[illeracula]

Game 1 of the DelMarVa League Championships!!
Roster Changes: I made 2 changes on the roster going into the Championship round. I removed Sun Ho and placed Ron Reilly on the roster. Reilly will get his opportunity to pitch in Game 4... I also placed Javier Janchez on the 15-day DL and added Cody Johnson to the roster. It was between Cody Johnson and Yasutoki Ine and I went with Johnson because he plays 4 positions well, Ine 1. Johnson hasn't hit much, but he gives us a viable defender.

Pitching Rotation:
Miguel Contereras will go in Game 1, followed by Jose Matos, Joe Parker and Ron Reilly. We are rested and set up with our best rotation.

Line up: I am going to go with the lineup I used the last 2 games of the last series, which meanns Jose Rodriquez will start the game on the bench. We have home field advantage, games 3,4 and 5 the DH will not be used. This might hurt us. The only change when a lefty is on the hill will be Julio Romero behind the plate, we lose some D, but gain some O.

Dover Generals
The Generals are missing their Ace (Jerry Copeland 16-9 3.17), so that is in our favor. Tony Garcia looks to be the game 1 starter. Tony is a lefty, the only left, then we face Jose Velasquez who is their #2 man and a tough one. He finished the season 19-6 with a 3.61 ERA. Their close is ex-Cav Jack Clow is seems to find himself in the Championship series quite often. This is his 4th appearance in the Champsionship round (out of 5), he has won 1 time. (at the time of this write-up Garcia was slotted for game 1, that changed and Velasquez will get the call).

The lineup for the Generals has 3 guys that can make a difference. The first is Pedro Galvan. Pedro stole 80 bases this season and postes a .375 OBP. The next is their #4 hitter Andres Salinas, he has a lot of pop and is very consistent, and he doesn't like to strike out (65 times in 561 PA's). The final guy and most dangerous is Andy Kohl. Kohl is a catcher, who tremendous power (19/20) and was the #1 rated prospect 3 years ago. Kohl hit .322-41-117 this season and .313-42-119 last season. He could be a difference maker.

The Series:
Predicted Pitching Match-ups
Jose Velasquez (19-6 3.61) vs Miguel Contreras (23-2 1.61)
Tony Garcia (15-13 4.20) vs Jose Matos (23-5 2.75)
Gilberto Carabello (14-9 3.36) vs Joe Parker (14-10 4.03)
Cho-Yeong An (9-7 3.23) vs Ron Reilly (12-10 4.42)

How they Match up:
Record: Dover 99-63 vs Norfolk 111-48
Home/Road: Dover 52-29/47-34 vs Norfolk 58-23/56-25
Runs Scored: Dover 802 (3rd in DC) vs Norfolk (957 2nd in MC)
Runs Against: Dover 657 (3rd in DC) vs Norfolk (568 1st in MC)
Championship Appearances: Dover 1st vs Norfolk 3rd

Due to a scheduling blip, there was no interleauge play this season. So coming into the Champsionships this will be the first time the teams meet, including spring training.

Lets Play Ball!!

I really wanted to start Jose Rodriquez today, but I just have no where in the lineup for him. He should get in later in the game, however.

Game 1 in Norfolk (NFK: 53.92%)
Inning 1:
Top: Pedro Galvan grounds out to short. Joe Benson strikes out. Andy Kohl strikes out.
Bottom: Kent Davis strikes out. Roberto Perez grounds out to second. Mauro Candelaria flies out to right.
Dover 0, Norfolk 0

Inning 2:
Top: Andres Salinas grounds out to short. Jesus Serna grounds out to short. Claude Bond strikes out.
Bottom: Derek Campbell grounds out to the pitcher. Pablo Freitas singles to left. Freitas steals second. King Brock pops out to second. Ed Duke walks. Jesus Rivera strikes out swining.
Dover 0, Norfolk 0

Inning 3:
Top: Chris Thomas strikes out. Jon Fiske strikes out. Jose Chavez doubles down the left-field line. Pedro Galvan strikes out.
Bottom: Augusto Rodriquez singles to left. Kent Davis grounds to short on the hit-and-run, Rodriquez moves to second. Roberto Perez flies out to left. Mauro Candelaria grounds out to second.
Dover 0, Norfolk 0

Inning 4:
Top: Joe Benson grounds out to the pitcher. Andy Kohl strikes out. Andres Salins strikes out.
Bottom: Derek Campbell grounds to short. Pablo Freitas strikes out. King Brock grounds out 3-1.
Dover 0, Norfolk 0

Inning 5:
Top: Jesus Serna grounds out to third. Claude Bond grounds out to third. Chris Thomas strikes out.
Bottom: Ed Duke flies out to center. Jesus Rivera gets hit by the pitch. Augusto Rodriquez grounds out to short on the run-and-hit, Rivera moves to second. Kent Davis grounds to third.
Dover 0, Norfolk 0

Inning 6:
Top: Jon Fiske grounds out back to the pitcher. Jose Chavez singles up the middle. Pedro Galvan grounds into the 1-6 FC. Joe Benson grounds to second for the FC.
Bottom: Roberto Perez strikes out. Mauro Candelaria flies out to right. Derek Campbell singles to center. Campbell is gunned down trying to steal.
Dover 0, Norfolk 0

Inning 7:
Top: Andy Kohl strikes out. Andres Salinas strikes out. Jesus Serna strikes out.
Bottom: Pablo Freitas strikes out. King Brock grounds out 1-3. Ed Duke reaches on an error by the short-stop Galvan. Ed Duke gets picked off.
Dover 0, Norfolk 0

Inning 8:
Top: Claude Bond grounds to short. Chris Thomas grounds out 1-3. Jon Fiske grounds out to short.
Bottom: LHP Woody Bauer comes in to pitch for Dover... Jesus Rivera greats him with a lead-off triple. Augusto Rodriquez reachs on a fielding error when firstbaseman Benson drops the ball. Rivera scores. Kent Davis strikes out. Roberto Perez singles up the middle. Rodriquez to second. Mauro Candelaria singles down the right-field line. Rodriquez scores. Perez to second. Derek Campbell strikes out. The runners move up on a passed-ball by Kohl. Perez to third, Candy to second. Pablo Freitas grounds out to short.
Dover 0, Norfolk 2

Inning 9:
Top: Jose Chavez singles to right... Dalton Whitaker begins to throw... Pedro Galvan strikes out. Joe Benson grounds into the 5-4 FC. Andy Kohl singles to left. Benson moves to second. Andres Salinas grounds into the 5-4 FC to end the game.
Dover 0, Norfolk 2
Norfolk leads the series 1-0

W: Migule Contreras 1-0
L: Woddy Bauer 0-1

POG: Miguel Contreras CG 9 inning shutout. 4 hits, 0 walks, 13 K's
Attendance: 43,760

Notes: Miguel Contreras struck out 13, which looks to be a playoff record. He threw 106 pitches, 70 strikes... Of the 4 hits, the Generals #9 hitter Jose Chavez had 3 of them, including the lone XB hit a double... Andy Kohl had the other hit for the Generals, but he also struck out 3 times... The Cav's had 6 hitters get a single hit. The only extra base hit was the triple by Rivera... Jose Velasquez did everything he could of, going 7 innings giving up 3 hits, 1 walk, 1 HBP and striking out 5. He threw 103 pitches.

Key Moment: The key moment was the lead-off triple by Jesus Rivera in the 8th. He scored the go ahead and winning run on an error, which lead to an insurance run being scored

Thoughts: These games drive me crazy. One mistake and the games goes the other way. When Chavez doubled with 2-outs to flip the lineup I got a little nervous. Its nice having a guy like Contreras on the hill. He can take things into his own hands... Jesus Rivera was almost a late game pull, so I could get Jose Rodriquez in the line-up. It worked out for the best. Something about looking at that line-up card and seeing the snow-flake by Rodriquez gave me a change of heart... We took game 1, beat their ace, and we have Matos on the hill for game 2. I am feeling good. I would really like to see more out of our offense though. Cold streaks in the playoffs never end well, so hopefully we can put up some hits in game 2. The good thing is, it looks like Garcia the lefty will be on the hill. We performed very good against lefties this season, so I am feeling good about our chances.

Post Game Reaction to the Shutout:
Dover Draws Blanks Against Contreras: "He was kind of teasing them with his off-speed stuff, and his fastball was moving everywhere," the Norfolk skipper said after Miguel Contreras shut out the Dover Generals 2-0 on a 4-hit masterpiece. Contreras registered 13 strikeouts and issued no walks in a gem of a performance. "We just didn't swing the bats very well...or he just pitched good, whichever way you want to look at it," said the Dover manager after the defeat.