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| Nashua vs Sycamore | Madiba vs Carolina | |
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Game 1 - Sycamore at Nashua Barry Zito vs Odalis Perez Both pitchers were soundly bombed. Odalis Perez allowed 8 hits and 5 runs in 4 innings. Barry Zito, staked to a 3-1 lead, allowed Nashua to tie the game in the 3rd, and staked to a 5-3 lead, allowed 4 straight hits in the 5th to tie the game. Brandon Donnelly came on and was greeted with a 3 run homer by Jim Thome and it was 8-5. That's the way it ended, although the Flatlanders managed a couple of runners in most of the last few innings, but Nashua relief was equal to the task, getting three holds and a save.
123 456 789 R H E Game 2 -
Sycamore at Nashua All of the offense was early, as neither team managed a hit after the third inning. Chipper Jones and John Olerud hit solo homers in the first and second, and Alex Cora doubled in a third. Jim Thome homered again for Nashua, but that was all they could manage. Roy Halladay threw a 4 hitter. Pedro Martinez settled down, but was lifted for a pinchhitter leading off the 5th.
123 456 789 r h
e Game 3 -
Nashua at Sycamore A great pitchers duel between Schilling and Burnett. Schilling allowed 3 hits in 7 innings; Burnett allowed 5. Neither walked anyone, and only one Nashua runner reached 3rd base. Tom Lampkin led off the Nashua 8th with a homer, and Nashua followed, leading 1-0, by pinchhitting for Schilling. Sasaki was solid through the 8th, but ran into trouble in the 9th. Quinton McCracken doubled, Albert Pujols singled to tie the game. One out later John Olerud walked. That brought on John Riedling, who gave up the game winner one out later to Mitch Redmond.
123 456 789 r h e Game 4 -
Nashua at Sycamore Kenny Rogers had an unusual spell of wildness in the 4th, walking 3 in the home 4th. Coupled with 3 hits and an RBI ground out, it gave Sycamore an insurmountable 6-1 lead. Nashua hit four home runs , but three of them were late and futile, and lost badly, falling behind in the series 3 games to 1.
123 456 789 r h e Game 5 -
Nashua at Sycamore A see saw game, as Nashua slammed three homers early, and Sycamore came back three times to tie the game on three homers. Tied 5-5 in the 8th, Arthur Rhodes walked Nomar Garciaparra, and he was sacrificed to second on the second out. Greg Colbrunn was walked with a base open, but Octavio Dotel came on and allowed the game winning hit to Jeff Kent. Nashua loaded the bases in the 9th but didn't score, but the Flatlanders couldn't come back to tie again.
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Game 6 - Sycamore at Nashua Nashua bunched 5 hits in the 5th inning, good for 4 runs. To do so, they needed a Desi Relaford pinchhit for Pedro Martinez, and that brought on a steady parade from the bullpen. The eighth was a bit hairy, as Sycamore got 3 hits and two walks, but a key double play kept the score at 4-3, and the series was even.
123 456 789 R H E
Game 7 - Sycamore at
Nashua Nashua tried to come back from down 3 games to 1, but Sycamore hit three solo homers off Curt Schilling in the first three innings. Nashua had scored 1086 runs during the season, more than 200 more than anyone else. but were then completely shut down by A.J. Burnett and the Sycamore bullpen. Steve Finley homered in the second for Nashua, but it was the Nonames only hit.
123 456 789 R H E MVP - Burnett, for his stellar performances in games 3 and 7, even though he needed help from the bullpen in both games. Nashua used 25 innings from the bullpen, extraordinary given there wasn't an extra inning game. The most effective was Damaso Marte, who threw 4.1 shutout innings, and getting strikeouts for 11 of those 13 outs. 11 combined holds is probably a series record. Nashua used platoons on five of the eight positions. Quinton McCracken was the most effective Sycamore hitter, going 11-27 with 5 doubles and leading the team with 6 runs scored. |
Game 1 - Madiba at Carolina Randy Johnson vs Paul Byrd Juan Gonzalez broke a ninth inning 3-3 tie with a leadoff homer off of Steve Reed. The teams had been tied at 3 since the 3rd, with Randy Johnson scattering five hits over 8 innings, and benefiting from three double plays.
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Game 2 - Madiba at Carolina The Hurricanes left thirteen on base and Madiba scratched together runs in 4 different innings as Madiba finished the sweep at Carolina. Madiba scored in the first largely due to Shannon Stewart's speed, got one in the second on a balk, Carolina left runners in scoring position in each of the first 6 innings and was only able to score in the seventh on Bret Boone's leadoff home run.
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Game 3 - Carolina at Madiba Kelly Stinnett hit a 3HR in the fourth, reversing a 2-1 Madiba Deficit. Cory Lidle pitched 8 2/3 innings. After allowing a two run homer to Bret Boone in the first, he didn't allow another ball out of the infield until the 6th. and not another one until two outs in the 9th.
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Game 4 - Carolina at Madiba Bret Boone singled home a run and it held up until the 5th, when Matt Williams tied it with a solo shot. It stayed 1-1 until the home eighth. Brian Buchanan worked a walk off Buddy Groom and was bunted to second. After Kelly Stinnett was announced, Danny Graves came on, but Matt Franco batted for Stinnett and was walked intentionally. It backfired. Shannon Stewart singled, scoring the go ahead run. One out later Brian Giles doubled home two and the series was history.
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R H E MVP - It really should be a pitcher, given that Carolina managed only 8 runs in 4 games. Also, none of the regulars had better than a .333 average, and only Brian Giles, who hit less than .200, had more than 3 RBIs. But the starting pitching was very close. Three of the four starters pitched 8 or more innings, two gave up only 1 run. Our preference here is Cory Lidle, who allowed only 4 hits and no walks and was truly dominant. |
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