New Hampshire ends the regular season with a bang and Syracuse with a whimper, while Charleston hangs on to win in a nervous ninth. Auburn drops a close one in the farm system’s post-season opener.
Ottawa 5 @ Syracuse 3
The SkyChiefs couldn’t hold off the Lynx in the battle for the basement of the International League’s Northern Division, so the two teams end up tied for 5th with matching 66-78 records. For the Chiefs, Kip Bouknight started and went 5 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits. Bouknight struck out 5 and walked just 1. Dave Maurer had a strong 3-strikeout inning, but Adam Peterson was touched up yet again, this time to the tune of 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk through 1-1/3 innings. Syracuse’s other Mystery Pitcher recorded the final 5 outs, allowing 2 hits and striking out 1. Aquilino finishes the Triple-A year with an ERA of 7.17 in 43 innings. Last year he was 3.42, 74 in the Majors. Youneverknow.
Simon Pond led the Chiefs attack with a double and 2 singles, good for 2 RBIs. Chad Hermansen hit a solo homer, Anthony Sanders a double.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com.
New Hampshire 19 @ Portland 6
Nothing wrong with the Fisher Cat bats as they prepared for the playoffs by trashing Portland. John Hattig and Dominic Rich mashed out 4 hits each, including 2 doubles for Rich and a homer for Hattig. John-Ford Griffin and Paul Chiaffredo also went deep, while Ty Godwin, Maikel Jova, Michael Snyder, and Chiaffredo also turned in multi-hit games. Want more? Godwin and Snyder both drew two walks to go with their 2 hits. Aaron Hill didn’t get in on the fun, going 0 for 3 before being lifted in favour of Brad Hassey.
Jason Arnold got the start and did not continue his encouraging run of late, lasting just 3 innings and surrendering 4 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. Travis Thompson (2 innings, hit-walk-2 strikeouts) was awarded the win in relief, while Ryan Houston, Dan Jackson, and John Ogiltree mopped up.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com. Recap - Union-Leader
Dunedin
Weather permitting, Dunedin will face off against Tampa tonight, game one of their best-of-three first round playoff matchup. Ismael Ramirez is slated to pitch for the Blue Jays.
Lake County 2 @ Charleston 3
The Captains got out to a 2-0 lead in the 4th, answered by the Alley Cats with a deuce of their own in the 6th and then the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 8th. Matt Dalton made it the shakiest of saves in the 9th, walking the bases full but escaping on a double-play grounder to end the game. It was a rare off-night for starter Mike MacDonald, charged with both Lake County runs for his 3-2/3 inning effort. The damage was done on 4 hits and 2 walks. Eric Rico blew away 4 Captains in his 2-1/3 frames, while Brad Esaray collected 2 tickets and the win in his 2 innings.
Clint Johnston and Eric Arnold each doubled and singled, while Joey Wolfe tripled home 2 runs. Will Rivera collected two singles and the game-winning RBI.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com. Recap - Charleston Gazette
Three-Star Selection!
Note: This report marks the conclusion of the regular season for all of the minor leagues, and hence the conclusion of our Three-Star Selections. Look for a 3-Star final standings article coming soon to a Box near you.
The Third Star: Simon Pond, Syracuse, 4 bases on 3 hits, and Paul Chiaffredo, New Hampshire, 5 bases on 2 hits plus two walks.
The Second Star: Dominic Rich, New Hampshire. 6 bases on 4 hits.
The First Star: John Hattig, New Hampshire. 7 bases on 4 hits.
Playoffs: Auburn 3 @ Mahoning Valley 4
Auburn trails best-of-three series 1-0
The Doubledays sent 2004 first-rounder David Purcey to the hill in the opening game of their first round playoff with the wild card Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Purcey (1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in his 12 regular-season innings) was dominant early, then battled through the 5th and 6th innings. His final line reads 2 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings, no walks and 6 Ks.
The offence could only muster 1 run in support of Purcey through the first 6 innings, but a homer from Canadian catcher David Corrente put the Doubledays ahead 3-2 in the 7th. The Scrappers promptly tied it up with a run off Jayson Rodriguez in the bottom of the frame, then pulled ahead with another marker off Rodriguez in the 8th. His line for the night is 1-2/3 innings, 2 runs on 4 hits. Dewon Day recorded the final out of the 8th, coming on with 2 down and a man on third. Day induced a ground ball which Ryan Klosterman stopped diving into the hole at shortstop and threw to first in time to retire the batter.
The top of the 9th was delayed for half an hour when one of the stadium lights went out. Mahoning Valley stuck with reliever Mike Hernandez despite the extended break between innings, and he opened the 9th by walking Joey Metropoulos. Curtis Thigpen, hampered with an injury of late, pinch-ran for Big City and was quickly thrown out at second on a failed sac bunt attempt by Corrente. Greg Powers took over as the pinch-runner at first, but the Scrappers had no trouble turning the double play on Aaron Mathews’ hard grounder to 3rd, sending the sparse crowd home happy.
The Doubledays ended the night with 9 hits. 3 were singles by Adam Lind, while Eric Nielsen and Joey Metropoulos each reached base twice by drawing a walk to go with a single. Chip Cannon blasted a double and walked, while David Corrente had the 2-run homer.
Copious play-by-play detail of this game is available right here in the Box, courtesy of posters Rob and Mike Green.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com. Recaps: AubrunDoubledays.com, Syracuse Post-Standard
Playoff Schedules
First-round playoff schedules are as follows, with probable starting pitchers listed where known. Auburn, Charleston, and Dunedin play in best-of-three series, while New Hampshire plays a best-of-five.
New Hampshire Dunedin Charleston Auburn
Mon Sep-6 L, 4-3
Tues Sep-7 Away (Ramirez) Home (Jackson)
Wed Sep-8 Home (Chacin) Home Away (Mastny) Home (McKenzie)
Thur Sep-9 Home (League) Home
Fri Sep-10 Away (Baker) Home
Sat Sep-11 Away (Rosario) Home
Sun Sep-12 Home
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