Pastime Baseball League
PENNANT WATCH!
Sept. 30, 2011
Higham the Highlight
Star catcher drives in game-winner; Heroes assured of at least tie for division
NEW YORK -- The pressure is all on Louisville.
In a see-saw battle that saw the visiting Racers come all the way back from a 5-1 deficit, it was New York catcher Dick Higham who played hero for the Heroes, driving in David Wright with the eventual winning run in a 7-6 victory that put New York ahead by two games with two remaining.
Neither starter fared well. The Heroes' Bill Drake allowed 6 runs over 6 1/3 while Racers starter Shawn Chacon surrendered 6 runs - 5 earned - on 11 hits over 5 1/3. Neither would ultimately figure in the decision.
Scoring began in the bottom of the first, when Higham drew a one-out walk. Two batters later, Jesse Burkett ended an 8-pitch at bat with a single to right that enabled a hustling Higham to get to third before Irish Meusel singled him home to put New York in front 1-0.
Louisville answered with two outs in the second, when Joe Kelley walked and scored on a double by Lefty Marr. Hideki Matsui then roped a single to right, but Marr surprisingly held at third. It was more surprising how he would score - on a balk by Drake, making it 2-1 Louisville.
That's how it would stay until the fourth. With one out, Wright reached on an infield hit. He would score as Hughie Jennings laced a triple into the gap to tie it at 2. Fielder Jones lined deep to right, letting Jennings tag and score to put the Heroes up 3-2.
Drake cruised through the fifth, and New York kicked off the bottom of the inning with a double by Burkett. Meusel grounded out, but Burkett moved to third. A Pat Mullin single would drive him home to make it 4-2. Jim Viox singled to put runners on first and second before Wright hammered one that looked like it was going out, only to die on the warning track. Mullin tagged, though, and went to third. It looked as though the inning was over when Jennings hit a routine grounder to third, but Lefty Marr's throw to first was wide and Mullin scored, raising the lead to 5-2.
That wrapped scoring in the fifth, and the Racers responded. Drake retired the first two in the sixth before Hardy Richardson singled. Herman Long then belted a two-run homer to right to cut the deficit to 5-4.
Chacon retired Higham to start the bottom of the sixth before Roger Connor lined a single to center. Roy Thomas bobbled the ball and Connor alertly took second on the error. John Donaldson would relieve Chacon, who had already thrown 116 pitches. He would strike out Burkett, but Meusel singled to left, scoring Connor and putting New York up 6-4.
Matsui led off the top of the 7th with a bloop double down the right field line. With one out, Thomas atoned for his error, grounding a single to right to score Matsui and make it a one-run game again. Willard Marshall then singled as well, moving Thomas to third and ending Drake's night.
Allan Sothoron came in and hit the first batter he faced, Billy Southworth, to load the bases. Richardson skied to fairly deep center to score Thomas, tying the game at 6. Herman Long then flew to right to end the threat, though the Racers were now even.
With one out, Wright singled in the bottom of the seventh. Jennings flew deep to left center, and an alert Wright - seeing Matsui's erratic track to the ball - went back and tagged from first, sliding safely into second. John Cassidy walked, ending Donaldson's day. Jeff Tesreau relieved him to face Higham, who lined an 0-1 slider into right-center to score Wright with what would prove to be the winning run.
Ubaldo Jimenez worked around a 1-out double in the 8th before Sam Weaver came on to close it out. With New York closer Jonathan Papelbon's season over, skipper Pat Moran is just hoping he can cobble something together in the pen. Weaver's last attempt was against Charlotte five days ago, where he got the save despite allowing a run and three hits in 2/3 of an inning.
He struck out Thomas before Marshall scalded a double into the gap. Southworth then walked on four pitches. Richardson flew to center, and Marshall tagged up to put the tying run 90 feet away. Moran stayed with Weaver, who struck Herman Long out swinging to end it, and in so doing end Louisville's hopes of a division title for Louisville - at least in 162 games.
"Three in a row," Racers skipper Ned Hanlon said after the game. "We've done it before, plenty of times. Now, we just have to do it again."
If only it were that easy.