Plus a dramatic walk-off comeback!
Due to the game’s scheduling, ROC/BLO Game 4 simulated automatically when I finished MIN/RAC Game 3. As such, I simulated MIN/RAC Game 4 and am presenting all four games at once.
First-Round Third Round
Game 3
Select League
(1) Rochester Locks 9
(2) Bloomington Berries 12
Berries lead 2-1
What looked like a simple Lock-down win with one out to go turned into a Berry shocking Bloomington victory; after miraculously tying the score from a 9-6 deficit, Marty Cordova launched a first-pitch three-run home run to give the 2 seed the series lead.
Keyed by first-inning bombs from Graig Nettles and Justin Morneau, Rochester roared out to a 6-0 lead after three and a half innings only to see Bloomington chip away at the lead. The Berries got single runs in the fourth (Rich Becker RBI single) and fifth (Mike Durant solo homer) before knotting things up in the seventh: Dave Edwards led off with a solo homer, then after a walk and a double, Cordova drove in Bloomington’s fourth run of the game with a fielder’s choice. But Rochester walked not only the bases loaded, but two men in, making the score 6-6 before an inning-ending popout.
The Locks promptly hammered Bloomington for three more runs in the eighth and appeared to be coasting to victory in the ninth, closer Paul Abbott getting two quick outs after a leadoff single. Yet just as in the seventh, control problems sank Rochester: Abbott walked three straight men to make the score 9-7 before Brian Dinkelman evened the tallies with a first-pitch two-run single. Abbott’s subsequent offering to Cordova wound up in the bleachers, sparking a celebration in virtual Bloomington.
Choice League
(1) Minneapolis Winners 1
(3) Racine Pieces 5
Winners lead 2-1
I fully expected another massacre courtesy of Winner lumber when I saw this game won the poll in the last article. I did not expect a pitcher’s duel or for Racine to win their first game of the series. Yet Brian Lawrence nearly perfectly kept Minneapolis’ offense in check while the Pieces used key late-inning swings to earn the victory.
Both Lawrence and Mark Redman put up zeroes on the scoreboard for the first five innings before the offenses traded runs in the sixth: the Winners got the first man across when Joe Mauer singled in Jeff Reed, but Steve Pearce once again provided a key blow for Racine with a solo home run. Pearce’s blow would have given the Pieces the lead had George Springer not been caught stealing during his at-bat, but Chuck Scrivener made that point moot with another solo shot in the seventh.
But while Lawrence persisted through a nearly disastrous eighth, inducing Michael Cuddyer to pop out with two outs and two men on, Redman’s fatigue led to Minneapolis going to the bullpen, a bullpen which let the game get away from them. Kyle Waldrop took the mound and immediately put two on before Pearce doubled both home. Brent Rooker singled in Pearce, and after a popout and walk, Luke Bard came in to get the final two outs.
Those three runs were more than enough for Racine, who brought in Craig Dingman for a 10-pitch ninth and the win.
Game 4
Select League
(1) Rochester Locks 2
(2) Bloomington Berries 5
Berries lead 3-1
Though neither starter lasted through the fifth, Bloomington’s staff outpitched Rochester’s and put the Berries on the threshold of a championship appearance.
A.J. Pierzynski’s RBI double was the only blemish against Bryan Hickerson and company, while Mark Contreras drove in three of the Berries’ five runs as Bloomington knocked off the Locks 5-2.
Despite a second inning that looked like it would lead to a slugfest, only one run came outside that inning. After Pierzynski gave Rochester the lead in the top of the frame, Bloomington followed with a one-out barrage: Mitch Garver doubled, LaMonte Wade Jr. walked, Dave Edwards brought in Garver with a single, Mike Durant walked, and Contreras gave the Berries the permanent lead with a two-run single. A pair of walks brought in run number four, but Scott Erickson induced a pair of flyouts to leave the bases loaded.
Contreras chased Erickson in the fourth with a solo home run, and Rochester would not answer back until a two-out run in the ninth, John Castino singling in Graig Nettles. But Jovani Moran struck out Pierzynski to conclude the contest.
Choice League
(1) Minneapolis Winners 11
(3) Racine Pieces 8
Winners lead 3-1
Now this one left no doubt of its slugfesticissitude, as the Winners put up eight runs in the first and held off Racine’s offense for their third win of the series. Though Minneapolis outhit the Pieces 16-14, the home team had more extra-base hits (4-2) and home runs (2-1).
The Winners’ eight-run first featured six singles, two walks, two errors, and one pyriform-appreciating partridge, but Racine halved the deficit in the second partly thanks to key doubles by Chuck Scrivener and Gary Matthews Jr. The teams traded crooked numbers in the fifth: Minneapolis used their two extra-base hits to score with Steve Brye’s home run preceding Ben Revere’s triple and Byron Buxton’s sacrifice fly, and Racine one-upped them with their pair of longballs (Brent Rooker solo, Travis Metcalf two-run). Racine got another run in the sixth but saw their offensive threat stifled when left fielder Revere threw out Emil Brown at home to end the frame.
Despite the pair of high-powered offenses through the early and middle portions of the game, the final three frames saw quiet as neither team had more than one runner reach base in an inning. Racine’s final threat, a Steve Pearce single to lead off the ninth, was cut off and concluded when Patrick Bailey bounced into an around-the-horn double play.
