The Silver Marlins will play the Aging Orioles for the 38 division crown.
The suspended game was resumed Saturday afternoon. In the top of the 8th, the Marlins went down quietly 1-2-3. In the bottom half of the frame, the first two Highlanders were set down with Jim Ansel pitching. TJ Scorsone swung and miss at strike three, but the ball got away from the catcher and TJ made it safely to first. He then stole second base. Herb Friedman hit a line drive just over Mike Girard's glove at first sending TJ home with the winning run to send the series to a game 3. Final score 8-7
The sun turned out to be the biggest player in game three. In the top of the first the Highlanders got a run on a two balls hit to right field that were lost in the sun.
The Silver Marlins exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the first. Several well placed hits into right field early in the inning and a couple of Highlander miscues looking into the western sun led to a big inning. Oh yea, the SM's had some solid hits to left and center, too (You can throw a fast ball, curve, slider, slurve, knuckle ball, change up, splitter, spitter, cutter, screw ball, change up, pitch out, ephous to Mike Girard - it doesn't make a difference, he'll hit any/all of them)
After the first inning, the defense and pitching settled down. I think the Highlanders and Marlins each scored a run in the 5th (don't have a book in front of me). In the 6th the Marlins got two more runs when a spectator 93,000,000 miles away interfered with a perfect dp ball and led to two more Marlin runs.
Not ready to give up at 10-2 going into the 7th the Highlanders fought back. Two leadoff hits and some walks mixed in a few more hits, maybe some errors (I don't have the scorebook for the exact details, all I know was we were closing the gap) made the score 10-6. The Highlanders got the tying run to the plate, but an infield popup brought an end to this semifinal series. Final score 10-6.
It was a great three game set. Hope to do it again next year - with a different outcome.
Can you please post the dates and times of the finals, I always try to catch one of those games. Should be a great matchup. Supposedly we've got some rain coming, so this might not be easy.
Agreed on the sun in RF at CBA; just a dangerous place to stand. Hopefully it won't be a deciding factor in the final.
Congratulations Highlanders on a great playoff run. Beating the Hummingbirds, then scaring the bejeezus out of the Marlins -- that's sweet.
Hats off to the Highlanders! For a team that won only 6 of their 18 games during the regular season to take out a Hummingbirds team that looked ready to go on a playoff tear was a big enough accomplishment. I'm sure nobody would have been surprised to see them go down easliy to an experienced Silver Marlin team that was also on a roll entering the playoffs. Oh contraire! Game one was a nailbiter that saw a seveth inning rally by the Highlanders fall just one run short on a perfect relay from the outfield. Game two was as exciting a seesaw affair as I have ever been involved in. It took two days to complete, as neither team would quit. Game three had Jim Ansel showing why he is still the premiere pitcher in the 38's, as he silenced the Highlander bats, giving up only two runs ( both on bleeders I believe) through six innings. Just when the Marlins thought it was safe to take Jim out and put Mike (put gas on the fire) Girard on the mound for the final inning, the Highlanders decided that they weren't quite done yet. They pushed four runs across and loaded the bases with two outs to bring the tying run to the plate. Jim Ansel to the rescue. He comes back to the mond to retire the next hitter on a pop fly. Whew! Finally the Silver Marlins can move on. These Highlanders should not only be extremely proud of the way they played in the playoffs, but should be excited about their prospects for the 2006 season. Congratulations guys!
Just wanted to say congratulations again to the Marlins after a very exciting semi-final series. Their hitting, fielding, and pitching makes them a very tough competitor every game. When you add in their Team pride and experience it seems that you always have a dogfight just to stay in the game. They just play "good baseball". Best of luck to the Orioles and the Marlins in the finals.
