Salem over Tampa (3-1)
Hero: Alex Gomez. After sitting out the 1st game loss while coach Taz21 was trying to "play the matchups" and left his leadoff hitter on the bench in favor of a righty to face Tampa's slew of left handed starters, the Salem message boards light up with enough flames to keep downtown Salem a glow till the next morning. Hearing the critics, coach wised up and got Gomez back into left field and back into the lineup where he responded by hitting .455 over the next 3 nights, not to mention his standard gold glove defense in left.
Goat: Achilles Cohen. Tampa's MVP canidate had a series he'd like to forget. Just 2 hits in 16 at bats. Post season struggles are nothing new to this budding star, as heel injuries each of the last 2 postseason have held him well short of regular season accolades. From a .280+ batting average and over 100 regular season home runs, to just 8 hits (in 43 at bats) and single homer the last 2 postseasons.
Wichita over Trenton (3-1)
Hero: Bruce Gibbons. Bruce scored 7 runs, piked up 6 hits (6/15-.400), drove in 5, walked 4 times and stole 3 bases to pace Wichita's offense in an easier than expect 3-1 series win over Trenton
Goat: Kris Jackson. Another middle of the order DH struggling to pace his team's offense when it matters most. This season's 2-15 showing w/ only 1 rbi follows last year's equally brutal 2-11 showing with no rbi. Jackson will enter next year looking for a new contract for season 11 and hopes to move past the last 2 postseason failures and put up something more along the lines of season 7 where he knocked out 6 long balls to go w/ 20 rbi in 14 games.
Fresno over Honolulu (3-1)
Hero: Ricky Brock. Ricky don't lose that number, didn't hit many, but he certainly made his hits count. Trailing 1 game to none, and down 4-5 in the 8th inning of game 2, Ricky hit a 2 run jack to flip the game and tie the series. 2 nights later in game #3, again trailing by a run (1-0) in the 9th, Ricky found himself at the plate w/ the bases juiced and slashed a line drive to left field to knock in 2 runs, take the lead and send Fresno to a 2 games to 1 lead.
Goat: Honolulu pitching after the 5th inning. They had a lead in all 3 games at some point after the 5th, only to see each lead flipped in a single inning (including allowing 5 runs in a 4-0 game in the 6th inning of game 4) to seal their fate. Dick Hoover is left to continue dreaming of a World Series ring.
Austin over Dover (3-1)
Hero: Stewart Wells. Austin's silver slugging CF paced their offense by hitting .414 over their arch nemisis, including 4 rbi and 5 runs.
Goat: Tony Brown. After Dover fell behind 1 game to none, they took a 6-4 lead to the 9th of game 2. 2 walks and an error later and the bases are full of Stunners. 1 pitch later, Pineda deposits a ball over the LF fence. Game over, series over. Dover would come back to win in game 3, but by that point their pitching was so worn out that they allowed 13 runs in the deciding game 4 in an otherwise heartless performance.
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