On a scorching Friday afternoon, the Cubs took on the Puerto Rico Orioles for the right tog o to Jet Blue Stadium for a game
under the lights at Fenway South. Albany teams have run into the PR Orioles quite a few times in games both in the round robin
and in the playoffs over the years. The Albany teams have managed 3 wins in round robin games, but have never been able to win
a playoff game against them. In fact the playoff contests have rarely been competitive affairs. PR comes to Florida with 35-40 players.
Some players are used to get through the early rounds to save energy for the A-team players that show up for the playoffs. Well, not only
was this a playoff game, but it was an elimination game, so they came with all barrels loaded.

The Cubs knew that it was paramount to get off to a good start. Chasing runs against a quality opponent like Puerto Rico
is almost always a losing proposition. Shawn Martin again got the Cubs off on the right foot with a single. Jerry Rosen followed
with a single of his own. Mike Girard then bounced a ball between short and third that the shortstop got a glove on, but could not
make a play on, and the based were loaded with nobody out. Gene Hallenbeck produced the first run on a grounder up the middle that
turned into a force play at second. Martin scored and Rosen moved to 3rd. Dave Mitchell drove in the second run for the Cubs with a
RBI fielder's choice of his own, and the Cubs had an early 2-0 lead.

Showing that they were not phased by the Cubs' first inning rally, the Orioles got two runs of their own in the bottom half, to tie the game at 2.
Cubs got hits from Ron Massaroni and PJ Martone, but were unable to plate a run. The Orioles took the lead with a single run in the bottom of the
second on a very questionable balk call on Cubs' starter Darrell Duncan, with runners on first and third.

The Cubs bounced right back in front in the 3rd inning, with 3 runs to take a 5-3 lead. Rosen led off with a walk and Girard followed with a screaming
line drive single to left that nearly decapitated the Orioles' third baseman. Hallenbeck crushed a liner through the hole between short and third, scoring Rosen.
Mitchell singled home Girard, and two outs later, TJ Scorsone drove in Hallenbeck. The team from Puerto Rico got back to within one run in the bottom half,
on a walk, a wild pitch and a RBI single. Through 3 complete innings the Cubs had a slender 5-4 lead.

The Cubs bats would not stay be quieted by either of the hired guns that the Puerto Ricans threw at them. The 4th inning started with Martone reaching first on
a rare error by the Orioles third baseman. Shawn Martin doubled him to 3rd, and one out later, Mike Girard delivered both runners with a single, putting the Cubs up 7-3.
The Cubs hoped that this would discourage the Orioles, but that wasn't happening to this pressure tested team. They bounced right back with one more run in the bottom
of the 4th to make it 7-5.

It was starting to look like both teams offenses were unstoppable. With 12 combined runs in the first 4 innings, it looked like the final score would be more reminiscent of a
football score but both teams pitchers settled in and threw zeros on the board for innings 5-8. The Cubs threatened in the 7th, when they got a runner to third with two outs
on hits by Girard and Hallenbeck and a one out fielder's choice but could not get the key 2-out hit to expand their lead. Darrell Duncan gave up just one hit over the next four
innings in keeping the potent Orioles attack at bay, and his team in front by 2 runs.

So entering the final frame, the Cubs desperately wanted to give the tiring Duncan some breathing room, with the top of the Puerto Rican order coming up in the bottom of the 9th.
It was going to be a battle of the top of the orders for both teams, as Shawn Martin came up to lead off the 9th. Shawn and Jerry Rosen both singled. Mike Girard then drove the
first pitch he saw over the right fielder's head for a RBI double, leaving runners at second and third with no outs. This was the Cubs' chance to salt away an historic win for Albany baseball.
Gene Hallenbeck doubled home both runners and all of a sudden the Cubs were up 5 runs. David Mitchell then singled Gene to third and Darrell Duncan helped his own cause by singling
home the final 2 runs of the inning.

Duncan walked out to the mound in the 9th, with a 12-5 lead. The PR team got a lead off walk, and a single, bringing up the PR #3 hitter, who was 2-3 with a walk so far.
Darrell got him to ground into a fielders choice scoring one run but trading 1 run for 1 out was OK with the Cubs. The clean up hitter for PR singled home the second run of the inning.
A walk and a wild pitch put runners at second and third, with just one out and the PR bench was starting to get loud. Darrell got a grounder to first and a ground out to short, and the
Cubs were owners of an historic 12-7 win over the Puerto Rico Orioles, eliminating them from the Quad A playoffs.

The Cubs advanced to the Jet Blue Stadium game against the Banana Sharks from Montgomery County, PA. The Cubs clinched at least 4th place with the victory, and had an opportunity
to advance to Championship Saturday. There were hugs and high fives all around. The Puerto Ricans were classy in defeat, shaking hands and wishing us all good luck with the rest of our games.
The Cubs offense was fantastic -- pounding out 17 hits, scoring 12 runs against tournament tested veteran pitchers. The defense was solid behind DD, and he was strong throughout scattering
9 hits and 7 runs, walking 6, and striking out 3. It took all 3 phases to finally win a playoff game versus the Puerto Ricans. I am very proud to have been a part of it!

-- Edited by mgirard11 on Saturday 16th of November 2024 01:05:44 PM