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2043 Championship Series - Wellington Fury vs Auckland Metros

Preview

Two NZ teams would contest the Championship for the 1st time since 2036. That year it was the Fury and the Cowboys, with the Fury victorious. This year the Fury were again in the mix. As in 2036, they got to the final show on the back of their pitching, with their starters the best in the league, and a bullpen that wasn’t too shabby either.

Auckland had completely dominated Cairns, who had the 2nd best starters in the competition behind Wellington, in their Division Finals, and most pundits predicted Auckland to do the same to Wellington. As a point of note: on top of their torrential offense, Auckland’s starters had the 4th best ERA across the regular season.

Regular season matchups: 8-4 Auckland.

Verdict: Auckland in 5

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Game 1

Ian Zglinicki (12-12, 3.67 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 1.31 WHIP) would take the mound for Wellington, while hometown hero Takashi the Tremendous (16-9, 3.79 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.23 WHIP) would be Auckland’s SP.

Both teams swapped runs in the 1st, but Auckland took the lead in the bottom of the 2nd with a 3-run flurry. Marcello Bond doubled to begin the inning, then came home an out later on Wally Stapleton’s single. Young 1B Terence Bansfield then lofted a 1-2 pitch over the centre-right fence for a 2-run HR.

Things stayed quiet until the bottom of the 5th, when Auckland flexed their offensive muscles. Harry Hancock walked to lead the inning off, Bill Makepeace singled, and Lewis also singled, loading the bases with no outs. Carson singled wide of the shortstop to score Hancock and Makepeace. That ended Zglinicki’s night (4.0IP, 10H, 1BB, 3K) but not his scorecard suffering. Reliever Dylan Oliver got Mike Wurfel to fly out, and Marcello Bond to ground out (Lewis scored off this play), but then walked Xavier Bartholomew to keep the inning going. Wally Stapleton singled home Carson, and then Terence Banfield slugged 1 to almost the exact same spot he’d hit his 1st HR, though this time his HR was a 3-run effort. When the dust had settled the Metros led 11-1, and Zglinicki had given up 8ER in his 4 innings.

Hwen-thiang Guo hit a solo HR in the 6th, but the Fury needed more than a run here and there. If Auckland hadn’t stamped the game as theirs already, they did so in the 6th, going single, single, 2-rbi triple, rbi-single, single, BB, F8, rbi-ground out U3, K to take the score to 15-2.

Martin Valentin hit another solo HR for the Fury in the 8th, and they loaded the bases with 2 outs in the top of the 9th, but Valentin hit a line drive directly to 2nd to end the game. 15-3 Auckland in a dominant display.

Takeuchi (6.1IP, 9H, 2ER, 0BB, 4K) got the win. Wellington had 12 hits but couldn’t convert their opportunities. For the Metros, Makepeace was 4-5, Carson 3-5 (including a triple) with 5RBI, and Bansfield, hitting at 9, was 2-4 with 6RBI and 1BB.

Game 2

Karl Bell (17-6, 2.62 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 1.10 WHIP) would go up against 22-game regular season winner Cain Blenkhorn.

Blenkhorn had trouble picking his spots in the top of the 1st, and Wellington went ground out (4-3), single, steal followed by rbi-double, rbi-single, caught stealing followed by K to go up 2-0. Auckland’s vaunted offense couldn’t get going, the score staying 2-0 until the top of the 6th when Valentin hit his 2nd HR of the series to make it 3-0. In the bottom of that inning Carson walked and came home on Wurfel’s double off the wall to make it 3-1.

Hopes of a comeback took a dive in the 7th when Wellington put together a 2-out rally (BB, single, rbi-single, 2-rbi double) to see the score go to 6-1. And that was how it remained, Wellington levelling the series with a strong defensive performance.

Blenkhorn (6.2IP, 8H, 4ER, 2BB, 6K) took the loss, while Bell (6.1IP, 5H, 1ER, 4BB, 5K) got the win, throwing 123 pitches in the process. Valentin picked up Player of the Game with a 3-5 performance, including that solo HR. He drove in half of Wellington’s runs.

Off-day

Wellington announced Martin Valentin had agreed to a buy-out of his arbitration years, signing a new 4-year contract. The 2041 Rookie of the Year was already a fan favourite. During the regular season he’d stolen 31 out of a possible 33 bases. His nickname of ‘Nervous’ apparently came from his running style, which teammates said made him “look like he was running for cover.”

Game 3

Adam Gillorn (15-7, 3.65 ERA, 3.77 FIP, 1.16 WHIP) would take the mound for Wellington’s first foray at home, while Stephen Snell (12-8, 3.67 ERA, 4.34 FIP, 1.09 WHIP) was Auckland’s choice.

Both pitchers looked settled through the 1st, though Snell gave up a 2-out double to Stennings. Carson led off the 2nd with a double over the rightfielder’s head, and came home off a Wurfel single. Wurfel stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on a deep fly to left, and then came home on a regulation fly to centre, diving in ahead of the throw. His baserunning in this inning would prove to be pivotal.

Auckland’s offense dried up completely after that, while Hobart had regular opportunities with few outs but couldn’t make anything of them. In the 5th Olivier Despres hit a solo HR to make it a 1-run ballgame, but both teams then retreated back into their shells, the pitchers owning the diamond.

In the bottom of the 9th, with Mauro Contreras facing his 1st postseason save opportunity, Valentin led off with a single. Then Sam Stubbs ground into a 6-4-3 double play. Guo kept the inning alive with a single past short, but Jarod Dwyer could only hit a regulation fly to right. 2-1 Auckland.

Gillorn (6.2IP, 3H, 2ER, 2BB, 7K) was superb but ultimately tagged with the loss, while Snell (7.0IP, 5H, 1ER, 2BB, 5K) was also good, and his relievers held their nerve to get him the W.

Game 4

Kelvin Ziersch (11-10, 3.45 ERA, 4.17 FIP, 1.25 WHIP) would start for Wellington, while Auckland put seasoned ace back Takeuchi on the mound on limited rest, hoping to secure themselves a 2-game advantage.

Back-to-back Lewis and Carson doubles gave Auckland a run in the top of the 1st, but Wellington equalized immediately, Christos Hutchinson leading off the bottom of the inning with a triple and scoring off the following Al Merritt single. Both pitchers exchanged blows, with Wellington going ahead in the 3rd via double, ground-out (5-3), ground-out (4-3), rbi-single, ground-out (5-3).

Both pitchers continued to duel, with Takeuchi coming off after 6. He’d allowed 5 hits, 1BB for 2ER, striking out 3. Wellington almost got something going against his replacement, Brendon Knopp, but fell just short. Ziersch was replaced after 7 (6H, 1ER, 3BB, 4K), and 3 Fury relievers combined to complete the 8th inning on just 4 pitches.

Jeremy Malone came out in the top of the 9th, the home fans cheering him on enthusiastically. He hit the 1st batter of the inning, Bond, and then gave up a single to Bartholomew. Stapleton hit a grounder to the right of 1B Dermott Gillett, who got across easily enough and threw to 2nd, looking for the DP. Unfortunately, his throw was wild, and by the time the LF had tidied up Bond had scored to level the game, Bartholomew was on 3rd and Stapleton on 2nd. Next up, Bansfield cracked one deep to left-centre. Fly out, but deep enough to score Bartholomew uncontested. Malone was pulled and it didn’t take an expert lip-reader to decipher he wasn’t happy.

His replacement got the final 2 outs, and Contreras marched out to the mound, alternately warming and blowing on his pitching hand. Sam Stubbs surrendered on 2 pitches with a shallow fly to centre. Jarod Dwyer hit the 1st pitch of his AB weakly towards the hole at 2nd for a regulation 4-3 ground out. Despres popped up high on the infield. SS Bill Makepeace waved everyone else away and took the catch to end the game. 2-1 Auckland to put them 1 win away from the Championship!

Game 5

Zglinicki v Blenkhorn. The Metros had only used 3 starters so far in the series.

Once again, Auckland attacked Zglinicki from the outset. Hancock opened the game with a single, then scored off Makepeace’s extra-deep double. Makepeace continued Auckland’s trend of aggressive baserunning, advancing to 3rd on Lewis’s deep fly out into leftfield foul territory. Carson hit a regulation grounder to 2nd, but Makepeace was crossing homeplate at the same time the ball was hitting the gloves of the 1B.

The Metros scored 2 more in the 2nd, Bartholomew hitting a solo HR, and then later Stapleton scoring with the bases loaded thanks to a balk call. Zglinicki did not like that one!

Meanwhile, Blenkhorn was pitching like someone who had one hand on the Hurler of the Year trophy, the bats of the Fury hitters seemingly made of rubber. The score stayed 4-0 until the 7th, when Auckland went double, rbi-double (seeing off Zglinicki), single, runner scores off throwing error on steal attempt and stealer advances to 3rd, rbi-single, 2-run HR (Lewis), making it 9-0.

In the bottom of the 7th, Stennings doubled to be only the 2nd baserunner Blenkhorn had allowed all night, but the next 3 batters couldn’t get the ball out of the infield. Blenkhorn was replaced by Knopp in the 8th. The 1st batter he faced drove 1 to the wall at left, but Lewis pulled off a leaping catch to keep it in the yard. As if cowed, the next 2 hitters popped out and struck out respectively. Knopp stayed on the mound for the 9th, and finished the game on 8 pitches (5-3, K, 4-3). 9-0 Auckland, capping off a convincing Championship victory!

Blenkhorn (7.0IP, 2H, 0ER, 0BB, 6K) was nearly untouchable, while Zglinicki (6.0IP, 7H, 6R, 5ER, 0BB, 1K) was better than in Game 1, but only by a yard, not a mile.

Series Awards

Hurler of the Series: Cain Blenkhorn (1-1, 13.2IP, 10H, 4ER, 2BB, 12K) won this award on the back of his Championship-sealing performance in Game 5.

Slugger of the Series: Terence Bansfield. .389/.400/.833, 2 doubles, 2HR.