[illeracula]

Game 3 of the DelMarVa League Championships!!

We head into Dover with the series tied at 1. I was really hoping to have a 2-0 lead heading here, no DH and with Parker and Reilly on the hill. Not sure what is going to happen... so with no DH I am going to have to make some lineup changes. This may be tough, bats vs defense, with 2 runs on 18 innings, I am leaning towards bats... but all things will be considered... Pablo Frietas will not get the start today, it was between him and Derek Campbell, and I am leaning towards Campbell eventhough he has struggled. King Brock will start the game at 1B, with Mauro Candelaria playing SS, which means Augusto Rodriquez will start the game on the bench.
Kent Davis CF, Roberto Perez 3B, Jose Rodriquez RF, Derek Campbell LF, King Brock 1B, Mauro Candelaria SS, Ed Duke C, Jesus Rivera 2B
Looking at these guys and seeing 3 snow flakes doesn't make me feel good... I am taking a risk starting Candy at SS, he played 1 inning there all season.

The pitching match-up today is Joe Parker of the Cavaliers versus Gilberto Carrabello of the Generals. Parker, came on strong at the end of the year and finished with a 14-10 4.03 record. This is his 2nd post-season start, his previous was a 9+ inning gem in the Conference Championships. Carrabello went 14-9 3.36 on the season and is 1-0 in 2 starts this post-season, in his post-season career Carrabello is 1-3 4.06 in 6 starts. Joe Parker is a career .201-0-19 hitter in 209 AB's, Carrabello .194-0-19 in 284 AB's.

Inning 1
Top: Kent Davis singles to right. Roberto Perez strikes out. Jose Rodriquez grounds into the 4-6-3 DP.
Bottom: Pedro Galvan flies out to left. Joe Benson grounds out to short. Andy Kohl singles to center. Andres Salinas singles to left, moving Kohl to second. A wild pitch moves both runners up. Jesus Serna strikes out.
Norfolk 0, Dover 0

Inning 2
Top: Derek Campbell grounds out to third. King Brock grounds out to second. Mauro Candelaria grounds out to second.
Bottom: Claude Bond strikes out. Chris Thomas strikes out. Jose Chavez strikes out!
Norfolk 0, Dover 0

Inning 3
Top: Ed Duke walks. Jesus Rivera singles to right. Joe Parker lies down the perfect bunt, mvoing Duke to third and Rivera to second. Kent Davis grounds out to second. Duke scores, Rivera to third. Roberto Perez strikes out.
Bottom: Carrabello strikes out. Pedro Galvan flies out to center. Joe Benson grounds out to first.
Norfolk 1, Dover 0

Inning 4
Top: Jose Rodriquez grounds out 3-1. Derek Campbell strikes out swinging. King Brock singles to right. Mauro Candelaria grounds into the 6ua FC.
Bottom: Andy Kohl walks. Andres Salinas grounds into the 1-6-3 DP. Jesus Serna grounds out to short.
Norfolk 1, Dover 0

Inning 5
Top: Ed Duke singles to center. Jesus Rivera grounds into the 5-4 FC. Jesus Rivera steals second. Joe Parker singles up the middle, Rivera scores. Kent Davis flies out to left. Roberto Perez grounds out to second.
Bottom: Claude Bond grounds out to third. Chris Thomas grounds out to third. Jose Chavez singles to right. Carrabello strikes out.
Norfolk 2, Dover 0

Inning 6
Top: Jose Rodriquez walks. Derek Campbell grounds into a 6-4 FC. King Brock lines out to third. Mauro Candelaria grounds out to third.
Bottom: Pedro Galvan doubles. Joe Benson flies out to shallow center. Galvan gets gunned out trying to steal third. Andy Kohl singles to left. Kohl steals second. Andres Salinas strikes out.
Norfolk 2, Dover 0

Inning 7
Top: Ed Duke grounds to short. Jesus Rivera grounds to short. Joe Parker grounds to short.
Bottom: Jesus Serna walks. Claude Bond grounds into the 6-4-3 DP. Chris Thomas singles to left. Jose Chavez flies out to left.
Norfolk 2, Dover 0

Inning 8
Top: Kent Davis grounds out to third. Roberto Perez singles to right. Serna bobbles it, Perez goes to second... LHP Woody Bauer comes into pitch, Bauer replaces Bond, Pedro Morin to third bats 9th... Pablo Freitas PH's for Jose Rodriquez... Pablo Fretias flies out to center. Derek Campbell singles to left. Perez scores. King Brock strikes out.
Bottom: Freitas stays in the game to play left. Campbell heads to right. Candy goes to first and Augusto Rodriquez replaces King Brock in the lineup and will play SS... Pedro Morin grounds to short. Pedro Galvan grounds out to second. Joe Benson grounds out to second.
Norfolk 3, Dover 0

Inning 9
Top: Mauro Candelarai grounds out to second. Ed Duke grounds out to second. Jesus Rivera flies out to deep center.
Bottom: Andy Kohl flies out to center. Andres Salinas strikes out. Jose Serna HR's down the RF line... Joe Fiske will pinch hit for Woody Bauer... Dalton Whitaker enters the game to pitch... Fiske strikes out.
Norfolk 3, Dover 1
Norfolk leads the series 2-1

W: Joe Parker (1-0)
L: Gilberto Carrabello (0-1)
S: Dalton Whitaker (1)
HR: Jose Serna (1)

POG: Joe Parker 8.2 IP, 117 PI, 7 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K's
Attendance: 38,905

Notes: The Cav's only struck out 4 times, including 2 by last years MVP Roberto Perez... No player on the Cav's had more than one hit, they had 7 total... Andy Kohl lead the Generals with 2 of their 7 hits... The General struck out 9 times... each team left 4 men on base... The Generals had 2 XBH, the Cav's had none...

Key Moment: In the 5th inning, to mix things up, with the pitcher Joe Parker at-bat, the Cav's called for a hit-and-run. Parker swung and missed, but Rivera was safe at second. 2 pitches later, Parker singled in a huge insurance run.

Thoughts: My first thought is Joe Parker has been awesome this playoff season and hopefully the lack of an extension offer won't sway him from coming back to Norfolk. My guess is, however, is his solid performance is going to drive his price up out of our comfort zone... The offense continues to struggle this post season. Its getting pretty ugly out here. Goes to show you how important this pitching staff is... This was a huge win for us, at worse we will be tied with our #1 and #2 coming up. I am feeling much better after that game 2 defeat.