[Sal, The Barber]

11 October 2002
Halifax, NS

Game two started in a way that called back game one. Cheyenne put a man on third base with one out. Jim Thompson grounded out to the pitcher. Will Byrd popped out. Perhaps it was the long flight from Wyoming to Nova Scotia that had cooled the Cowboy bats. The offense looked, at the start of the game, like it had gone back into hibernation.

And the defense! The Cowboy defense continues to be porous. This was the best-ranked defense in the Western League. Today they made 3 errors. And all infielders--Byrd, Beck, Campos.

But the Cowboys won the game. That's right. Won the game. Tied the series. The turning point was the 6th inning. But in the fifth, with the score tied 1-1, Halifax got a lead-off double and then a home run. Cummings' magic had seemed to run out.

Yet in the top of the 6th, Will Byrd hit a two-out double. Jorge Reyes walked. And Carlos Campos. Yes, Carlos Campos, who is hitting .121 in the playoffs, lifted a 3-1 pitch into the leftfield seats. Cheyenne had taken the lead. And they put the game in the hands of their capable bullpen. Julio Garcia threw a scoreless inning. Javier Gomez pitched what should have been a scoreless inning, except that Byrd threw wildly on a steal attempt, allowing the runner to take third base with none out--a situation the Cowboys' opponent has had no trouble turning into a run.

So the score was tied 4-4 after seven.

In the eighth, Soto walked and promptly stole second. Thompson doubled him home. Gomez pitched another inning, a scoreless one. And in the ninth, Carl Reed added an insurance run via a solo HR. But Moosehead pitcher Corey Cantrell was wild, and Cheyenne took advantage of a couple of walks to score yet another run.

Frankie Howard pitched two innings yesterday, so the ninth went to Lee Martin who tidied up just fine. Final score: 7-4. Series tied 1-1. Now another plane ride back to Wyoming. Let's hope nothing happens to the bats on the way.