| Thursday August 9th 6:30 PM The Wiffle Iron Taylor, MI |
 - Punchouts swept season series 4-0. - Series at the Wiffle Iron saw scores of 1-0 and 6-0. - These are Manchester's first games these playoffs after Commandos' forfeits in first round. - Belgian defeated Squirrels in two pitching dominated 1-0 games to advance. - 4 All-Stars in series; Hatt and Bortmas for Manchester, Tomlinson and Corbett for Belgian. |
| Game 1 | |||||
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2 | @ | 1 |  |
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| WP: Hatt (1-0) | LP: Phillips (0-1) RBI: Tomlinson (2) |
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| Game 2 | |||||
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3 | @ | 5 | |
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| LP: Bortmas (0-1) HR: Hatt (1), Bortmas (1) |
WP: Castle (2-0) | ||||
Belgian Beat:
Things got off to a late start. The Wiffle Iron was wet and muddy. Members of the Seals and Aces were again in attendance. Some guy who gave us his best "get out of here" spiel used the word, "whoa". There, the scene is set. The rain was never did get worse than a mist or sprinkle, but all of it earlier in the day left the ground (and balls) wet and muddy, which caused trouble for the pitchers. Game 1 saw Chandler Phillips take the mound for Belgian, and he struggled early to find his control. He walked in one in the first, but Kyle Tomlinson picked him up in the bottom half with an RBI single off Sam Hatt. Phillips walked in another run in the second; Belgian again threatened in the bottom, but could not push a run across. From there the pitchers found their groove and the game was over.
Game 2 again started with bang, an even bigger bang. David Castle took the mound for Belgian for the second time these playoffs, and got roughed up in the first. He gave up a lead-off home run, then a walk, followed by a two-run home run before getting out of the first. Evan Bortmas toed therubber mud for the Punchouts and could not find the zone; he uncharacteristically walked in five before handing the ball off to Dakota LaDouceur to finish the game. That was all for the scoring, but darkness crept in and became the focal point for the rest of the game. Fielding became a stab in the dark, pun fully intended, and great catches by Kyle Tomlinson and Brandon Corbett kept Belgian on top - bringing an end to Manchester's 28 game win streak, and giving rise to a new award "Diamond Digits in the Dark".
The 1-1 split means we will be getting at least two games at Knockout Park on Sunday, and both teams are confident about their chances to win what is now a best-of-three series.
Things got off to a late start. The Wiffle Iron was wet and muddy. Members of the Seals and Aces were again in attendance. Some guy who gave us his best "get out of here" spiel used the word, "whoa". There, the scene is set. The rain was never did get worse than a mist or sprinkle, but all of it earlier in the day left the ground (and balls) wet and muddy, which caused trouble for the pitchers. Game 1 saw Chandler Phillips take the mound for Belgian, and he struggled early to find his control. He walked in one in the first, but Kyle Tomlinson picked him up in the bottom half with an RBI single off Sam Hatt. Phillips walked in another run in the second; Belgian again threatened in the bottom, but could not push a run across. From there the pitchers found their groove and the game was over.
Game 2 again started with bang, an even bigger bang. David Castle took the mound for Belgian for the second time these playoffs, and got roughed up in the first. He gave up a lead-off home run, then a walk, followed by a two-run home run before getting out of the first. Evan Bortmas toed the
The 1-1 split means we will be getting at least two games at Knockout Park on Sunday, and both teams are confident about their chances to win what is now a best-of-three series.
