Link Report for Sat. 9/8 -- Five Playoff Game Extravaganza, Can You Handle It?

[MTBrew]

got up to Great Falls to see this one

this was just a terrific game between two evenly matched ballclubs

the Brewers made the most of what they got from Poreda early

and made it stand up with great great pitching from Roque and Tyson,

and excellent defense, Farris made a big time play in the 7th to keep the momentun in Helena's favor,

with timely and well executed double plays

as good as Roque pitched, he matched Poreda pitch for pitch, Tyson was even better!

this kid is a bulldog! cool, collected, all business, very very impressive

I didnt get to hear Steve Wendts broadcast but there was action and tension in every inning

even with the game being low scoring

playoff baseball at its best with the two best teams in the league going after each other

[Mass Haas]

Thanks everyone for the overnight updates, much appreciated, including our loyal readers with their first-hand accounts and/or photos!

 

***

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.wvgazette.com/section/Sports/2007090858

 

Power wins, moves to SAL finals

By Mike Whiteford

Charleston Gazette Staff writer

 

As if to affirm its offensive supremacy one more critical time, the Power kept hammering away.

 

After finishing the regular season as the No. 1 hitting and scoring team in the South Atlantic League, the West Virginia Power is now officially the league's Northern Division champion.

 

Applying pressure from the start and totaling 13 hits, the Power defeated the Hickory Crawdads 9-4 in the third and decisive game of the best-of-three series Saturday night at Appalachian Power Park. A small but lively crowd of 1,479 attended.

 

With the victory, the Power advances to the best-of-five league championship series against the Columbus Catfish beginning at 7:05 PM Monday (6:05 Central) at APP. Columbus won the Southern Division title with a two-game sweep of Augusta.

 

The Crawdads, who defeated the Power 13-7 in Friday's second game of the series, continued to swing the bats well, rapping out 10 hits and cutting the Power lead to 5-4 after five-and-a-half innings.

 

But Power starter Donovan Hand and three relievers held things together.

 

Hand, a former Jacksonsville (Ala.) State University pitcher who joined the team six weeks ago, started and, despite allowing 10 hits and four runs, pitched effectively. Hand did not walk a batter - he hasn't issued a free pass in 31 innings with the Power - and carried a 5-2 lead into the sixth.

 

"I thought it may have been one of my best outings,'' said Hand, a 21-year-old Jacksonville, Ala., native. "I just wanted to keep us in the game in the first five innings and give our offense a chance get going, and it worked out.''

 

Hand opened the seventh and, after allowing the leadoff hitter to reach on an error, Power manager Mike Guerrero summoned Bobby Bramhall from the bullpen. Bramhall induced Jim Negrych to ground into a double play and retired the next hitter to preserve a 6-4 lead.

Patrick Lawler pitched a perfect eighth and D.J. Lidyard struck out the side in the ninth.

 

"Donovan came up huge, and two kids, Bramhall and Lawler, also came up huge,'' said Power pitching coach John Curtis. "Bramhall got out of that inning and, to me, that turned the game around. And Lawler poured it on, and it was Lidyard in the end.''

 

Power designated hitter Matt LaPorta, who opened the season as a University of Florida first baseman, hit a solo homer in the first inning and contributed an RBI double in a four-run third inning in which the Power assumed a 5-2 lead. The Power added single runs in the sixth and seventh and two more in the eighth.

 

Taylor Green and Chuckie Caufield also had two RBIs for the Power.

 

POWER POINTS: The Power and Catfish will play at the APP on Monday and Tuesday and, after an off-day Wednesday, travel to Columbus, Ga., to complete the series. ... The Power's Andrew Lefave, who won the batting title with a .345 average, remains sidelined with a wrist injury. ... Wheeler Bob did double-duty Saturday, selling programs at the Marshall-West Virginia game in Huntington and working the stands at APP Saturday night.

 

Charleston Gazette Photographer: Chris Dorst

Matt LaPorta is welcomed to the Power dugout after his first-inning home run.

 

http://www.wvgazettemail.com/images/stories/homerun.jpg

[Mass Haas]

MiLB.com's coverage includes an audio link to Andy "Bull" Barch's LaPorta "Jack-Jackety-Jack" HR call:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070909&content_id=301226&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

Power send Crawdads packing
By Chip Haunss / Special to MLB.com

Matt LaPorta, Chuckie Caufield and Taylor Green each drove in two runs Saturday as the West Virginia Power beat the Hickory Crawdads, 9-4, to advance to the South Atlantic League Championship Series.

LaPorta opened the scoring with his first playoff homer in the first inning, then ripped an RBI double and scored in the Power's four-run third. The 22-year-old designated hitter batted .500 with seven runs scored and four RBIs in the series, despite feeling under the weather.

Audio: LaPorta touches 'em all

Audio: LaPorta's RBI double

"I was actually a little sick the last two days and just gave the team everything I had and was fortunate enough to produce and help the club win," he said. "Right now, everyone is feeling great. Our emotions are high. It is great to see everyone enjoy this win because it's something we worked so hard for."

Caufield, who went 3-for-5, smacked an RBI base hit and scored in the fourth and delivered a run-scoring double in the sixth. Afterwards, he was relishing the chance to play for a title. West Virginia hosts Columbus in the best-of-5 championship series, beginning Monday.

"It is a great feeling. This is what you play for because you always want to play for a championship. This is really exciting for us," Caufield said.

The 24-year-old right fielder batted .462 with four runs scored and three RBIs as the Power outscored the Crawdads, 28-19. He said he was just trying to be a catalyst at the top of the order.

"I am seeing the ball real well right now and my main purpose as the leadoff guy is to score runs, get on base and see as many pitches as I can," Caufield said. "Throughout the series and again tonight, I was able to fight off some tough pitches, work the count and produce some quality at-bats."

Green, who fell a triple shy of the cycle in Game 1, continued his hot streak, going 2-for-4 with a two-run double in the third. He hit .500 with a homer and six RBIs in the series, and LaPorta and Caufield weren't surprised by the trio's success.

"I think we all feed off one another and once one person gets it going it seems like everyone starts going," LaPorta said.

"You could see the hunger with each guy in the batter's box and everyone was fighting up there and trying to work the count and string together base hits," Caufield added. "You could see the will to win in each guy when they went to the plate."

The Power lost a 13-7 slugfest in Game 2 on Friday, but Caufield said the team never dwelled on the loss.

"We were still feeling confident and were already looking ahead to tonight's game. We just wanted to focus on playing fundamental baseball," he said. "We are a good team and we just had to relax and play our game."

Starter Donovan Hand (1-0) allowed four runs on 10 hits and struck out one over six-plus innings for the win.

After hitting two homers and driving in seven runs on Friday, Jonel Pacheco went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Crawdads. Jared Keel added an RBI double and scored a run.

Hickory starter Jared Hughes (0-1) was roughed up for five runs on five hits with two strikeouts in 2 1/3 frames.

Chuckie Caufield hit .462 with three RBIs and four runs scored in the three-game series. (Tom Priddy/MLB.com)

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2007/09/09/FOAaiqG8.jpg

[Mass Haas]

MiLB.com's coverage includes Steve Wendt's call on one of the Helena runs, and a Jonathan Lucroy photo from his college days:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070909&content_id=301263&vkey=news_l128&fext=.jsp&sid=l128

 

Brewers blank Sox in opener

By Danny Wild / Special to MLB.com

 

The small-ball strategy worked out for Helena Brewers manager Jeff Isom. The pitching wasn't too bad, either.

 

Roque Mercedes and Nick Tyson protected two early runs and combined on a five-hitter Saturday as Helena blanked the Great Falls White Sox, 2-0, in Game 1 of their Pioneer League North Division series.

 

Mercedes (1-0) struck out three and scattered four hits over 5 1/3 innings. Tyson finished off the White Sox and picked up the save with 3 2/3 scoreless frames. He fanned five, walked one and allowed just one hit as the Brewers took the opener of the best-of-3 series.

 

"He did a good job, he threw strikes," Isom said of Mercedes. "It was a good performance by him overall, but it wasn't his best of the season."

 

Great Falls pitchers held Helena to three hits but face elimination in Game 2 on Sunday.

 

"We knew facing [Aaron] Poreda that we had a big task on our hands," Isom said of the White Sox starter, a first-round draft pick by Chicago in June. "We wanted to scratch across a run early and we did. Our players executed the little things, and that was the reason we won this game."

 

The Brewers, in an extreme small-ball scenario, scored a run in the first without a hit. Lee Haydel worked a walk and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and a passed ball. Jon Lucroy bounced a grounder to second baseman Dale Mollenhauer, who threw wildly to first as Haydel raced home for what held up as the decisive run.

 

Helena tacked on a run in the second when Steffan Wilson singled, advanced to second on Curt Rindal's grounder and scored on Matt Cline's ground-ball single.

 

Audio: Cline provides insurance

 

Isom threw Tyson into a pressure situation in the sixth after Mercedes hit Mollenhauer and gave up a one-out single to Salvador Sanchez.

Tyson cleaned up the mess when he got Jim Gallagher to ground into an inning-ending double play.

 

"That was big," said Isom. "That was big and he continued after that. He saved our bullpen, so we can now go with some guys tomorrow that we thought we'd have to use tonight."

 

Tyson worked a perfect seventh after second baseman Eric Farris robbed Christian Marrero with a diving play for the first out. Tyson fanned Josh Morgan and Andrew Mead to end the frame.

 

"He did leave the ball up a little bit, but this Montana weather is cold and he gave up some deep fly balls that didn't carry," Isom said of Mercedes, who induced three ground balls and 10 flyouts. "We were fortunate that balls weren't hit out of the ballpark. The way he pitched, it helped, he was up in the zone but he got a lot of fly-ball outs. He wasn't exactly sharp."

 

Poreda (0-1) struck out three, walked three and allowed two unearned runs on three hits over six innings. C.J. Retherford and Morgan doubled for the White Sox, who need a win on Saturday to keep their season alive.

 

The Brewers will turn to R.J. Seidel (4-0, 3.07 ERA) in Game 2, while Great Falls will counter with Juan Moreno (6-4, 2.39 ERA). Isom said Seidel has earned his chance at closing out the series.

 

"He's been throwing the ball well, he deserves the opportunity to get this start," he said. "We're hoping for a good outing. We'll be going with the best guys possible, we're not saving anybody for the next day. We need to win every game."

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070909/SPORTS/709090341/1002/SPORTS

 

Threshers batter Manatees 8-1

Brevard County starts slowly in another FSL series

BY MARK DeCOTIS

FLORIDA TODAY

The Brevard County Manatees find themselves on familiar ground today.

After being limited to four hits and losing 8-0 in the first game of the Florida State League Eastern Division Series, the Manatees clobbered St. Lucie Mets pitching to win 7-6 and 13-2 to storm into the league championship series.

On Saturday, in the first game of the best-of-five title series, the Manatees struggled offensively, falling 8-1 to the Clearwater Threshers before 1,543 fans at Space Coast Stadium.

Game 2 of the best-of-five series is 7:00 PM tonight (6:00 Central) in Viera, the final home game for the Manatees in 2007. The series shifts to Clearwater on Monday for the remaining games.

The Manatees collected 24 hits in their two victories over St. Lucie in the division series, but couldn't find the pop Saturday, being held at bay by Threshers starter Ned Johnson, who pitched six strong innings, and reliever Cory Willey, who rang up five strikeouts in two innings. The Manatees finished with seven hits.

"We hit a couple of balls hard with two outs with runners (on), to center field and one to right field, and a couple of feet either way and we score some runs," Manatees manager John Tamargo said.

"We didn't play very aggressive at the plate and we took some pitches. You've got to give them credit, they got us out. We need to come out (tonight) and just play aggressive like we can play. If our pitchers work ahead we've got a good chance."

The Threshers had no problems at the plate, collecting 16 hits. They did, however, strand 14 runners.

Manatees starter Rafael Lluberes flirted with danger from the start, including the fifth, when Clearwater broke through. Jeremy Slayden doubled, Lou Marson walked with one out and designated hitter Jake Blalock, younger brother of the Texas Rangers' Hank Blalock, crushed a home run to left, making it 3-0.

Clay Harris followed with a double to deep center and Lluberes was done for the evening. P.J. Antoniato singled in Harris to make it 4-0 and Brian Burgamy plated Antoniato to make it 5-0.

The Manatees got on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Mat Gamel homered to right off Clearwater starter Nate Johnson, making it 5-1.

The Threshers threatened in the top of the second, loading the bases on two fielder's choices and two walks but Brad Harman flied out to left to snuff it. Clearwater left eight runners on base through the first four innings.

Brevard made noise in the bottom of the third when Freddy Parejo singled and was sacrificed to second by Nestor Corredor and Lorenzo Cain walked. Gamel flied to center to advance the runners but Cole Gillespie ended the inning with a fly out to center.

The Manatees put two more runners aboard in the fourth as well but were once again denied.

 

Around the bases

The Manatees finished the regular season with a 76-63 record while the Threshers, Philadelphia Phillies affiliate, were 85-56.

The Threshers won the season series between the teams, 5-3, outscoring the Manatees, 46-42. Clearwater won three of four at home in May and the teams split a four-game set at Space Coast Stadium in late June. Clearwater hit .288 and posted a 4.22 ERA, while Brevard County batted .262 and compiled a 4.83 ERA.

Clearwater is in the postseason for the first time since 1999 when it was still known as the Phillies. It won its only championship in 1993. Brevard shared the 2001 championship with Tampa after the best-of-five series, tied at a game apiece, was canceled following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

What is a thresher? It is a mackerel shark whose tail fin has an elongated upper lobe.

The Manatees will host the 2008 Florida State League All-Star game next summer.

The Manatees played without starting centerfielder Darren Ford for the second straight game. Ford suffered a hand injury in the division playoff series against the St. Lucie Mets.

Florida Today photo of Yohannis Perez (bobbles the pickoff throw):

http://cmsimg.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Avis=A9&Dato=20070909&Kategori=SPORTS&Lopenr=709090341&Ref=AR&MaxW=257&border=0

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.al.com/stars/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/sports/1189329345234240.xml&coll=1

 

Tennessee blasts Stars for 16 hits

Day after no-hitter, Huntsville trails playoff series 2-1

From staff reports

Huntsville Times

 

KODAK, Tenn. - So much for the momentum and high hopes built from the historic Huntsville no-hitter Friday night.

 

On Saturday afternoon, the Tennessee Smokies mauled four Huntsville pitchers for 11 runs and 16 hits, rallying to blast Don Money's Stars 11-6 in game three of the Southern League North championship series.

 

Tennessee owns a 2-1 edge in the best-of-five series, which resumes this evening at Joe W. Davis Stadium at 6:05. Huntsville ace Lindsay Gulin (12-6, 3.29 ERA) will try to keep the Stars alive, facing Tennessee's Donnie Veal (8-10, 4.97).

 

If the Stars are able to extend the series, the fifth game will be in Huntsville at 7:05 Monday night.

 

The Stars leapt to a quick 4-0 lead, with a first-inning Alcides Escobar solo homer and a three-run third on an Escobar sacrifice fly, an RBI double by Hernan Iribarren and RBI triple by Adam Heether, all off Smokies starter Jeff Samardzija, the erstwhile Notre Dame football player.

 

But Huntsville couldn't stand the prosperity. Tyler Colvin tagged starter Derek Miller for an RBI single in the third, though Steve Sollmann countered with a run-scoring single in the fourth, making it 5-1.

 

Gary Cates socked a two-run homer off reliever Bo Hall in the Tennessee sixth, then Jeff Housman was tagged by homers from Casey McGehee and Issmael Salas in a four-run seventh that gave the Smokies an 8-4 lead. Eric Patterson piled it on in the eighth with a three-run homer off Vince Perkins, the Stars' third reliever of the game.

 

While Miller allowed seven hits in his five innings of work, the Huntsville bullpen combined to surrender nine hits - four of them homers - and nine runs in three innings. The Stars left nine men on base, including five in scoring position.

 

In the Southern League South series, defending champ Montgomery took a 2-1 lead in its series with Mississippi with a 6-5, 11-inning win in Montgomery. The South winner will host the first two games of the championship series, which begins two days after the conclusion of the division series.

 

Stars notes: The Stars' majority owner, Miles Prentice, was on hand for game one of the playoffs and several of his co-owners stuck around for game two. ... Milwaukee's Brevard County Single-A affiliate has reached the Florida State League championship series. ... Friday was the first time Money, the Stars manager , had been on the winning side of a no-hitter. He was on the losing side of two major league no-hitters, making the final out in one of them, a gem by Kansas City's Steve Busby.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070909/SPORTS0401/709090376/1328/SPORTS

 

Sounds' year ends at hands of heavy hitting Zephyrs

New Orleans wins playoff series with 7 extra-base hits

By JESSICA HOPP

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

The Sounds went extra innings to extend their playoff appearance Friday, but on Saturday all they did was give up extra bases.

 

Seven of New Orleans' 13 hits resulted in runners rounding past first as the Zephyrs collected a 6-0 win and eliminated the Sounds from the postseason in four games.

 

New Orleans will advance to the PCL Championship series to face the winner of the Pacific Conference series between Sacramento and Salt Lake.

 

"They were the hotter team," Sounds first baseman Andy Abad said. "You have to score runs to win games, and we didn't do enough of it."

 

Making just his second Triple-A start, New Orleans pitcher Kevin Mulvey put on a clinic in front of a Greer Stadium crowd of 3,338. He allowed four hits in seven innings and struck out eight.

 

Mulvey, who was brought up from Double-A Binghamton, has thrown 13 scoreless innings in his pair of appearances for the Zephyrs. He also pitched in their division-clinching victory at Round Rock on Sunday.

 

"Their starter was good," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said. "He was throwing three, four pitches for strikes and he located, that's tough on hitters."

 

Sounds struggle

 

Sounds left-hander Zach Jackson allowed four runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings and fell to 1-4 against the Zephyrs this season. That record includes three losses at Greer Stadium.

 

Jackson allowed New Orleans to score in two-out situations in the three consecutive innings before being pulled.

 

"This whole team was unbelievable this year," Jackson said of the American Conference Northern Division champions, who were making their third consecutive postseason appearance. "It just seems like we couldn't catch a break. I wish I could have pulled through."

 

Jesus Feliciano had the big bat for the Zephyrs, scoring two runs and collecting three RBIs, including a line drive home run over the right field wall in the eighth that drove in Jason Alfaro and gave New Orleans a 6-0 lead.

 

Fernando Tatis, Ramon Castro and Chip Ambres each had two hits for the Zephyrs.

 

The Sounds' final 14 batters were retired in order, and just one Nashville hitter - Laynce Nix - advanced past first base all evening.

 

A single by J.R. Hopf in the fifth put Nix in scoring position, but a pop out to center by Chris Barnwell and a strikeout by Ozzie Chavez ended the inning.

 

"It's always frustrating when you can't get any offense," Kremblas said.

 

"But it's tough to make plays when you don't get any pitches to hit and we didn't get many pitches to hit."

 

What they said: "I thought offensively we were better this season. And the pitching and defense were more consistent."- Kremblas

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070909/SPORTS/709090322/1006

 

Small ball bites White Sox

By SCOTT MANSCH

Great Falls Tribune Asst. Sports Writer

The Great Falls White Sox have been so hot during this sweltering summer, but the nip of early autumn cooled everyone off Saturday night at Centene Stadium.

The Helena Brewers scored a pair of unearned runs and made them stand up while taking a 2-0 victory over the White Sox in the opener of a three-game series for the Pioneer League's Northern Division flag.

Starter Roque Mercedes and reliever Nick Tyson combined on a five-hit shutout as the Brewers won despite managing just three hits - only one after the second. Helena is 6-4 against the White Sox at Centene Stadium, while against everyone else in the Pioneer the home team is a combined 25-4.

"They just bring us to a new level," said Tyson, a righthander from Lake City (Fla.) College who was a 32nd-round selection in the 2006 draft. "Us and them are the best teams and it always brings a team to a new level when you face somebody as good as you."

The second game of the series will be played this afternoon at 5:05 Pm (6:05 Central) in Helena. If there is a third game it will be Monday night at Kindrick Legion Field in the Capital City.

"We're very confident in our abilities. We know we're just as good if not better than they are and we're ready to play," said White Sox star C.J. Retherford. "We knew we had to win two anyway; we'll just have to do it down there."

The White Sox, so solid defensively all season, made a pair of costly errors as Helena scored twice off Great Falls ace lefty Aaron Poreda. The Sox, the best offensive team in the Pioneer this year with a team average of .297, had few scoring chances thanks to just five hits.

On a nippy night when the temperatures dived into the 40s, the Sox sticks were just as chilly.

"They capitalized on a couple of our early mistakes," said White Sox manager Chris Cron. "Then after the second inning it was a helluva ballgame ... They shut down an extremely good lineup. We didn't really amount a threat at all. It was just one of those nights."

Poreda, the first-round draft pick in the 2007 draft who was 4-0 in the regular season, walked the first hitter he faced Saturday night. It was just his 11th free pass in nearly 50 innings.

The Brewers immediately sacrificed, and the runner moved up on a passed ball. Moments later Helena scored on a routine grounder when White Sox second baseman Dale Mollenhauer threw wildly to first.

The Brewers were aggressive on the basepaths early on - and it paid off. In the second, Poreda yielded a leadoff single to Steffan Wilson. Isom quickly sent Wilson on the hit-and-run and Curt Rindal slapped a tailor-made grounder to short. But since the runner was moving the Sox were able to get only the out at first.

"We knew against Poreda we had to do something to try to manufacture a run. We were hoping to get a run early and thankfully we got two," Helena Manager Jeff Isom said.

With two outs, Matt Cline grounded one to the right side and Sox first baseman Christian Marrero made a diving stop. But Poreda was a bit late covering the bag and Marrero's underhand flip got past him for an error, with Wilson scoring on the play.

"We played 'little ball.' That's the way it's going to be against a pitcher like Poreda," said Isom. "You're lucky to get one run, let alone two."

The Sox had few scoring chances. In the second, Marrero single and Josh Morgan doubled down the right-field line. But Andrew Mead popped to second and Matt Inouye grounded out to end the inning.

In the third, Retherford, who set a new league record with 31 doubles this summer, crashed a one-out two-bagger to left. But Mollenhauer's drive to right was flagged down and a long shot off the bat of Salvador Sanchez carried only to the warning track in center.

The two-run deficit didn't seem like much at first against a Great Falls team that led the Pioneer in scoring with an average of about seven runs per game. But the hole got deeper as the goose eggs piled up on the scoreboard.

In the sixth, Mercedes hit Mollenhauer and Sanchez followed with a liner up the middle. Isom went to his bullpen for Tyson, who turned a slick 1-6-3 double play on Gallagher's hard shot back to the mound.

Tyson was untouchable thereafter, yielding only a bunt single to Greg Paiml in the eighth and a leadoff walk to Sanchez in the ninth.

"He mixed his pitches well and was pretty deceptive," said Retherford. "It was his night."

Isom said Tyson's performance was especially impressive considering the Great Falls 4-5-6 hitters went a combined 0-for-6 against him.

"Anytime those guys come with men on base we're a little nervous," Isom said. "There was no easiness in that game, that's for sure."

Said Tyson: "I was just hitting my spots and keeping the ball low."

After walking Sanchez on four straight pitches to open the bottom of the ninth, Tyson came right back to strike out Gallaher, Marrero and Morgan in short order.

"What a job he did against those guys," Isom said. "There was a lot of uneasiness on our bench, because we know what (the White Sox) are capable of doing."

The chilly night actually didn't hurt the Sox as much as a slight wind that blew in from center field. The breeze seemed to knock several well-hit balls off the Great Falls bats in the early going.

"We just couldn't find any holes," Cron said. "We had some hard-hit holes, but they ran 'em down. They were in the right places.

"They didn't make any mistakes. They played very solid baseball. ... You can't afford to make any blunder in games like these, and we made a few."

The White Sox will send righthander Juan Moreno, who was named Pitcher of the Year in the Pioneer League this summer, to the mound tonight in Helena. The Brewers will counter with 20-year-old righty R.J. Seidel, a 16th-round pick in the 2006 draft out of LaCrosse, Wis.

"We've won two in a row many times this year," said Cron. "It's not like it's the end of the world by any means."

The winner of the series meets either Orem or Idaho Falls for the Pioneer League pennant, a best-of-three series slated to start on Wednesday. Despite Saturday's setback, the White Sox still hope to qualify for that one.

"This one's already gone and there's no looking back," Cron said. "We didn't do what we wanted to do but we're not dead in the water by any means."

[pogokat]

anyone know what the schedule for the sally league playoff games are?

 

i'd love to see laporta play here..

[wvpowerblkwel]

The way I understand the series to run Monday and Tuesday 10th and 11th here in Charleston, then travel day on the 12th, final three at Columbus on 13th, 14th and 15th as is necessary! LaPorta hit well as the DH, but it was 95 degrees here and when he wasn't batting he was wearing a jacket. Didn't look like he felt well at all which made his night all the more impressive! I'm telling you, I've had the pleasure of watching this guy play and from a hitting standpoint, these poor fools opposing him on the mound are WWWWAAAYYY overmatched at this point. He is having to swing at a lot of pitches early in the count when the pitchers will try to be "around the plate"...he's not necessarily even swinging at strikes, just stuff that is close and hittable. Hopefully it's only a little cold, but he looked kinda rough last nite!