Flagstaff rallies for series victory over Infidels
After a case of deja vu in Game 4, Flagstaff mounted a huge rally that lifted the Outlaws to a 3-1 series victory over a feisty Ravenswood Infidel squad.
Game 1: Samardzija v. Greinke – Jeff “Shark” Samardzija allowed seven base runners over eight-plus innings of work and benefitted from three double plays, but still had to wait out a nervous ending before getting the win in Ravenswood’s 3-2 victory.
Ravenswood jumped out early when Miguel Rojas led off the second frame with a triple and scored on Denard Span’s ground out. In the fifth, Brandon Phillips homered off of Zack Greinke. Then in the sixth, Rojas doubled in Kyle Seager to give the Infidels a 3-0 lead.
Shark was doing his thing and he finished the eighth inning at 104 pitches. He was sent out to pitch the ninth, but got behind George Springer 3-0 before Springer was able to dump a pitch into shallow left field. Ravenswood management had enough and summoned Brandon Kintzler.
Joe Panik greeted Kintzler with a huge home run to center field and just like, it’s a one run game. Paul Goldschmidt followed with a single and the Flagstaff faithful were going crazy as Aaron Judge stepped to bat. But Judge struck out and Travis Shaw grounded into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play, Ravenswood’s fourth of the game.
W: Samardzija (4-4)
L: Greinke (11-2)
Sv: Kintzler (7)
HRs: RAV – Phillips (7); FLG – Panik (2).
Game 2: Junis v. Wood – Jake Junis was shaky from the start, plunking Panik and Judge each in the first inning, despite getting a pair of outs. It seemed like Junis started focusing on staying away from the inside part of the plate, and the Outlaws made him pay. Khris Davis and Shaw each hit run-scoring singles. Then Junis uncorked a wild pitch to let Davis score. Then Manny Pina and Alex Wood each single, with Wood’s driving in the fourth run of the inning. Elvis Andrus struck out to end it the inning, but the damage was done.
Ravenswood can only manage a lone unearned run in fifth after already being down 6-0. Flagstaff adds on late and evens the series with a 9-1 win.
W: Wood (8-0)
L: Junis (3-5)
Sv: None
HRs: RAV – none; FLG – Springer (17), Davis (13).
Game 3: Rodriguez v. Wacha – Ravenswood gets a solo homer in the first from Brandon Belt, but Flagstaff answers with another big inning in the top of the first, leading to another Outlaw rout. The bulk of the damage was done by Enrique Hernandez, whose bases-clearing double was sandwiched by RBIs from Goldschimdt and Caleb Joseph.
Up 5-1, Goldschmidt took over, launching a pair of solo homers and Flagstaff cruises to an 8-2 victory.
Michael Wacha would pitching into the seventh, scattering seven hits and a pair of walks to get the win.
W: Wacha (4-1)
L: Rodriguez (2-6)
Sv: None
HRs: RAV – Belt (11); FLG – Goldschmidt (11, 12).
Game 4: Garcia v. Ramirez – In what started as a repeat of Game One, Jaime Garcia limited to the Outlaws to one hits and three walks over 5 2/3 innings and was given a 5-0 lead, thanks to a four-run 6th that chased J.C. Ramirez and sent a few Outlaw fans home early.
But in the bottom of the seventh, all hell breaks loose for Flagstaff. Cam Bedrosian got the last out in the sixth. With one out and a runner on second, Bedrosian gets touched for four hits that plate three Outlaw runs. Kintzler relieved and gave up a run-scoring single and run-scoring ground out to let Flagstaff pull even at 5-5.
In the eighth, Koji Uehara gives up a two-run double to Caleb Joesph and a two-run triple to Panik to put the game out of reach as Flagstaff rallies for a 9-5 decision.
W: Goody (5-1)
L: Uehara (0-1)
Sv: None
HRs: RAV – Span (3); FLG – none.