza (1-0) L Perkins (0-1) S van Bodegraven (1)
HR TUL Cox (1)
Houston leads 1-0