LA CLAIRE OUTSCORES WHITE RIVER TO SWEEP HIGH-SCORING TU TITLE SERIES; LYNX HEADS TO PRO CUP SERIES AGAINST DEFENDING CHAMP VALMARA
A low-scoring 7-game duel was forecast for the Tycobbian Union Title Series between two clubs that specialize in pitching. La Claire and White River thrive and prosper on their strong pitching staffs. But nothing of the sort happened. The Lynx outscored the Rascals 30 to 24 in the 4-game sweep. The starters were pounded on both sides. It was the bullpen along with the bats that prevailed for La Claire. White River lost all four hotly-contested games, but they could have easily turned the table on La Claire and swept them. It was a highly entertaining series. The Lynx were the choice to prevail and they did --- just barely --- It was not a one-sided series.
Leading the Lynx attack were center fielder Bill Gallagher (.318 BA/2 HR/7 RBI), second baseman Rick Wall (.316 BA/2 HR/7 RBI), right fielder Judah Pickens (.381 BA/2 RBI) and first baseman Dennis Culpepper (.318 BA/2 RBI). Relievers Jerry Miller, Billy Ray Troxell and Clayton Benedix posted a fine 2.16 ERA in 25 innings. In contrast the four starters spiraled to a lofty 5.25 ERA in 60 innings. During the regular season the La Claire starters were 5th in the Tycobbian Union with a 3.28 ERA. White River put up an impressive 3.03 ERA, 2nd best in the TU behind the Summerland Sunsets' 2.90 ERA. Overall, La Claire's mound corps chalked up an overall 3.24 ERA and ranked third.
In series opener at Capitol Park Stadium in La Claire, the Lynx trailed early 4-0, but then took charge and jumped ahead 9-4 at the end of 6 innings. La Claire just barely staved off White River 10-9. Billy Ray Troxell finally put away the Rascals by holding them scoreless in the 9th. The Lynx bashed 13 hits, led by Bill Gallagher's 3-run homer. Judah Pickens drilled a game-winning single in the bottom of the 8th. He paced them with 3 hits. Dennis Culpepper, David Glascock, Gino Manda and Rick Wall all added 2 hits each in the win.
Sanity returned in the second game. The blistering bats cooled down a bit. La Claire had to go 13 innings to take its second in a row at home. Judah Pickens was the hero again with a RBI double to give the Lynx a 4-3 triumph. Starter Shuggie Garsett tossed the first 5 frames and held White River to 2 runs on 3 hits. Paul Unruh tossed 3 shutout innings and winner Jerry Miller (1-0/1.29 ERA) closed it out with 4 runless frames. Rascal starter Mike Stanford matched Garsett with 5 innings, 2 hits and 2 runs. The White River bullpen did pretty well, but they were not as good as the La Claire relievers. The Rascals went deep three times, but they were all singletons by Jeff Heimlich, Pete Pettavina and Chris Savallas. Rick Wall cracked a 2-run clout for the Lynx. Rick Wall and Judah Pickens paced the Lynx at the plate with a pair of hits apiece
Game three was set in White River Stadium. La Claire rallied late in the game and won it 4-3 in 10 innings. It went well early for the hometown Rascals as long as Troy Fitzroy was on the hill. He fired 5 strong innings and did not give up a run, struck out 6 batters and issued only one base on balls. Fitzroy went out for a pinch hitter and departed with a 3-0 lead, but his bullpen blew it. Once again it was La Claire's relief corps that saved the day with 4 scoreless innings. The Rascals only got one hit off of Billy Ray Troxell and Jerry Miller. Bill Gallagher slammed a 2-run blast in the 7th for La Claire first two scores. Pinch hitter Sasha Malashenko deadlocked it 3-3 in the 9th with an RBI double. The Lynx won their third straight game in the 10th on Howie Ellenberger's base hit. It's broom time with La Claire doing the sweeping. Andre Arcenault snapped the scoreless duel between Fitzroy and Rick Gautreau with an RBI single in the last of the 4th. In the next frame he drove in 2 more scores with a base hit. Arcenault led White River with 2 hits and 3 ribbies. Rusty Reich and Ricky Russell also chimed in with 2 hits each. The Rascals outhit the Lynx 9 to 8. La Claire went to work on the Rascals' bullpen in the 7th and got back in the game. Jerry Miller (2-0/1.00 ERA) won his 2nd game in the series, while Babe Hatch (0-1/3.86 ERA) lost it. Gallagher collected 2 hits to lead the Lynx
Game four was a barnburner just like the opening game of the series. In fact, it was even better. The score seesawed back and forth --- White River was up 5-0 after 3 innings, La Claire tied it 5-all in the 5th, the Rascals move in front 6-5 in the 5th, only to lose it again 9-6 in the 7th --- White River rallied and tied it 9-9 after 9 innings --- only to lose it 12-9 in the 13th on Bill Gallagher's 2-run two-bagger and Dennis Culpepper's RBI single. The Lynx lashed out 15 hits, sparked by Gallagher, Culpepper and Judah Pickens with 3 hits apiece. Rick Wall drove in 4 runs with a grand slam and Gallagher, Culpepper, David Glascock and Howie Ellenberger all batted in 2 runs apiece. La Claire rapped 3 out of park with homers by Wall, Glascock and Ellenberger. The Rascals racked up 14 hits, paced by Jeff Heimlich and Chris Savallas with 3 each. White River walloped 3 roundtrippers with Heimlich, Savallas and Ricky Russell all going yard. Savallas batted in 3 runs, while Heimlich and Russell had 2 each. Once again it was the Lynx's relievers coming to the rescue. Jerry Miller worked 3 scoreless innings from the 10th to the 12th frames and Antoine Saucier (1-0) wound up winning it with a runless 13th to finish off the Rascals and send La Claire to the Pro Cup Series against the Valmara Vipers, champion of the Ruthlandian Union and also the defending IPA Pro Cup champion. Gerard Portier (0-2/8.31 ERA) blanked the Lynx in the 10th, 11th and 12th, but he was burned badly in the fatal and unlucky 13th.