Quad Cities
Quad Cities got on the board in the 2nd inning with a Bobby Borchering solo homer to give the River Bandits a 1-0 lead in Game 2 of the Midwest League finals. Then, a wild 4th inning saw Danry Vasquez draw a one-out walk and then score courtesy of three wild pitches by South Bend pitcher Blake Perry. Rio Ruiz got an RBI double and Jordan Scott laid down a suicide that scored Ruiz. In the 6th, Ruiz scored on a Roberto Pena line drive, and that was your ballgame: 5-0 Quad Cities.
Joe Bircher threw 5IP, 6H/0ER, 2K:2BB; Jamaine Cotton had one of the more remarkable relief appearances you'll see: 3IP, 0H/0ER, 6K:0BB - striking out six consecutive batters in the 7th and 8th innings. J.D. Osborne threw a hitless/scoreless 9th inning.
Rio Ruiz was 2x4 with two doubles and an RBI; Roberto Pena was 2x3 with a walk and an RBI; Bobby Borchering scored twice and hit the aforementioned homer.
Man of the Match: I'm going Jamaine Cotton.
Series: Quad Cities up 2-0 (Best-Of-Five)
Next Up: At home vs. South Bend, Saturday 7:00pm Central
Tri-City
In the deciding game of the New York-Penn League Championship, State College took a 1-0 lead in the 4th on Kyle Westwood. Then, in the 6th, things got weird. Two bunts to lead off the ValleyCats inning got runners on 1st and 2nd and a James Ramsay sac bunt moved them to 2nd and 3rd with one out. Jack Mayfield's single tied the game and two wild pitches by new State College pitcher Victor De Leon brought in the go-ahead run. Two more Tri-City walks loaded the bases, and a bad throw on a Brian Holberton grounder turned a potential inning-ending double play into two more Tri-City runs. In the 9th, State College got a leadoff single, and Gonzalo Sanudo gave up a rare homer (his first allowed since June 18) to make it 4-3. With the tying run on 2nd, Sanudo struck out the final two batters of the game to give the ValleyCats the NYPL Championship for the 2nd time in four years.
Man of the Match: EVERYBODY
Series: Tri-City wins 2-1 (Best-of-Three)
Next Up: 2014
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
