The second game of the Semi-finals began the same way a lot of Cubs' games begin: Carlos Espada singled and immediately
stole second. He moved to third on a productive groundout by Bryce Cutler, and then scored when Mike Girard followed with
a ball off the end of he bat that worked like a squeeze bunt scoring the speedy Espada with the game's first run.

The Twins answered right back, letting the Cubs know that they would not be laying down. Jeff Whitehead led off with
a double to left and moved to 3rd on a Frank Owens single. Owens then stole second. Rick Saidenberg followed with a sacrifice
fly to center, scoring Whitehead, who grabbed at his hammy as he got near the plate (this will be important later). Steve Rychik then
singled to give the Twins a 2-1 lead. Girard got Koustakis on a fielder's choice, and PJ Martone erased Koustakis when he tried
to steal second.

The Cubs got some help from the Twins' defense in the top of the 3rd inning. Three Twins' errors and a hit by pitch resulted in 3 runs
for the Cubs. Bryce Cutler delivered one of the runs with a RBI groundout and Mike Reutter delivered another with a sacrifice fly.
The game would move on to the 5th inning with the Cubs on top 4-2.

With one out in the 5th, Bryce Cutler drove a ball to the fence for a triple. Girard followed with a RBI single, and the Cubs lead grew to 5-2.
Jeff Whitehead led off the bottom of the inning with a hard line drive up the middle, for what should have been a lead off single, unfortunately
Jeff's hammy would not cooperate with him getting to first base ahead of the throw from Cutler, in centerfield. Instead of 1 man on with no outs
there was one outs and nobody on. Girard used this good fortune by getting the next two hitters out without the ball leaving infield, and the lead
remained 5-2, moving to the 5th inning.

The Twins would get runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs in the 5th on a walk and an error, but Girard got a ground out to 3rd, a pop up to the mound,
and a strike out to keep the lead at 3. The Twins would again threaten in the bottom of the 6th, still only trailing by 3 runs. Girard walked the first
hitter (Mike Arbour) on 4 pitches, and Joe Hauser (House) singled him to second. This brought the tying run to the plate with no outs. A hard ground
ball up the middle got through, but Cutler charged hard in center, and threw to second base for the out (his second outfield assist of the game).
Girard got two infield outs without a run scoring and we were on to the 7th inning, with the score still 5-2.

The Cubs made life easier for their pitcher in the top of the 7th by plating 2 insurance runs. Cutler was again right in the middle of things.
He started the rally with a one out double. A single by Ron Lochner and a long double by Mike Reutter plated two runs and the lead was now
5 runs (7-2).

Girard appreciated the breathing room and closed out the game with a scoreless 7th, allowing just one 2-out walk to Stefan Koustakis. He allowed just
one single in his last six innings, after giving up 3 hits and two runs in the first. The win earns the Cubs a return appearance in the Finals of the 55+ division.
Their opponent is still to be decided after the Yankees won game two of their semi-final against the Whiz Kids last night. A game 3 will be necessary, and will
be played Wednesday night at Watervliet High School, starting at 5:00 pm. The winner will face the Cubs in game one of the Finals, Friday night at the A-Diamond,
at 7:45 pm.

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-- Edited by mgirard11 on Tuesday 16th of September 2025 10:31:02 AM