Mustang Division N4 Giants 10, N5 Cardinals 4 The Giants advance
to face the No. 1 seed Diamondbacks, which had a bye in the first
round of the playoffs. For the Cardinals, Carlos Naranjo hit a
triple and a double, and Ryan Mason threw three innings of
scoreless ball.
A5 Athletics 14, A4 Indians 8
The Athletics scored five runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to advance to face the No. 1 seed Yankees on Saturday.
Matt Byrne pitched the late innings to shut down the Indians. Mark Rauschnott pitched three strong inning for the Indians. Offensively, the A’s were led by multiple hits games by Michael Garrett and Michael Grimmer. Jacob Conlan hit a home run for the Indians.
Aaron Lipscomb made a diving catch for the Indians to stop an A’s rally.
N2 Braves 11, N7 Padres 5
The Braves advance in the Mustang Division to face the winner of the Mets/Reds game. Travis Saenz, David Rotter and Colin Douglas all pitched well for the Braves. Tommy Giles hit a triple and a home run for the Braves.
Bronco Division
A4 Angels 5, A5 Indians 2
The Angels will advance in the post season to face the No. 1 A’s, who had a bye in the first round.
N5 Reds 8, N4 Mets 4
The Reds advance in the Pony Baseball tournament to face the No. 1 Giants, who had a bye in the first round.
The Mets scored first in the second inning as Juston Everson crossed the plate on a passed ball. The Reds tied the score in the top of third on home run by Billy Birrell. The Mets regained the lead in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs on an RBI single by Eric Schwegler. The Reds scored four runs in the top of the fifth on consecutive singles by Sean LaBranche, Eric Sanchez, Adam Gallucci and James Walace. The Mets scored one in the top of the sixth on a double by Greg Hamik and then a passed ball. The Reds scored three in the top of the seventh to close it off. Galucci and Sanchez pitched for the Reds.
A3 Twins 4, A6 Rangers 3
The Twins pushed a run across in bottom of the eighth inning to take the lead and advance in the Bronco tournament to face the winner of the Mariners/Dodgers game.
Rangers pitcher Travis Thomson and Twins pitcher Robers Adam duked it out for their five minutes, each throwing a no-hitter. Kenny Hall and Dylan Frechette also pitched for the Rangers, while Robert Adam And Ryan Thomas gave the Twins solid relief. The pitching staffs combined for 35 strikeouts in the game. The Rangers led 1-0 at end of five, scoring a run on a passed ball. In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Twins loaded the bases and Nick Garber hit a bases loaded double into center field for three runs. In the top of the seventh inning, the Rangers had consecutive hits by Hall and Travis Thomspon and then tied the score on a sacrifice fly by Michael O’Connell.
In the bottom of the eight inning, Nick Groen hit a base hit to center field and stole second. Jeff Blean hit him in with a double to left center to win the game.
N3 Braves 10, N6 Padres 9
In the bottom of eight inning with two outs, Nick Ramirez scored on wild pitch for the Braves to win. The Padres, which had half as many wins as the Braves coming in, started off the game with a 5-0 advantage after the third inning, but were unable to hold it. Matt Nilmeyer hit a double for the Padres and pitched the first four innings. Raul Bueno finished the last four innings, striking out two batters in the final inning. Nick Ramirez, Ryan Moyano and Greg Tuttle had doubles fro the Braves.
Pony Division
A’s 6, Twins 5
A’s Ryan Evanger and Twins Joey Woodworth were locked up in a pitchers dual for most of the game. Both pitchers went their full five innings. Woodworth gave up three earned runs on one hit with eight strikeouts and one unearned run. Evanger gave up one earned run on three hits and nine strikeouts. Evanger and Jon Simcho both walked and stole second and third and scored in the first inning. Timmy O’Rourke scored twice. He singled and scored on an error in one inning and reached on an error and scored in another. For the Twins, Hatakeyama doubled and scored on an RBI single by Woodworth. The A’s were up 4-1 after the fifth inning.
The Twins came on strong in the sixth. Woodworth walked and came around and scored on a wild pitch. Steven Davis singled and stole second, and Del Raza walked and scored along with Davis to tie the score on an error. With the score tied, Torres hit a home run to deep right center. Jon Simcho came on in relief for the A’s and shut down the Twins notching all three outs on nine pitches, a come backer and two strikeouts. The Twins sent Hatakeyama to the mound in the sixth. He game with a single to Andrew Chirri before striking out the side.
Simcho remained on the mound and retired the side on seven pitches. Joey Woodworth hit a shot to left field but Matt Kelly ran it down and with a spectacular catch ending the inning. Down one run in the bottom of the seventh, the A’s rallied with an RBI triple to deep right center by Timmy O’Rourke to tie the game. Simcho, who had walked, scored with great speed from first base.
in extra innings, Simcho retired the side again in order for the A’s. He faced nine batters in his three innings retiring all nine in order, notching four strikeouts. The A’s in their half of the eighth got a single by Taylor O’Connell and a double by Andrew Chirri to put runners on second and third. Tyler Perry, with a full count struck out, but with great field presence beat out a dropped third strike to load the bases. With no outs, Matt Kelly hit up the middle, but Hatakeyama made a great play and threw home to cut down the potential run. Brett Silvetti came to the plate and wasting no time delivered the game winning hit to score Chirri.
Cardinals 7, Angels 2
In a battle of two of the Pony Division’s top teams, the Cardinals took advantage of several uncharacteristic Angels’ errors and moved into a first place tie with the Yankees.
The Cardinals scored twice in the first inning after two were out. Angels’ catcher James Johnson threw out a pair of runners attempting to steal. Matt Cummins and Adam Perez scored the first two runs for the Angels. Pitchers Kevin Grove of the Angels and Eddie Gomez of the Cardinals both pitched well, as they each retired the side in order in the second.
In the third inning, Smith, Cummins, Perez, and Gomez all reached base safely. The Angels got on the board in the bottom of the third inning as Campagna scored on an RBI single by Danny Nelson to make the the score 5-1.
The Cardinals scored in the top of the fourth, again with two outs. Cummins doubled and scored on a single by Perez. The Angels scored their second run in the bottom of the inning, as Johnson, who had walked, scored on an RBI single by Billy Hill. Cummins and Gomez combined for 8 strikeouts.
The defensive standout for the game was Adam Perez, catcher for the Cardinals. Perez gunned out Billy Hill, marking the only time all season Hill was thrown out stealing. Gomez went 3-for-3 with a walk, and Cummins was 2-for-4 with three runs scored. Matt Warnock had a double in the fifth inning, but was stranded at third base. For the Angels, Campagna and Hill both went 2-for-3.
Angels 21, Twins 6
The Angels jumped on top of the Twins in the first inning, as Billy Hill reached base on an error and was doubled home by James Johnson. Kevin Grove singled home Johnson to make the score 2-0.
The Angels extended their lead in the third inning, scoring six runs on a combination of hits, walks, and a monstrous three-run home run by pitcher Anthony Guidry. The Twins responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning, as Jesse Ramirez singled, Derek Pastorino walked, and Alonso Torres reached base on an error.
The big hit of the inning came on a double by Twins’ starting pitcher Vince Hatakeyama (2-for-3) to drive in two runs. Guidry went on to pitch a scoreless fourth inning, recording three strikeouts and being helped by outstanding defense by the Angels.
Derek Campagna pitched a scoreless fifth inning, striking out two. In the sixth, Kevin Mom also struck out two and allowed one unearned run. The final out of that inning was made by a beautiful diving catch in right field by Grove, saving two runs. Travis Avilla came on in the seventh to close out the victory, also striking out two.
The Angels scored in all but one inning, and many players had multiple hits. Steven Davis and Danny Adamo had hits and pitched well for the Twins.
Angels 5, Cardinals 4
In the final regular season game and a re-match from the week before, the Angels and Cardinals played for first place heading into this weekend’s playoffs. Both teams had excellent pitching and great defense, coupled with some timely hitting.
The Angels jumped on top in the first inning, as Billy Hill and James Johnson both singled with one out. Hill scored on a wild pitch, and Johnson scored on a ground out by Jonathan Hughes. The Cardinals tied the score in their half of the inning, as Craig Cook and Stephen Smith both walked and scored on a throwing error.
The Angels extended their lead to 5-2 in the second inning, as Kevin Mom, Derek Campagna and Danny Nelson all drew walks and eventually scored. Hill and Johnson each had RBI’s in the inning. Starting pitchers Jonathan Hughes (5 innings, 2 unearned runs, 2 BB’s, 2 K’s) of the Angels, and Matt Cummins (5 innings, 4 K’s) both pitched well.
Defensively, the Angels turned two double plays as second baseman Danny Nelson and first baseman Kevin Grove turned one, and Hughes, Grove and third baseman Derek Campagna combined on the second one. The Cardinals got out of two bases-loaded, no-out situations without allowing a run, as pitcher Eddie Gomez and catcher Adam Perez combined with Koedy Brant on a 1-2-3 double play.
For the Angels, Hill and Kevin Grove both went 2-for-3, and Jonathan Hughes was 2-for-4. Travis Avilla also had a base hit for the Angels. Koedy Brant went 3-for-3 for the Cardinals, and Smith, Cummins, Perez, Gomez, Matt Warnock,and Zach Harris all had hits. Closer James Johnson induced two ground balls to Nelson in the seventh to notch the save.
The win gave both teams identical 13-4 records. But the Angels have the tie breaker.
