The IBL's Chicago Iron Pigs

[gehrig38]

This is actually pretty awesome.
1) Castro goes 201-593 to finish with a .33895 average
2) Soto goes 169-499 to finish with a .33867 average
3) Andrales goes 151-445 to finish with a .33856 average.....

Castro sneaks in to win it by .00028!

And ya, Vince Bray wins his 2nd pitching triple crown and most likely his 2nd Koufax...

[Orcin]

I think Castro deserved to win the batting crown with his 200+ hits, so I like that outcome.

Chicago has 113 wins... wow! I wish you luck in the big crap-shoot that is the off-season. You certainly have the team to do it on paper.

[gehrig38]

WILD CARD PLAY IN GAMES

The first ever ‘win or go home’ play in games.

Frontier League
Brooklyn (Dale Hickman 15-10 4.55) @ Columbus (Mike Jones 15-7 3.77)

Jorge Garza singles, steals 2nd and 3rd and scores on a Jeffrey Hudson ground out to put Columbus up 1-0. Dean Strong follows with a 2 run homer for a 3-0 Columbus lead after 1.

In the bottom of 3 Strong again delivers an RBI single to make it 4-0, later Kurt Peterson singles in Christian Schall, extending the lead to 5-0 Columbus after 3.

A Casey York sac fly makes it 5-1 , but Bill Ryan doubles in Simmons to make it 6-1 after 4.

Mike Jones has given up just 1 hit through 5. And through 6 he is 6-1-1-1-4-5.

6-1 into the 7th.

Dean Strong is 4-4 2B, HR, 3 RBI’s…..Jones is 8-2-1-1-4-7.

Mike Jones (1-0) tosses a CG 2-hitter in the Clippers 6-1 win, Strong goes 4-4 and drives in 3.
Columbus 6 Brooklyn 1
W Jones (1-0) L Hickman (0-1)
HR COL Strong (1)

Coastal League
Houston (Sergio De La Garza 13-18 4.80) @ Los Angeles (Tommy Hobbs 16-11 3.54)

Julio Mercado puts LA on the board and in front with a solo shot in the bottom of the 2nd, 1-0 LA after 2.

A Mike Johnston RBI single ties it at 1 heading to the bottom of 4.

Still 1-1 after 5. De La Garza (5-3-1-1-0-5) Hobbs (5-6-1-1-0-4). Rich Stone was injured and left the game.

Mike Johnston drills a solo HR in the top of the 7th, 2-1 Houston. Later in the inning Troy Glaus would hit a 3 run shot to extend Houston to a 5-1 lead.

In the 8th the Roughriders put it away, Joe Rowe hitting another 3 run homer, making it 8-1. Juan Molina would add a solo shot in the 9th but De La Garza would go the distance, 9-5-2-2-0-7.
Houston 8 Los Angeles 2
W De La Garza (1-0) L Hobbs (0-1)
HR HOU Rowe (1) Johnston (1) Glaus (1) LA Molina (1) Mercado (1)

[gehrig38]

Post Season News
Minor League Gold Gloves
Denison: C Shane Jackson, 3B Scott Barnes

CONTRACT TALKS

Vegas inks star to mega deal:
Jesus Andrales will call Las Vegas home for at least 4 more years after agreeing to a 76M dollar 4 year contract extension to make the former batting champ one of the leagues highest paid players.

[gehrig38]

New York vs El Paso.

Two good clubs with aces that can take over a series. Oginlara and Torres are going to have to be shut down for the Diablos to have a shot. Both teams work counts with El Paso being the better hitting club and New York garnering more offense with the long ball. Two good pens as well, Beating the #1 will be a huge advantage in the best of 5, I am calling El Paso in 5.

[gehrig38]

Not sure the 'bonus' of getting the WC as the #1 seed is paying off. Columbus is the 2nd best team in the IBL. A thundering offense led by 40 homer bats Christian Schall and Jeffrey Hudson. They were the only club to outhomer us in the regular season. Their 'weakness' is their defense, 12th in the FL in efficiency. They rely on homers to score, but their entire lineup works the counts. Same thing, winning vs the other ace in the first of a five gamer is huge, and Thompson is the best pitcher on the field in this series. If Alexander and Morgan can regain the magic our lineup will be unstoppable.
My prediction? Us in 5 in a hard fought series.

[gehrig38]

With Vincent Bray you can beat anyone. If Sacramento beats him I say they sweep, if he wins game 1 I'm calling the Bulldogs in 4. Countering Bray and Roa is the best pitching staff in the CL. George Bean missed qualifying for the ERA race by 1/3rd of an inning! He's back though, and pitching like crazy. Bill Barlow had another amazing season and if Sacramento can get up early they can shorten the game. Pittsburgh had the 2nd best pen in the league led by the consistency of closer Joe Boswell. Runs will be at a premium and I think the combo of great SP on the River Cats end, with Pittsburghs porous defense will be the difference. Sacramento in 4.

[gehrig38]

A sleeper series. Tulsa is absolutely poised to make a run at back to back titles, but Houston brings some big time experience and a good offense. Tulsa will score, and score alot if Houston doesn't get outstanding pitching. Likely MVP Curt Whimster leads the Driller offense off of his 57 homer season. As he goes they go. All Stars Rich Alfred and Jamie Vance set up, and protect Whimster. They bring big time SP to the series as well, with 22 game winner George Perkins (going in game 2) and ace Antonio Rodriguez (19-12). The one way I can see Houston stealing this is with Vince Romero (19-8) dominating a game 1 and Cy May and Troy Glaus going nuts. Houston's pen has been a thorn all year, and they come in with former Iron Pig Sib van Bodegraven, their closer, struggling. I'll go with Tulsa in 4.

[gehrig38]

My game cannot escape the lineup screen, it's crashing....
Beyond the nightmarish worry it's a huge problem, there's going to be a slight delay.
If you're following along you'll notice the league, thanks to a mistake I think I made, screwed up my playoffs, leaving 1 team off and giving a team that was eliminated, LA, the berth after the WC round. I had to go in and manually create this round...
Game is still acting as if I am playing El Paso.....

[gehrig38]

Edited this, as the guys at OOTP, per their usual manner, have fixed my problem and I move on

[Papi]

Tell me you had this backed up???

[gehrig38]

Pretty sure it's not the same, but I do the "daily" save, learned that one long ago. I haven't done a hard backup in awhile though. First crash I've had in about 2 in game years.

[gehrig38]

2017 DIVISION SERIES GAME 1's

NEWS from outside the playoffs….
MINORS
Bakersfield 1B Max Briddon took home the A(S) Hitter of the year. He went .299-18-93. He was signed as a minor league FA.

GAME 1’s
FRONTIER LEAGUE
Chicago Iron Pigs (Walt Thompson 21-4 2.91) @ Columbus Clippers (Marcos Diaz 11-5 4.13)

From the outside looking in am I the only one seriously worried about a 1st round bounce? I don’t think, outside Tulsa, there’s another team that can hang, but this one. Here goes nothing….

As is the case every year, I am going to do inning by inning of my game. This year I’ll just give a rundown of the other series, not feeling like folks care too much about in depth stuff on the other series.
1st
We go in order, Diaz needing 15 pitches.
Bill Ryan walks with 1 out, Jeffrey Hudson follows with a single. Christian Schall K’s and Ubadah goes 3U. 18 pitches.

2nd
Salinas grounds out to start the inning, and the old hands Wes Morgan and Bill Alexander silence the Clipper crowd with back to back solo homers. Eric Coats singles and Knox grounds into a 1-6-3 inning ending DP.
Thompson retires the side in order on 11 pitches. 2-0 Chicago at the end of 2. Thompson with 29 pitches, 26 for Diaz.

3rd
Both guys go 1-2-3, Diaz on 7 pitches, Thompson on 14, 33 for Diaz. Diaz at 33, Thompson 43 after 3. SS Bill Ryan is ejected for arguing balls and strikes.

4th
Diaz retires the side in order again, 2 punchouts, 13 pitches. Schall walks, Lorenzelli boots a grounder and Ubadah gets to 2nd, Schall to third. Thompson clutches up and punches out Dean Strong and Kurt Peterson to end the 4th, 2-0 Chicago.

5th
Alexander hits a leadoff single, 1 out later George Knox hits a 2 run homer to left making it 4-0.
Michael Griffin doubles to lead off the bottom half of the 5th, after Leonardo Garcia K’s Jorge Garcia slams a 2 run shot to right to make it 4-2 after 5. Thompson has 9 k’s on 87 pitches. Diaz is at 62 pitches after 5.

6th
Riggs walks and 1 out later Salinas singles, Morgan hits into an inning ending 4-6-3 DP.
Thompson K’s 2 more around a Strong 2 out single. 4-2 after 6, Thompson with 11 k’s.

7th
Diaz gets the side again in the 7th, 17 pitches.
Thompson K’s another and allows a 2 out Jorge Garcia single. 4-2 Chicago after 7.

8th
A 2 out Riggs single is all in the 8th, and after a Jeffrey Hudson ground out Randy Pennington comes on in the bottom half. He gets Schall on a ground out, and Ubadah looking at strike 3. 4-2 Iron Pigs at the end of 8. Thompson ends 7.1-5-2-2-2-12.

9th
Diaz is done after Pedro Salinas leads off the 9th with another solo shot, 8-8-5-5-1-5. Rafael Dejesus comes on and retires the side. 5-2 heading to the bottom half.
Ernesto Cruz comes in and gets Strong looking, Peterson looking and Michael Griffin on an F7.
Chicago 5 Columbus 2
W Thompson (1-0) L Diaz (0-1) S Cruz (1)
HR CHI Salinas (1) Alexander (1) Knox (1) Morgan (1) COL J Garcia (1)
Chicago leads 1-0

New York Knights (Jesus Romano 14-11 3.67) @ El Paso Diablos (Artie Johnson 22-8 4.10)

The teams trade 1st inning runs, but El Paso gets a 3 run shot from William Griffin in the 2nd and Artie Johnson buckles down, throwing a CG (9-9-3-3-1-7). Stephen Conway goes 2-5 with 2 RBI’s, Griffin ends 2-3 2 runs 3 RBI’s.
El Paso 9 New York 3
W Johnson (1-0) L Romano (0-1)
HR EP Barron (1) Holland (1) Griffin (1)
El Paso leads 1-0

COASTAL LEAGUE
Sacramento River Cats (George Bean 15-5 2.78) @ Pittsburgh Bulldogs (Vincent Bray 22-7 2.72)

Pittsburgh goes up 3-0 in the 6th but Sacramento gets a 6 spot after 2 huge Bulldog errors. Bray goes (6.2-10-6-0-1-6) in the loss. Zach Christofis goes 1-5 with a 3 run homer, Jorge Ortiz goes 3-4 and scores twice.
Sacramento 9 Pittsburgh 3
W Gamble (1-0) L Bray (0-1) S Amaya (1)
HR SAC Christofis (1) PIT Palacios (1)
Sacramento leads 1-0

Tulsa Drillers (Antonio Rodriguez 19-12 3.23) @ Houston Roughriders (Vincente Romero 19-8 3.13)

A battle of offenses and bullpens, that’s won by Houston. Cy May goes 3-4, scoring and driving in 1, Emmett Gould drives in 2. Curt Whimster goes 3-4 with a run and an RBI.
Houston 7 Tulsa 6
W De La Garza (1-0) L Perkins (0-1) S van Bodegraven (1)
HR TUL Cox (1)
Houston leads 1-0

[gehrig38]

DIVISION SERIES GAME 2’s
Chicago (Ken Lee 16-10 3.82) @ Columbus (Mike Jones 15-7 3.77) Chicago leads 1-0

1st
Mike Jones walks Riggs to lead off, Collins singles and Salinas loads the bases with another walk when Ron Miller stuns the Columbus faithful, drilling a titanic blast to deep left center for a 1st inning grand slam.
Lee works around a 1 out Ryan single by getting Jeff Hudson to hit into an inning ending 4-6-3.
4-0 Iron Pigs after 1.

2nd
Jones gets 3 outs on 6 pitches when Riggs grounds into a 6-4-3 after a Wes Morgan single.
Lee K’s Schall and Strong to start the 2nd, Peterson walks and Chris Darcy goes 4-3 to end it.

3rd
Miller doubles with 2 outs and Chavez strands him.
Ben Simmons leads off with a double, Brian Lambert moves him to 3rd on a deep fly to center.
Lee gets Garcia and Ryan to ground out, keeping Simmons on 3rd to end it.
Chicago 4 Columbus 0 at the end of 3. Lee is at 39 pitches, Jones 40.

4th
Jones works around a 2 out Ben Simmons error to keep it 4-0.
Schall singles with 1 out, and 1 out later Peterson singles putting runners on the corners but Lee gets Darcy on an F8 to end the inning, 4-0 after 4.

5th
Jones goes 1-2-3 in the 5th.
Ben Simmons leads off the Columbus 5th by driving a 1-0 pitch to left for a solo homer.
Jorge Garcia singles with 1 out but Lee works out of the inning to keep it 4-1 after 5.

6th
A Chris Darcy error opens the bottom half of the 6th and the offense jumps on it. Chavez doubles putting runners at 2nd and 3rd, George Knox singles them both in. Rafael Dejesus gets the call and is greeted by an Eric Coates RBI double. He then punches out Morgan, Riggs and Collins to end the inning, but the damage is done, 8-1 Chicago after 5 ½.
A 2 out Knox error on a pop up is all the Clippers get in the bottom. 8-1 after 6.

7th
Julio Perez comes on and Miller and Chavez hit 1 out singles. With 2 outs Coates walks to load the bases and Massi Lorenzelli singles in 2 runs to make it 10-1. Craig Trent comes on.
Gerardo Zamora is working out of the pen in this round, and relieves Lee to start the 7th. Lee ends with a 6-6-1-1-1-7 line. Zamora allows a run on a 2 out Jorge Garcia triple and RBI single from Jeff Hudson. 10-2 after 7.

8th
A 1-2-3 top half and Winston takes over in the bottom and sets the side down in order. 10-2 after 8.

9th
We don’t score in the top, and Ken Johnson comes in to retire the side in the bottom.
Chicago 10 Columbus 2
W Lee (1-0) L Jones (0-1)
HR CHI Miller (1)GS COL B Simmons (1)
Chicago leads 2-0

New York (Ray Anderson 11-11 5.28) @ El Paso (Jason Allen 15-10 3.63) El Paso leads 1-0

New York explodes for 5 in the 1st off Jason Allen and never looks back. Marcos Oginlara and Les Allen both homer twice, Oginlara as part of a 4-5 6 RBI day. Allen drives in 4.
New York 10 El Paso 4
W R Anderson (1-0) L J Allen (0-1)
HR NY Allen 2(2) Oginlara 2(2) EP Conway (1) Peck (1)
Series tied 1-1

COASTAL LEAGUE
Sacramento (David Powell 16-11 4.07) @ Pittsburgh (Ramon Roa 13-12 3.81) Sacramento leads 1-0

They trade early leads before Pedro Ramos (PIT) hits a 3 run shot in the 4th and the Bulldogs hold on. Ramos drives in 4.
Pittsburgh 7 Sacramento 4
W Roa (1-0) L Powell (0-1) S Boswell (1)
HR PIT Ramos (1) Hedden (1) SAC Clifton (1)
Series tied 1-1

Tulsa (Antonio Rodriguez 19-12 3.23) @ Houston (Vincente Romero 19-8 3.13) Houston leads 1-0. This would be, imo, a HUGE upset but Houston is in a very strong position with their ace now going, and having won such a poorly pitched game yesterday.

Antonio Rodriguez comes up huge, tossing a complete game 5 hitter (9-5-1-1-2-10) to even the series. Former Iron Pig Alejandro Sotolo goes 2-5 with a homer and 2 RBI’s.
Tulsa 5 Houston 1
W Rodriguez (1-0) L Romero (0-1)
HR TUL Sotolo (1)
Series tied 1-1

[gehrig38]

2017 Division Series Game 3’s.
Columbus (Barney Watt 11-4 3.85) @ Chicago (Alfredo Alejandrez 17-8 4.05)

1st
1-2-3 top half followed by a Riggs leadoff single, Salinas walk, and Ron Miller singled to load the bases with 1 out. Luis Chavez grounded into a run scoring FC, and Knox k’d to end the inning. 1-0 Chicago.

2nd
Quick and scoreless 2nd inning.

3rd
Columbus breaks through in the 3rd after a Michael Griffin leadoff single Alejandrez wiggles out, almost, getting 2 outs before Bill Ryan hits a 1st pitch bomb to deep left center for a 2-1 Clipper lead.
Salinas hits into an inning ending 5-4-3 after a 1 out Collins single. Columbus 2 Chicago 1 after 3. Watt at 43, Alejandrez 34.

4th
Wazir Ubadah extends the lead to 3-1 with a 1 out solo homer and a 2 out George Knox single is backed up with a Bill Ryan error, putting runners at the corners but Lorenzelli grounds out to end the inning. 3-1 after 4.

5th
Alejandrez has a quick top half and Riggs walks with 1 out, Collins doubles him to 3rd and Pedro Salinas hits a sac fly to make it 3-2 after 5.

6th
Both starters go 3 up 3 down in the 6th , 3-2 into the 7th.

7th
Michael Griffin drills a 2-1 pitch to deep center for a titanic 449ft blast to make it 4-2. Watt goes 1-2-3 in the bottom half, 4-2 after 7. Alejandrez is at 87, Watt 104.

8th
Alejandrez is tiring but continues to make pitches. He ends the 8th with a 8-5-4-4-2-10 day, giving up 3 homers to account for all 4 Clipper runs.
Watt starts the 8th with a Collins comebacker, after an 8 pitch walk Craig Trent comes on to get Miller…
And he drills an 0-1 pitch down the left field line for a game tying 2 run homer! An out later George Knox doubles, Coates walks but Lorenzelli pops up to end it. Tied 4-4 after 8.

9th
Ellison, Zamora and Sanchez go Left Right Left to end the top of 9 at 4-4.
Morgan, Riggs and Collins due up against Clipper closer Ivan Lopez….
And they go quietly, to the 10th, 4-4.

10th
After a PH Pedro Hernandez single Johnson relieves Sanchez and gets Darcy, the Allen Ryan and finally Bill Ryan looking to end it.
Salinas, Alexander likely to PH for Miller, and Chavez due up..
Salinas grounds out, and Alexander drills a PH double to deep center…1 out runner on 2nd.
Chavez is intentionally walked to bring up Knox….
Who punches out looking… 2 outs for Eric Coates…
And on a 1-2 pitch Eric Coates creates a riot! Drilling a the 1-2 pitch 445 feet to left center for a walk off, series winning 3 run homer!
Chicago 7 Columbus 4
W Johnson (1-0) L Lopez (0-1)
HR COL B Ryan (1) M Griffin (1) Ubadah (1) CHI Miller (2) Coates (1)
Chicago wins the series 3-0
Series MVP Ron Miller 5-8 4 Runs 1 2B 2 HR’s 6 RBI’s

El Paso (Dan Millman 11-9 4.83) @ New York (J.R. Robinson 16-14 4.48)

El Paso gets 2 in the top of 1 but New York scores 8 unanswered runs and ends up crushing the Diablos 13-4. Leonard Burks goes 3-4 with a triple and 5 RBI’s.
New York leads 2-1

COASTAL LEAGUE
Houston (Eitel Frankl 13-7 5.59) @ Tulsa (Joel Downs 16-9 3.95)

A game for the ages. Tulsa goes into the 8th up 7-3 but Millard O’Reilly doubles in 1, and Randolph Boyd singles in another to make it 7-5.
In the 9th Michael Steele reaches on a Curt Whimster error, Tim Thomas singles and after Groves punches out Saucedo and O’Reilly, Troy Glaus drills a 3 run homer for an 8-7 lead! In the 9th Sib van Bodegraven goes 1-2-3 and just like that, the underdog Roughriders find themselves up 2-1!
Houston 8 Tulsa 7
W Soto (1-0) L Groves (0-1) S van Bodegraven (21)
HR HOU Rowe (2) Johnston (2) Glaus (2) TUL Olivo (1)
Houston leads 2-1

Pittsburgh (Tomas Villanueva 13-8 4.36) @ Sacramento (Mike Davis 11-9 4.28)

Tons of scoring early, the game was 9-8 after 4. Pittsburgh would add 1 in the 6th and 1 in the 7th and hold off Sacramento for a 10-9 win. Ross Tunstall was 4-5 and Jason White was 2-4 with 5 RBI’s on a homer.
Pittsburgh 10 Sacramento 9
W Castillo (1-0) L Douglas (0-1) S Boswell (2)
HR PIT Miranda (1) SAC J White (1) Christofis (2)
Pittsburgh leads 2-1

[gehrig38]

2017 DIVISION SERIES GAME 4’s

El Paso (A. Johnson ) @ New York (J Romano) New York leads 2-1

Artie Johnson wins the battle of aces again goin 8-7-2-2-3-6 and Sloan grabs his 2nd save as the Diablos tie the series.
El Paso 3 New York 2
W Johnson (2-0) L Romano (0-2) S Sloan (2)
HR EP Lange (1) Doyle (1)
Series tied 2-2

COASTAL LEAGUE

Houston (Sisson) @ Tulsa (R Johnson ) Houston leads 2-1

Tulsa trails 1-0 in the 6th but homers from Rich Alfred and Jamie Vance get them in front to stay. Edison Sisson tosses a CG 4 hitter 9-4-1-1-4-4 to tie it up.
TUL 5 HOU 1
W Sisson (1-0) L R Johnson (0-1)
HR Whimster (1) Alfred (1) Vance (1)
Series tied 2-2

Pittsburgh (Bray) @ Sacramento (Valdez) Pittsburgh leads 2-1

Pittsburgh gets to the perfect place, a chance to clinch with their ace on the mound, and doesn’t let it slip. Bray goes 6.2-3-1-1-2-8 and Boswell saves it as the Bulldogs, in what I think is a decent upset, end the series.
PIT 4 SAC 2
W Bray (1-1) L Valdez (0-1) S Boswell (3)
HR PIT Miranda (1) SAC J White (1) Christofis (2)
Pittsburgh wins the series 3-1
Series MVP Joe Boswell 3 Saves 3-3-1-1-1-1.

[gehrig38]

2017 DIVISION SERIES GAME 5’s

FRONTIER LEAGUE
El Paso (Jason Allen 0-1 135.14) @ New York (Rob Powell 0-0 0.00)

A 5-5 tie in the 8th is broken up on a Vincent Lange 2 run single, plating PR Howard Mcdonald and PH Abel Bernarda. A huge DP in the 8th and Jon Sloan’s perfect 9th seals the series for El Paso
El Paso 7 New York 5
W Romano (1-0) L Snyder (0-1) S Sloan (3)
HR NY Burks (1)
El Paso wins the series 3-2
Series MVP Artie Johnson 2-0 17 IP 16 H 13 K’s 4 BB’s 2.65 ERA

COASTAL LEAGUE

Houston (De La Garza 1-0 8.44) @ Tulsa (Perkins (0-1 14.54)

George Perkins gets hammered a 2nd time and the Driller’s chances to repeat go out the window. Houston gets 5 in the first 3 and De La Garza goes 7-9-4-3-2-3 with van Bodegraven notching his 3rd save. This was a huge upset.
Houston 6 Tulsa 4
W De La Garza (3-0) L Perkins (0-2) S van Bodegraven (3)
HR HOU Rowe (2) TUL Alfred (2) Rodriguez (1)
Houston wins the series 3-2
Series MVP Sib van Bodegraven 3 Saves 3-3-0-0-0-3

[gehrig38]

Two teams that have both been here before. Houston, 2012 and '13 Pennant and World Series Champs, and Pittsburgh as the 2015 Champs before being upset by Columbus. The money in Vegas is heavily on Pittsburgh, figuring if they could win a series with Bray pitching even average, they'll be tough to beat. Hedden and Gomez are healthy and hitting, as are May and Glaus. Houston has to get one of the 2 away games to have a shot.

[gehrig38]

Definitely not the matchup I was expecting.Them going 5 means we get their #4 in game 1, against Thompson. That's a 'must win' for momentum's sake alone. I'm feeling confident, and say we'll take this series in 5 games.

[gehrig38]

2017 League Championship Series
GAME 1’s
Frontier League
El Paso Diablos (Merrill Brooks 0-0 4.50) @ Chicago Iron Pigs (Walt Thompson (1-0 2.46)

1st
A two out double by Stefan Conway and an infield single by Caden Haynes put runners on the corners with 2 outs but Thompson gets Cuesta on a 4-3 to end it.
3 pitches in we’re up 1-0. Collins singles on the games 1st pitch, 2 pitches later Paul Riggs doubles him home. Riggs moves up on the Chavez F8, and Salinas plates him on an RBI grounder, 2-0 after 1.

2nd
Easy half for both, Lorenzelli gets a 2 out single but nothing else. 2-0 after 2.

3rd
Cesar Barron doubles leading off and Lorenzelli lets a grounder scoot between his legs, Barron scores. Harvey is on 2nd, and moves to 3rd on the Ruiz grounder, and Conway does the same, scoring him on an RBI ground out. 2-2 after 2 ½.
Brooks goes 1-2-3, and is at 39 after 3, Thompson at 37.

4th
Thompson punches out the side.
Morgan draws a leadoff walk, 1 out later Coates walks as well.
George Knox doubles into right center, scoring Morgan.
Lorenzelli manages an RBI grounder and Collins goes F9 to end the inning. 4-2 Chicago after 4.

5th
2 more punchouts for Thompson give him 8 after 5, 3 up 3 down inning.
A critical Ruiz 2 out error opens a door, and Wes Morgan kicks it in with a 2 run shot to left. Alexander walks and Brooks day ends. Coates doubles off Espinoza putting runners at 2nd and 3rd but Knox K’s to end it. 6-2 Chicago after 5.

6th
Thompson works around a 1 out Conway double and Haynes walk, and Espinoza puts 2 on with an out but escapes. 6-2 after 6.

7th
3 up 3 down in the top half, and we load the bases with 1 out on back to back walks, the 1st intentional, off Bob Park. Lorenzelli k’s in a crucial spot, and Collins pops to short. 6-2 after 7.

8th
Chris Harvey doubles leading off, and after a Tony Ruiz K Stefan Conway doubles Harvey home. Thompson’s day is over (7.1-6-4-2-1-10) as Randy Pennington comes in. Caden Haynes greets him with the innings third double to make it 6-4. A wild pitch moves Haynes to 3rd but Cuesta can’t get the ball past a drawn in infield for the 2nd out. Ken Johnson comes in and gets Lange to line to short to end the 8th, 6-4 Chicago.

9th
Jose Romano goes 1-2-3 in the top of the 9th and Ernesto Cruz takes his slow jog in…..
Buddy Peck grounds out, Luis Ramos flies to left and Cesar Barron grounds to short in a 12 pitch 9th.
Chicago 6 El Paso 4
W Thompson (2-0) L M Brooks (0-1) S Cruz (2)
HR CHI Morgan (2)
Chicago leads 1-0

Coastal League
Houston Roughriders (Vincente Romero (0-1 8.68) @ Pittsburgh Bulldogs (Ramon Roa 1-0 6.75)

Mike Johnston 2 out single off Will Clark in the top of the 9th broke a 3-3 tie, scoring Millard O’Reilly with the go ahead, and eventual winning run. Norm Arden doubled in the bottom of the 9th but van Bodegraven retired Ricardo Gonzalez on a deep drive to center to end it.
Houston 4 Pittsburgh 3
W Ellis (1-0) L Clark (0-1) S van Bodegraven (4)
HR NONE
Houston leads 1-0