After winning our first game 4-0 on a solid pitching performance, we lost to the #1 seed Clarinda A's 4-3. Unfortunately, we had 3 unearned runs given away and could have won 2 in a row in the tournament. Pretty disappointing game and left a bad taste in our mouth. Now each game is do or die, win and stay or lose and go home.
This is a challenge for the coaching staff to make sure we are keeping the guys motivated. That's the struggle for our guys to fight the urge to hang it up and get back home or stay competitive and wanting to win.
Game 3 is against the Topeka Golden Giants, a team that we finished 3-3 against. Now we face them in the rubber match on neutral ground. We scratch out a 6-1 win and send them home. Big win for us!
Game 4 is against the Chillicothe Mudcats who beat us 5 of 6 times in the regular season. We win this game 3-2. Trialing 2-0, we come back to tie it at 2 and go ahead to stay on a solo home run. Our best starting pitcher comes in to close the game in the ninth to preserve the victory.
Wouldn't you know it, we have made it to the semi-final game of the tournament and once again play the host A's. If we win, we qualify for the NBC World Series in Wichita, KS. These guys have dug down deep and taken pride in playing this game despite wanting to go home. We jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first. The game goes back and forth and we regain the lead 7-5 in the eighth. The guys are playing loose, while the host team is a little tight because they should be winning. The A's again come back to tie us at 7, but we scratch out a run on a safety squeeze and take the lead 8-7. In the bottom of the eighth, we bring in our closer, but he gives up the tying run and walk-off run, both on homers and we lose the game 9-8. What a ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment