[ArquimedezPozo]

Game 1: Firebirds Defeat Crawfords, 7-6 in Phoenix
Our first walk-off win of October featured a comeback for the ages, as the home team was down 6-2 coming into the 8th. The Crawfords hit Kerry Chumley hard, scoring one in the second on a Ben Floyd solo shot and another in the 4th on a Doug Jagger shot, before opening it up with two consecutive two run innings in the 6th and 7th, including another Ben Floyd homer. For Pittsburgh, Joel Ortiz was outstanding for the first seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on just three hits and two walks, while striking out ten. But after a pitch count higher than any he’d had all season, the youngster left with the lead. Closer Carlos Hernandez came in, but Phoenix greeted him with a three run eighth to pull within one, courtesy of a Matt West homer with Matt Armstrong and Andy Pearson on base. Hernandez returned for the ninth only to watch his second pitch of the inning drilled by Fred Levang into the seats to tie it up. Matt Hahn came in to try to salvage the tie, but Phoenix manufactured the winning run on a Matt Armstrong walk, a stolen base, and an RBI bloop single with two outs that brought Armstrong all the way around into the celebration.

Game 2: Firebirds (2) Defeat Crawfords (0), 4-2 in Phoenix
Phoenix has put Pittsburgh in a hole early, with a 4-2 victory that was easier than the score makes it sound. A two run homer by Matt Armstrong in the first set the tone against Karunamaya Nema, while Dustin Gaba established himself quickly with a 1-2-3 first that included two strikeouts. Phoenix added another in the fifth on singles by Brandon Murrell and Fred Levang, and an Armstrong sacrifice fly, then a fourth in the seventh inning on an RBI fielder’s choice. Pittsburgh got on the board with a Mark Butler solo shot off Gaba in the 6th, and added a final run after a triple by C Moises Cordova that scored Doug Jagger, but that was all they had in them, so they come back to Pittsburgh with a 2-0 deficit to face.

Game 3: Phoenix Firebirds (3) Defeat Pittsburgh Crawfords (0), 2-0 in Pittsburgh
Phoenix is a win away from their first franchise championship after a masterful 7 innings of shutout ball from Roberto Cabrera. Cabrera allowed only three hits and walked one while striking out three. Ryan Goldy pitched well, going five and two thirds with five hits and eight Ks, but Phoenix got to him in the sixth with a Matt Armstrong RBI single scoring Dave Reyes from second. Craig White added insurance with a leadoff seventh inning homer. Bob Paul tweaked his back in warmup tosses, so it was Jason Gamble who came in to close it out, finishing the Firebirds’ third win and giving them the commanding position of a 3-0 series lead.

Game 4: Crawfords (1) Defeat Firebirds (3), 4-2 in Pittsburgh
Alive! He Pittsburgh home crowd got to see something some of them never thought they would: their team win a Championship Series game at home. That was the good news; the bad news is that the team still faces the steepest of climbs, down 3-1 in the series. This particular game was over quick, as all scoring was completed by the mid-4th inning; Pittsburgh scored two in the first and two in the second off Mike Foster. A two-run Mark Butler double made it 2-0 early, and a rally in the second saw runs score off a Nate Pettigrew double and a Nick Nissen single. Foster settled in after that, and didn’t allow another hit for the rest of the game, but the damage had been done. Phoenix managed two runs on an Alex Rivera homer after a Matt Armstrong triple, but the Firebirds couldn’t muster anything else off Gary Stophel and Carlos Hernandez. So Pittsburgh lives to fight another day, and try to send this series back to Phoenix.

Game 5: Firebirds (4) Defeat Crawfords (1), 7-3 in Pittsburgh
The Phoenix Firebirds are champions, at long last. The long-time also-rans won the Division 4 Championship after two failed appearances and more than 30 years of attempts, and will almost certainly be heading back to Division 3 after the 2039 season. The Pittsburgh Crawfords, meanwhile, have finally tasted a Championship Series, though they too now must wait another year. Matt Armstrong, a possible D4 MVP, won the Championship Series MVP trophy with a .375/.476/.938 line, two homers, and 5 RBI in the series.

For a while, it looked like this game would be headed back to the desert. Phoenix scored off Joel Ortiz in the third on a single and an RBI double from Alfredo Vega, but Pittsburgh pulled ahead in the fifth. Doug Jagger led off the inning with a double off Kerry Chumley, and Moises Cordova singled him in ahead of a walk to Gary Stophel that put men on first and second. Chumley got two outs, but then gave up two straight RBI singles to Nick Nissen and Manny Rodriguez to bring Pittsburgh’s lead to 3-0. Joel Ortiz, meanwhile, had settled in, and was dealing: after six, he’d allowed one run on two hits, three walks, and five strikeouts. But in the top of the seventh he allowed a solo homer to Armstrong, cutting the lead to one; he finished the inning, but left in favor of Carlos Hernandez in the 8th. Hernandez was greeted by a game-tying Alfredo Vega homer, erasing Pittsburgh’s last lead of the series; in the top of the ninth, pinch hitter Tom Taiclet hit his first and only pitch out to right to put Phoenix up by one, and after two singles and a walk, Fred Levang’s double plated two to complete the scoring at 6-3. Jason Gamble came in for the bottom of the ninth, and had a bit of a scare with two outs as Cordova and Stophel both singled. Nate Pettigrew battled Gamble to a full count, but froze on a low fastball that caught the outside corner at the knees, ending the game and the series. Pettigrew walked off slowly as Gamble leapt into C Justin Lake’s arms and was mobbed by his team.

Congratulations, finally, to the Phoenix Firebirds, 2038 Division 4 Champions!