1914 Divisional Playoffs
Northern League
Payson defeats Flagstaff in thrilling series, 4-3
Final Scores:
Payson 3, Flagstaff 2 — WP: Charley Hall
Payson 4, Flagstaff 3 (12) — WP: Bill Burns
Flagstaff 13, Payson 2 — WP: Hippo Vaughn
Payson 5, Flagstaff 3 (10) — WP: Charley Hall
Flagstaff 5, Payson 4 (11) — WP: Herb Pennock
Flagstaff 8, Payson 0 — WP: Hippo Vaughn
Payson 13, Flagstaff 6 — WP: Charley Hall
This might have been one of the most exciting playoff series in Arizona League history (how many times have I said that in this dynasty?). Three games went to extra innings. Three were decided by one run, with another by two runs. Flagstaff came all the way back from a 3-1 deficit to force a Game Seven.
But then the Longhorns blew the doors off the place in the decisive seventh contest, jumping to a 5-0 lead in the third inning and a 12-1 lead after a seven-run fifth. Flagstaff made it a little exciting, scoring five runs in the top of the seventh, but that was all the gas the Lumberjacks had in them. Payson moves on to the Cactus Champions Cup.
2B
Jack Barry went 4-for-4 for Payson in Game Seven. Not bad for a No. 8 hitter (setting his career high for hits in a game). The 'Horns didn't have a lot of extra base hits in this one, just a lot of good station-to-station work to push runs across.
Barry batted .308 for the series. Payson's star centerfielder
Tris Speaker was held down (.192 average) but others stepped up mightily. Guys like SS
Donnie Bush (.358) and 3B
Del Paddock (.333) really crushed the ball regularly.
Flagstaff got a great series from 34-year-old LF
Sam Crawford, the winner of nine Big Stick awards. He batted .321 for the series, though he only drove in two runs. Wahoo Sam went 4-for-5 in Game Six and 3-for-4 with three runs scores in Game Three. RF
Watty Lee was probably the Lumberjacks offensive MVP for the playoffs. He had at least one hit in every game, finishing with a .333 average, five RBIs and a homer.
Folks are wondering if maybe this was Flag's last good shot at winning in a title in awhile. Crawford and Lee, age 35, aren't getting any younger...
Southern League
Tucson headed back to Cactus Cup
Final Scores:
Tucson 2, Nogales 0 — WP: George McQuillan
Nogales 5, Tucson 4 (11) — WP: Bill Foxen
Tucson 4, Nogales 1 — WP: Jake Boultes
Tucson 2, Nogales 1 (11) — WP: George McQuillan
Tucson 4, Nogales 2 — WP: Barney Pelty
Tucson, which got dusted off in five games by Prescott in last year's Cactus Champions Cup, will get a chance for redemption. The Saguaros outlasted a gritty Nogales squad in five games in a series that was closer than the final tally indicates.
None of these games was a blowout. Defense and pitching ultimately made the difference. The series seemed to turn in the Saguaros' favor with Tucson's Game Four win in extra innings. Nogales took a 1-0 lead in the second, then the Saguaros answered with a run in the third. Pitchers
George McQuillan and
Reb Russell took over from there, letting nothing home until Tucson clawed a run across in the 11th.
An error by Nogales allowed what would be the winning run aboard.
Eddie Grant eventually scored on a fielder's choice play by
Harry Hooper. Errors!
Even in the losing effort,
Shoeless Joe Jackson of Nogales proved he was the real deal. The young outfielder posted a .478 batting average during the five game-set, including a 5-for-6 performance in Game Two (with three runs scored). Amazingly Tucson never walked him or really tried to. But no one else in the Apaches lineup hit better than .250. Several regulars were below the Mendoza line.
Ty Cobb from Tucson had a completely rotten series, fueling speculation that he's too inconsistent in the post-season. He went 1-for-3 in the opening game and then didn't get another hit, finishing the five games with a .053 average. Yikes.
Players like SS
Art Fletcher bailed out their star, however. Fletch batted .400 for the series. Catcher
Tex Irwin batted a cool .333.
Now, it's on to the Cactus Champions Cup. Will
Tris Speaker and the Longhorns hoist another trophy or will
Ty Cobb and the Saguaros get their first?