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THE ISLANDIAN TIMES
Saturday, September 22, 2046
2046 IPA DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - Game 4
Ruthlandian Union
SNAPPERS SHOCK SUGAR VALLEY WITH SWEEP
There will be a new king in IPA baseball circles - the one-year reign is over for the Sugar Valley Rattlers - they were shockingly dethroned in four games by the Rocky Rapids Snappers... for the second time in the Ruthlandian Division Series, the Snappers stunned the Rattlers 4-3 with late-inning exploits... they rallied from a 3-1 ninth-inning deficit when Jose Ramos (.438) boomed a two-run homer to knot it up at 3-3... Don Carpenter (.200) followed Ramos with a single, stole second base, advanced to third on a deep fly, then tagged up and scored the eventual winning run on another very deep drive by pinchhitter Denny Thornton... Sugar Valley also lost game one in a similar fashion... the Rattlers blew a 2-0 lead in the eighth inning and were beaten 4-3.
30-game winner Jamie Taylor wasn't at his best, but he had enough to finish off the Rattlers... Taylor (2-0/2.65) allowed nine hits, but only three runs in eight innings... Steve Owens worked a perfect ninth for his second save of the series... reliever Domenico Renterias (0-1) was the victim of the ninth-inning uprising and was tagged with the loss... he gave up three runs on three hits... Sugar Valley starter Antonio Cedeno staked the Rattlers to a 3-1 lead after eight innings... he was superb, stopping the Snappers on just one run and three hits, striking out five and walking one... but Renterias couldn't hold it for him.
Rocky Rapids was outhit 9 to 6 by Sugar Valley... in addition to Ramos' crucial clout, LF Buddy Hamilton (.182) also went deep in the sixth inning... LF Bobby Gamble (.438) had two hits for the Rattlers, including a solo home run, and 1B James Milton (.438) went 4 for 4.
Winning manager Hank Bethel was beaming after the game, telling reporters, "I'll take a sweep every time, but we sure didn't expect it... we got the crucial hits and they didn't... it could very easily be 2-2 at this point."
Player-manager Bobby Gamble was downcast and dismayed at the outcome saying, "This is a hard loss to take... our expectations were to win back-to-back Pro Cups... and we had a good shot at repeating... everything was a go for us...not wanting to take anything away from the Snappers - they swept us - but the series was closer than that - a few scattered hits and we could still be playing."
VIPERS ZAP DIAMONDS 6-3 BEHIND SIRAK
Primo Sirak was in prime form in game four of the Ruthlandian Division Series at Avalon Stadium in Claxton... the Valmara ace took his second straight verdict over the Diamonds, zapping them 6-3 and giving the Vipers a 3-1 edge in the best-of-seven series... going the distance Sirak (2-0/1.00) fanned four, walked two and held Claxton to three runs on six hits... LF Jacek Prusak (.308) led the Viper 10-hit attack with two hits and a two-run homer... 2B Ken Jensen (.353), RF Jimmy Logan (.429) and 3B Jose Vargas (.500) all added two hits apiece in the win... topping Claxton were 1B Jojo DeLucca (.214) and C Darrell Welborn (.364), each with a solo homer.
In a bad outing, Abe Schiffman (0-2/4.30) lost to the Vipers again... they battered him for six runs and 8 hits in seven-plus innings... he was behind 5-2 when he departed.
Tycobbian Union
SUNSETS LIGHT UP HELLCATS 9-4, SERIES TIED
Summerland, known for super pitching, got some mighty help at the plate with 14 hits in a 9-4 triumph over Hartsdale at Sunset Stadium to tie the Tycobbian Division Series at two games each... it was the Sunsets' second consecutive win at home after two straight losses in Hartsdale.
3B Alex Abbotson (.462) rifled three hits, scored three times and walloped a home run to spark the Sunsets... SS Mark Brenneke (.250) also helped out with three hits and two runs... LF Tony Vargas (.231) doubled and singled and drove in three runs... C Adriano Lupoli (.154) also homered, went 2-for-4, scored a run and drove in one... RF Rick Mayes (.176) put up two hits, one of them a two-bagger, and scored a run.
Hartsdale hammered 11 hits, led by RF Emilian Burgess (.375) with a three-run roundtripper in the third that put the Hellcats ahead 3-1 early... Summerland took charge with four runs in the fifth... Pete Ashley (1-0) got the victory, but had to throw a lot of pitches... he departed ahead 7-3 after seven innings... Ashley surrenedered three runs on nine hits with four walks and four Ks... Billy King worked two frames and allowed one run on two hits in the eighth... King quickly retired the Hellcats on four pitches in the ninth to seal the verdict.
After blanking the Sunsets 6-0 in the series' opener, 28-game winner Gil Younger (1-1/3.86) performed poorly in game four... the weak-hitting Sunsets slammed him for six runs and eight hits in five innings.
RED SOX ROUT WILDCATS 9-4, SERIES EVEN AT 2-2
For the second successive game, the Red Bluff batters lived up to their helfty reputations and battered the Kenwood Wildcats 9-4 to capture game four of the TU Division Series and even it up at two games apiece... the Red Sox lost the first two games at home and have rebounded on the road and gotten back in the series... Kenwood pitching mastered them 3-2 and 5-1 in the first two games.
Leading the Red Sox was superstud slugger RF David Kelso (.500) with three RBIs, three runs and three hits, including a pair of doubles... Red Bluff ripped Kenwood starter Tommy Carter (0-1/6.52) unmercifully for seven runs in the first two innings... the win went to Jud Cox (1-0/2.16), who went all the way, permitting eight hits and four funs, fanning five and giving up no walks... Cox (.429) helped his own cause with a homer and a single and scored twice... 3B Fran Blanchard (.333) doubled in two runs... LF Jesse Shaw (.421) scored twice and had a pair of hits... and CF Ike Sweetwater (.250) scored two runs.
1B Aldon Belew (.286) paced the Wildcats with two hits and two runs batted in... Belew got only home run for Kenwood... C Corky DiNozzo (.111) and 2B Country Crowder (.438) chipped in with two hits apiece.
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