The boys from Albany faced the last game of the round robin and elimination without a key player, Ron Massaroni had to stay out of the final game due to an illness that he caught on the plane out here and has been fighting all week. That was tough enough, There also were two games that, if the right team won,would have meant that we didn't need to win. That didn't happen! We went in to our 2:00 tilt needing to win to ensure qualification into the playoffs!
The plan going in was to have three of our playoff pitchers get a little tune-up by pitching 2 innings each. Hopefully we get out to a big lead at that time, and we could piece together the last 3 innings. Darrell Duncan (game two winner) took the ball for the first two innings. It was evident right from the start, that the Central Indiana Dodgers were not ready to cooperate, as they scored 2 in the top of the first. Team Albany got those two runs back in the bottom half when Dave Mitchell drove in Darrell Duncan, and Ron Lochner drove in Mike Girard. The Dodgers used a walk stolen base, and a single to re-take the lead in top of the second. Albany could not answer in the bottom half of the inning. Mike Girard came on to pitch his two innings (3rd and 4th) and took care of the Dodgers, getting them in one over the minimum, striking out all 3 batters in the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th, Team Albany used consecutive singles by Lochner, Dean Little, and Ralph Caputo to tie the game at 3. Girard decided to go out for a 3rd inning, due to the ease of the first two innings. But again, the top of the Dodgers order wasn't ready to cooperate. Three singles and two big errors later, the Dodgers sported a 7-3 lead.
Things started to look bleak for the home team, but that is when they have been at their best all week. Scott Ross singled and stole second. Darrell Duncan followed with a single through the left side, but Ross had to hold second to ensure that the ball went through and couldn't advance. Girard followed with a fielders choice forcing Ross at third. Mitchell delivered the first run with a RBI single. Lochner was retired on a screaming liner to left (an absolute laser). Dean Little singled to left and the left fielder misplayed the ball and 2 more runs scored. Caputo remained white hot at the plate, and drove in the tying run with a clutch two out single.
Feeling the moment, Girard again went out to the mound and retired the Dodgers in order in the top of the 6th. The bottom of the sixth would be where the boys from Albany would take their first lead. Singles by Joe Gay and Mike Labarge led off the rally, after one was out. After the Dodgers got the second out of the inning, Duncan delivered the go ahead run with a single. Girard would follow with a grounder to the hole, that the shortstop could not handle cleanly, and that was enough for him to beat it out and earn a 9th run. From that moment on, the good guys would not be denied. Girard decided to go the rest of the way to ensure victory and that is the way it went, as he only faced two batters over the minimum the rest of the way, striking out two more Dodgers, making it a total of 5 on the day.
Team Albany would score 5 more times (2 in the 7th; and 3 in the 8th) to make the final score 14-7. The results: Team Albany finishes the Round Robin 5th overalland plays the 12th seed Arizona Pirates at 9:00 this morning. Upon winning that game, they will face the 4th seed Motor City Firebirds (5-1) in the quarter finals at 1:15pm.
The goal is to move on to Thursday, so that we can get to the semis and the championship game (and our 4th double header in 6 days)!
