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Post Info TOPIC: Cubs best Twins 8-4 to reach the Finals.


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Cubs best Twins 8-4 to reach the Finals.


A very contentious game was played at Watervliet High School on Thursday night.
Both teams were fired up all night. The Twins got on the board quickly, when lefty leadoff hitter, Jeff Whitehead
slashed a double down the third base line. The Cubs' left fielder made a strong throw to second that eluded the second baseman covering,
and because nobody was backing up the play, Whitehead raced all of the way home for a "Little League Home Run." A double and a two base
error, in the scorebook. Terry McCarthy followed with a single and got to second on a wild pitch. It looked like big trouble for Cubs' starter,
Ron Massaroni, especially with Rick Seidenberg striding to the plate with a runner on second and no outs. Rick was jammed by a nice tailing fastball
and hit a humpback liner back to the mound. Massaroni speared it for the first out, and wheeled to second and nailed the runner there for a double play.
You could audibly hear the wind come out of the Twins sails at that point. Ron got a grounder to short from the Twins clean up hitter and the rally was over,
with just one run.

Andy Hoyle and Jerry Rosen worked out walks in the top of the second and Massaroni singled to load the bases. Dave Schillinger came through in the clutch
with a two out, 2-RBI single to give the Cubs the lead 2-1. A lead that they would never relinquish. Meanwhile, Massaroni gave up just one single (Lee Madsen
beating out an infield grounder) in innings 2 thru 5. He gave up a couple of walks, but the Twins were unable to get the ball out of the infield in those 4 innings.

That kept the Cubs in the lead until their bats came alive in the 4th and 5th innings. Red Hot Andy Hoyle started the rally, in the 4th, with a single.
Mike Reutter followed with a screaming liner for a single, moving Hoyle top third, and Jerry Rosen walked to load the bases. Mike Girard singled to left to plate the first
run of the inning. A Massaroni fielder's choice drove in the second run, and after Girard stole third, a Dave Schillinger sacrifice fly to left plated the 3rd run of the inning.
A side note: Mr. Girard left early on the SF, but nobody on the Twins bench caught it, even though the home plate umpire did (he mentioned it to me in my next plate appearance),
so no appeal was made, and the run remained on the board.

The Cubs were back at it in the top of the 5th, plating two more runs. Singles by Ron Lochner, Hoyle, Reutter, and Girard were the keys to the rally, and the inning ended with the Cubs in
control with a 7-1 lead. The Twins plated their second run in the bottom of the 6th with the help of a Tom King single and two uncharacteristic walks by Massaroni. This cut the lead to
7-2. The Cubs pushed the lead back to 6 with a run in the top of the 7th. Hoyle reached base for his 4th time on an error by the Twins SS, and stole second base. Rosen plated
Hoyle (his 4th run of the game) with a RBI single. The last two runs of the game were scored in the bottom of the 7th by the Twins. A bad hop single by Greg Briscoe and 4 Cubs miscues led to
those two runs. Massaroni got the last out by bouncing off the mound on a grounder between the mound and first base and getting the ball to first in plenty of time.
The game was over and the Cubs owned a ticket to the finals, where they will face the second seeded Whiz Kids in the best 2 out of 3 series for all of the marbles.

"Big Game" Ron Massaroni was solid all night, after settling in. He threw a complete game 5-hitter, giving up 4 runs, of which only 1 was earned. He walked 4 and struck out 3.

A big tip of the cap to the Twins, who put up a great fight. They should consider the season a win, having advanced to the semi-finals, after defeating a higher seeded Dodgers team in a
great quarterfinal game. They never gave up and fought on until the last out was recorded. We wish you all a happy and healthy off season. See you again next year.



-- Edited by mgirard11 on Friday 17th of September 2021 03:35:19 PM

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Michael J. Girard


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Girard making a base running blunder? I find that hard to believe. Must be a typo. Congrats Cubbies. Good luck in the finals.
Crafty

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