Craig Miller outdueled Americans ace Mike Kane Tuesday evening to send the Yankees to the finals of the 62s championship series with a masterful 2-0 complete game shutout on the A Diamond.

''Smooth as Silk'' was what his batterymate Ron Smaka called Miller's pitching performance, as the big righthander limited a solid Americans lineup to just three hits and one walk. Or as teammate Tom Maney would say, ''It was Miller time.''

The No. 2 seeded Yankees jumped out to a 1-0 lead as Kane battled through the rust of a comeback from a shoulder injury that has limited his innings this summer. Yankees leadoff batter Tony Nardacci did his thing, drawing a walk and reached second on an errant pickoff attempt. An uncharacteristic wild pitch by Kane sent Nardacci to third and he scored on a rope to right field by Kevin Carpenter. Anthony Torre corralled it, but could not lasso Tony at the plate, and the Yanks struck first.

After that, Kane was pretty much lights out, until the Yankees plated a critical insurance run in the sixth. Bob Holmes led off with a single to left, and pinch-runner Paul Cerone swiped second. An infield hit by Will Ferguson and walk by Maney loaded the bases for Jim McQuade. With two outs, McClutch beat out an infield single to score Cerone for the 2-0 lead before a ground out ended the inning.

Mike Aiello would make things interesting when he ripped a two-out double that just eluded Carpenter in center, but Miller got a final ground out to Paul Post to end it.
The defense for both teams was spectacular, with Nardacci making two plays deep in the hole at shoftstop and nipping the runner both times. On the end of one of those throws was southpaw first-sacker Ted Poleto, who made a nifty scoop for the first out of the seventh.

Mike LaBarge's third-seeded Americans were a classy group all season long, and made a nice run that just fell short. They will no doubt reload and be in the thick of it next year.

The Yankees have little time to rest on their laurels, as the top-seeded Arachnids are waiting on deck for Game 1 on Wednesday at the A Diamond. Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday, and a Game 3 (if needed) is set for next Tuesday--if Mother Nature approves.


-- Edited by adtimbrown on Tuesday 29th of August 2023 09:58:08 PM

-- Edited by adtimbrown on Wednesday 30th of August 2023 07:49:29 AM