[jksander]

October 26, 1871: Homefield advantage is a real thing in these wildcard series, as the home team will play the first three games on their field -- so it’s possible for the team with the best record to sweep without ever having to travel into enemy territory! We packed our home field with fans for game one this afternoon, facing the Birdseye Baseball Club, against whom we were 2-2 this season, splitting both our home and away series. Bjornson took the mound in game one, and the game started out as a razor-sharp battle of wills, neither team breaking through early. We scored first in the bottom of the fourth, bases loaded, when Ryan Carl pulled off a squeeze bunt that scored Centeno from third! A passed ball allowed a second run to score, giving us a 2-0 advantage as we headed into the top of the fifth. We loaded the bases again in the bottom of the fifth, scoring two runs off a single by Graham that was aided by an E9 throwing error, and Carl added on with an RBI single to make it a 5-0 lead. They got on the board in the top of the sixth with an RBI single, adding a second run off a groundout to first, but we held them back from there to maintain our advantage. But things got dangerous in the top of the eighth, as they got two runs off a single by left fielder Fausto Bertolini, cutting the margin to one with just one out. We brought Joe McDonald out to pitch in the top of the ninth, still leading by a run, and with two outs and a man on first, they tied the game with a well-placed double into center by shortstop Brent Strohm, making this a 5-5 ballgame. They took the lead when their next batter reached first on an E6 error, and we went into the bottom of the inning needing some offense. It wasn’t forthcoming, and we lost this one in a heartbreaking way, 6-5. Bjornson lasted eight innings with six hits, a walk and four runs (three earned), but McDonald couldn’t hold it -- he got a blown save and the loss, allowing two hits, and two runs (one earned) while we were outhit 8-7. Ismael Chinea led our scoring fight with two hits, a walk and a run.

In the other games of the day, home team Holland beat Evansville in an 8-0 reaming and St. Meinrad easily defeated Princeton 10-4. But Elberfeld upset Fort Branch 3-1, making the home teams 2-2 on day one.

October 27, 1871: With Glen Cadenhead on the mound for game two, things did not start out smoothly. With one out, Birdseye took the lead when an E8 error after a groundball single let their shortstop Strohm score. An E7 error moments later allowed a single by third baseman Jose Tovar to score their runner from second and give them a solid 2-0 before most fans had found their seats, thanks to three errors in one half of an inning. They added on three more in the third inning, while we didn’t even get a hit in the first three innings. Phil Pratt, their catcher, hit a solo homer in the fourth to pile on, and this one became a rout quickly ... if we couldn’t find some way to start scoring, it was going to be done before we even got going. We came up to hit in the bottom of the fourth trailing 7-0 and our fans were really letting us hear it ... plenty of catcalls and boos coming from the stands. Musselman led off with a double into center, stole third, and a sac-fly by Chinea did finally get us on the board. Cadenhead helped leave a pair stranded in the top of the fifth, but we couldn’t get our offense going at all! They added on two runs in the sixth and this one was out of control. Musselman got a single and two stolen bases in the bottom of the sixth, scoring off a sac-fly by Chinea, but again we weren’t able to turn it into a rally. We brought out David Rosenberger in the top of the seventh trailing by seven runs, and they hammered us from there, turning this one into an absolute embarassment as we lost 12-3. Cadenhead took the loss, lasting six innings with 12 hits, a walk and nine runs, seven of them earned, while we got outhit 17-5 ... excruciatingly bad all around. Only Musselman came out looking good, with two hits, three stolen bases, two hits and an RBI.

Holland held tough and beat Evansville 4-2 to take a 2-0 lead in their series, while Fort Branch beat Elberfeld 6-5 to even theirs. Princeton upset St. Meinrad 5-2 to even their series, and things are really starting to heat up as the temperatures drop in southern Indiana.

October 28, 1871: It’s win or we’re done heading into this game, as Bjornson came out to pitch in front of nearly 1,300 of our fans under clear skies in our final home game -- win tonight and we get the opportunity to travel up the road to Birdseye and see if we can keep this alive. But we’ve dug a deep hole, and coming out of it will be a difficult challenge. Chinea got us on the board in the bottom of the first with a solo homer out of right field, and we loaded the bases on one out in the bottom of the third, capitalizing with a an RBI single by Steve Hopkins! A sac-fly by Centeno made it a 3-0 lead heading into the top of the fourth, but they picked up a pair of runs off a flyball single by first baseman Alex Gonzalez and this game became a tight battle. Bjornson let them load the bases with one out in the top of the sixth, but we stranded all three runners as we held our 3-2 lead. We were able to add on in the bottom of the inning when Musselman reached on an E5 error that scored Alegre from third, but they got a run back in the top of the seventh to keep us sweating. We stranded a pair in the bottom of the seventh, failing to add on runs to our thin lead, but with one out in the bottom of the eighth we loaded the bases and we scored two runs off a single by Hopkins to extend our lead to three! We unleashed from there, adding on seven more runs, giving us a 10-run lead in the top of the ninth. Bjornson closed it out perfectly and we won with ease 13-3! He allowed just six hits, a walk and three runs (two earned) while striking out a pair, and we outhit them 16-6, behind three hits, a walk, a run and three RBIs from Hopkins. Musselman added two hits, a walk, a steal, two runs and two RBIs.

There will be no sweeps in this series, as Holland fell to Evansville 5-4 in game three of their series. Fort Branch defeated Elberfeld 4-3 to take a 2-1 series lead, while Princeton pulled their second upset in a row to take a 2-1 lead over St. Meinrad with a 9-4 blowout performance.

October 30, 1871: Bjornson had yesterday to rest and we need our ace in another do-or-die affair, this time on the road in Birdseye. Musselman got us going with a hit and a pair of steals, scoring on two outs when Centeno hit a single into right. Centeno scored moments later when Chris Johnston hit a single into deep right, an E9 error allowing him to come around from third to slide home! But Birdseye fought back in the bottom of the second, scoring three runs to take the lead, and we knew this was gonna be a dogfight the rest of the way. We tied it up in the top of the third when Alex Centeno grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, scoring Chinea from third, and in the top of the fourth Musselman hit a one-out RBI single that drove in a pair to give us a 5-3 lead! Musselman batted in some insurance in the top of the eighth with a single into right, taking second as Ryan Carl scored from third to extend our lead to three runs, but they got a run back in the bottom of the inning to keep it within two. Alegre scored in the top of the ninth thanks to an E4 error, and a single by Carl coupled with an E8 error helped us extend our lead to four. Bjornson batted in a run with a single as we piled on, and we went into the bottom of the inning with a five-run cushion. Bjornson held it, and we won 9-4, guaranteeing us a chance at a winner-takes-all game five! Bjornson pitched a complete game with seven hits, a strikeout and four runs (three earned) to give him a 2-0 record and a 2.77 ERA through 26 innings. Musselman had three hits, two steals, a run and three RBIs, as he’s hitting .350 so far in the playoffs with six stolen bases without being caught!

Holland defeated Evansville 5-4, winning their wildcard series three games to one. But the other two series will also go to game five -- Elberfeld beat Fort Branch 10-5 as the series shifted to their field, and St. Meinrad stole a game at Princeton 5-4 to extend that series as well. Lots of great baseball so far as we inch toward November.

October 31, 1871: Happy All Hallows Eve, everyone, we’re getting a game five! Glen Cadenhead pitched for us today, and he had a 2-0 cushion from the moment he threw his first pitch thanks to a two-run homer by Ismael Chinea in the top of the first. We added on a run in the top of the third, and were cruising along when Musselman was injured in the bottom of the seventh while making a throw from center to third ... and the runner was safe too! With runners on the corners and two outs we were able to get out of the inning without a run scoring, but we’d lost our offensive sparkplug. That didn’t stop us from adding on in the top of the ninth with an RBI single by Danny Graham, and moments later Ismael Chinea nearly started a riot when he hit a grand slam home run out of left to extend our shutout lead to eight. Cadenhead couldn’t hold on to the shutout, giving them four quick runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and as we hurried to warm a bullpen arm, they scored a fifth off a double by third baseman Jose Tovar ... a wild pitch advanced Tovar to third, but finally, mercifully, we got the last out in center field and won this one 8-5, advancing to the next playoff round! Cadenhead completed the game but allowed 13 hits, a walk and five earned runs after coming into the ninth inning with just eight hits against him. They outhit us in the end 13-12, but Chinea’s grand slam gave him three hits, two runs and six runs batted in and helped us build a big enough cushion to survive the ninth-inning near-meltdown.

Elberfeld capped an incredible run by beating Fort Branch 6-4, becoming the first underdog to win a wildcard series! But St. Meinrad held tough to win 6-2 over Princeton, so our biggest competitor remains alive in these playoffs after taking their series three games to two. Out of four series, three favorites won out, including us coming back from down two games.

Musselman has a sprained ankle, and will be day to day for at least five days. We’re going to have to replace him in the lineup with Bubba Masiello, who has experience at center field with his solid catching arm ... but we’re going to be at a disadvantage both in fielding and minus Musselman’s incredible speed on the bases as we head into the next round to face Holland Baseball Club in a best of seven series.