Pastime Baseball League
Southern League Championship Series Review
Memphis Strummers (106-56) vs Arizona Sandmen (89-73)
Game 1: He didn't lead in any pitching category for Memphis, but Sadie McMahon (19-8, 2.74) was given the task of shutting down the Arizona Sandmen, opposite their ace Ben Sanders (18-10, 2.79), in Game 1 of the Southern League Championship Series.
Two batters in, McMahon had walked leadoff man Pete Hill and surrendered an RBI double to Pee Wee Butts to give Arizona a 1-0 lead. He would retire the next three, striking out Nap Lajoie in an RBI situation, and escape without further harm.
Memphis would get it right back, though. Ichiro Suzuki would line a single to right, move to second on Deacon White's groundout, steal third and then score on Oscar Charleston's double to tie it.
McMahon would cruise in the second, but Sanders would not. A walk to Josh Willingham preceded a single by Cupid Childs and a pitch that hit Bobby Wallace. McMahon would pop up, but Suzuki would be in the middle again, smacking a 2-run single to put Memphis up 3-1.
Memphis would tack on another two runs in the third on an RBI single from Childs and a two-run double from McMahon to help his cause.
Down 5-1, Arizona battled back. Billy Nash and Russell Martin hit back-to-back doubles to cut the deficit to 5-2, before Carl Crawford struck an RBI single to make it 5-3.
Sanders was done after three, and Randy Choate held the fort until Arizona could pick up one more in the 6th when a Pete Hill single drove in Nash to make it 5-4.
Lajoie would single to start the seventh, and George Gore would follow with a bloop double. Lajoie was hung up waiting to see if it was caught and had to hold at third. Jose Reyes then hit a fly ball to center, and Lajoie broke for home. But Charleston threw a seed home to nail Lajoie for a double play to snuff out the tying run.
Rodrigo Lopez would relieve McMahon and get Nash to pop out to end the inning. Josh Willingham would homer for Memphis in the bottom of the 7th off Webster McDonald, for an insurance run to make it 6-4.
Lopez threw a scoreless 8th and Dick McBride would come in to close it for the Strummers.
Pete Hill lined out to short and Pee Wee Butts grounded to short. But Lajoie and Gore singled back-to-back to put the tying run on base for Jose Reyes. Reyes would chop the first pitch in front of the mound, but McBride would get him by a step to end the game and put Memphis in the driver's seat. Memphis 6, Arizona 4. (Memphis leads series 1-0).
Game 2: Up 1-0 in the series, Memphis sends ace Jesse Tannehill to the mound (23-5, 2.55) against Clark Griffith (19-10, 3.36). Two very good pitchers began a game that would see 23 hits...but only 3 runs.
Tannehill breezed through the first in 9 pitches, and would be immediately staked to a lead when Oscar Charleston hit a 2-out double and scored on Cap Anson's RBI single.
What transpired next were a series of missed opportunities, particularly for Memphis. Bottom of the second: Memphis has 1st and 2nd but Tannehill's sac bunt fails and they get the lead runner. Memphis doesn't score. Bottom of the third: Deacon White doubles to lead off the inning, eventually moving to third after a walk and fielder's choice. But Griffith picks off Ryan Braun at first base to end the inning. Bottom of the 6th: Charleston hits a leadoff double, Cap Anson walks to follow, but the next three are retired.
Those missed chances would bite Memphis in the top of the 7th when Jose Reyes hit a ball about as far as he can, depositing one 430 feet away for a leadoff homer to center to tie the game at 1.
Both pitchers would go 9 innings, and at the end of that it was still 1-1. Dick McBride came on the Strummers despite it not being a save situation and retired the Sandmen in order in the 10th.
Jose Valverde replaced Griffith, allowing a 1-out single to Charleston and a single to Showboat Thomas - who replaced Cap Anson after he had come out for a pinch runner in the bottom of the 8th. Thomas' single moved the speedy Charleston to third, the winning run 90 feet away with one out. But Valverde would strike out Braun and get Willingham to ground out to short to keep it tied.
McBride stayed in to pitch the 11th and retired Lajoie to start it off. But George Gore singled, and was replaced on the bases by Reggie Abercrombie. Jose Reyes then doubled down the first base line. But not even Abercrombie would test Ichiro's arm in right, holding at third. McBride intentionally walked Kid Elberfeld to load the bases and create the force. Ted Radcliffe would bang a grounder to second, where Cupid Childs made the play and fired home to Deacon White for the force out at home. Pee Wee Butts then grounded to Childs to end the inning.
Valverde retired the Strummers in the 11th, and Mike McDougal replaced McBride to turn aside the Sandmen in the top of the 12th.
Randy Choate replaced Valverde in the bottom of the 12th and gave up successive first-pitch singles to Ichiro and Deacon White. Charleston would single as well, but scald the ball so hard Ichiro had to hold at third. After Garret Atkins struck out, Ryan Braun saw 8 pitches - the last of which was ball four - walking home Ichiro as the winning run and putting Memphis up 2-0 in the series.
Memphis 2, Arizona 1 in 12 innings (Memphis leads series 2-0).
(to be continued)