Several back-and-forth games, but how many will end series?
Entering Game 4, all six playoff series had reached a 2-1 game split. How many would conclude today, and how many would advance to Game 5?
Undrafted Round
Game 4
Select League
(4) Duluth Pockets 2
(5) Lakeville Noses 5
Series tied 2-2
Needing a win to tie the series, the Noses took an early lead and never let up in a 5-2 victory. Corey Koskie led the Lakeville offense with a pair of solo homers.
While the Noses only tallied six hits off Pockets starter Pat Mahomes, three of those cleared the fence, the third a two-run shot by Jose Morales to extend the Lakeville lead to 5-0 in the sixth. Duluth scored a pair in the seventh but Bob Gebhard and Chris Mazza shut down the Pockets in relief.
(3) Kenosha Sticks 4
(6) Woodbury Poison 2
Sticks win series 3-1
Though the series appeared to be on the way to extending for several innings, an eighth-inning swing sent the Sticks to the next round, Bret Boone’s three-run homer providing the deciding margin for Kenosha.
Before that inning, the Sticks had just one run on five hits, with the Poison scoring their runs on solo homers from Kent Hrbek and Luis Gomez.
(2) Bloomington Berries 6
(7) Green Bay Tab 8
Series tied 2-2
The Tab tallied all their runs in the first two innings, quickly taking control of a game that the Berries could never reclaim and sending the series to a deciding game.
While the Berries scored three in the top of the first (highlighted by Mitch Garver’s two-run home run), but Craig Paquette promptly doubled in two and Scott Bradley tied the score with a sacrifice fly. One inning later, Brian Anderson drove in two with a single and Paquette capped Green Bay’s scoring with a three-run jack.
Bloomington threatened in the ninth, scoring two and loading the bases with no outs, but Aaron Barrett entered and retired all three men he faced (including one sac fly) for the save.
Choice League
(4) Madison Hints 4
(5) St. Paul Battles 6
Series tied 2-2
Facing elimination, the Battles played up to their name, striking the decisive blows with two runs in the eighth and defeating the Hints 6-4.
Led by Lenny Webster (3-5, HR, 3 RBIs), Madison outhit St. Paul 10-8, but the Battles had more key hits in key moments and never trailed. St. Paul struck three homers, the last (by Jacque Jones) opening the scoring in the eighth before Terry Jorgensen’s RBI single provided the final insurance in the game.
(3) Racine Pieces 5
(6) Brooklyn Park Fights 7
Series tied 2-2
Matt Wallner’s offense keyed the Fights to an early lead they held onto late, extending the series to five games with a Brooklyn Park 7-5 win. Wallner opened the scoring with an RBI single (sparking a three-run first), then extended the lead to six with a third-inning three-run dong.
Racine closed the deficit to one in a seventh most notable for Gary Matthews Jr.’s bases-clearing triple, but Pat Meares singled in Wallner in the bottom of the frame and relievers Jake Reed and Taylor Rogers quieted the Pieces the rest of the way.
(2) Milwaukee Steam 6
(7) Plymouth Holes 8
Holes win series 3-1
The Steam and Holes ping-ponged big innings, but Plymouth did just enough to finish off Milwaukee 8-6 and advance to the Compensation Clash round.
Milwaukee matched Plymouth’s three-run first with Adam Lind’s trio-scoring longball in the third, but the Holes put up another treble in the fourth marked by Edouard Julien’s two-run single. Chris Parmelee’s seventh-inning solo homer proved vital as the Steam got three in the eighth, but a pair of doubles gave the Holes the final run of the game and Eddie Guardado stranded two in the ninth for the clincher.
Four Game 5s on the slate. Let’s see who moves on.