Jerry Solomon pitched 6 strong innings, and Ed Klopfer doubled and homered to rally the WhizKids past the Americans 11-9. The Americans scored 4 in the top of the 1st, taking advantage of 2 errors. The WhizKids answered with 5 runs in the bottom of the frame. Walks to Darrell Duncan and Ralph Caputo, and a single by Bill Smith loaded the bases. A fielder's choice by Mike Lannon plated the 1st run. A walk to Jeff Teats reloaded the bases, and Solomon brought them all home with a double. The 5th run scored on an error. The Americans came back to tie it in the 2nd, aided by another miscue by the WhizKids, and went ahead 6-5 on a double by Leunong and a single by Rogers. The WhizKids rallied again in the 4th. Dave Palmer led off with a single, Tom Maney walked, then Klopfer hit a 2-run double. Lannon added a 2-out single to make it 8-6. They extended their lead to 11-6 in the 5th. Solomon led off with his 2nd double of the game, and Maney followed with an RBI single. Klopfer then smacked his home run to deep left-center field. Jim Wing doubled and scored to cut the lead to 11-7. In the top of the 7th, with a 2-2 count on the batter, it was deemed too dark to continue. The game was resumed the next night, and the WhizKids only needed 3 outs. Again, the Americans came to play! Tom Henderson hit a ground-rule double with one out, and he would score on an error. Mike LaBarge singled in another run to make it 11-9. After a pop up to 3rd, a single by Brett Conlin had the tying run on base. Jim Konstantakis got the 3rd out on a strikeout to preserve the victory. The Americans, under manager Brad Buchan, never gave up, making it an exciting game. Congratulations to all of the Americans on a fine season. With the win, the WhizKids advance to the finals to face the Yankees. Weather permitting, Game 1 is tonight at the Satellite field. It should be a good series. Jim Porter-WhizKids