Limeport eliminates N. Yankees

The Bulls rally for 3 in the 6th and 1 in the 7th and Jeff Krauss shuts the door in 4-3 win.

By Steve Smull

    SCHERERSVILLE -- Little things mean a lot.

    The Limeport Bulls did all of the little things -- including scoring the winning run in the seventh inning on a suicide squeeze play -- en route to a come-from-behind 4-3 win to sweep the Northern Yankees in the best-of-3 first round playoff series.

    "We just didn't do the little things," Northern Yankees manager Brian Polaha lamented. "We lost a lot of one-run games this year just because we didn't get bunts down. We made more errors and we made more mental errors than other teams."

    And when you get to this stage of the season, with the competition level at its highest, the teams that execute, limit mistakes and do "the little things" will more often than not, come out on top.

    Despite the fact that Limeport executed well in Game 2, Bulls' starting pitcher Ryan Gerber struggled throughout the contest, not having a single 1-2-3 inning. Ironically, the inning that initially looked to be his easiest, ended up being his most damaging.

    After stranding three runners over the first two frames, Gerber retired the first two batters he faced in the third. But then Darrin Lenhart launched a deep drive to left and there was no doubt about the ball having home run distance, it just needed to stay fair to be a four-bagger. It did stay fair and the Yankees suddenly led 1-0.

    But they were not done yet.

    George Kressley's entire front side was way ahead of a 2-2 pitch, but he kept his hands back just enough to lace a single to left to keep the inning going. Pete McCauley then ripped a ball into the right-center field gap that just eluded the right-fielder Matt Geiger and rolled to the fence. Kressley seemed to have a piano in tow, but managed to scamper 270 feet from first to home on the RBI double to make it 2-0 Yankees.

    On the other side of the ledger, Yankees' starter Josh Ziegler allowed just three hits and allowed only one base-runner to reach third base through the first five innings.

    So the Yankees needed just six outs to even the series at a game apiece as they carried their 2-0 lead into the sixth.

    But if only baseball was that easy.

    A fly-out to start the sixth had the Yankees five outs from victory, but then the Scherersville #5 field turned into a metaphorical version of the streets of Pamplona, Spain every year on July 6, when they have the annual "Running of the Bulls".

    Limeport's version of the "Running of the Bulls" consisted of six consecutive batters reaching base safely (five hits and a walk), and by the time the dust cleared from the stampede, the Bulls had taken a 3-2 lead.

    Jeff Cavanaugh started the hit parade with his second hit of the game to left field. Ryan Walter pinch-ran for Cavanaugh and Pat Lane then lofted a single to right-center to put runners on the corners with one out. Kenny Serfass hit a chopper down the third-base line which Kressley made a great stop on, but had no play, giving Serfass an infield single. Walter had to hold at third on the play, so the bases were now loaded with one out.

    Exit Ziegler. Enter Max Fada.

    Brendan O'Connor worked a tough, seven-pitch walk to cut the Yankees' lead to 2-1. Then veteran Kevin Kershner stepped up and delivered a RBI single to right, plating Lane, but right-fielder Landon Parker charged the ball hard and made a strong throw to the plate to get Serfass, keeping the game tied at 2-2. With two outs and runners on first and second, Jeff Kroboth lofted a single to right-center to give the Bulls a 3-2 lead. A strikeout ended the inning, but the damage was done as Limeport grabbed their first lead of the game.

    The Yankees were suddenly down to their final six outs, but they were not hanging their heads about it.

    Parker singled to start the home half of the sixth (his third hit of the game) and Ian McCutcheon drew a walk.

    Exit Gerber. Enter Jeff Krauss.

    Krauss got a big strikeout after two failed sacrifice attempts, but Steve Benavage came through with a one-out single to left. Polaha, the third-base coach, knowing the unevenness of the Scherersville #5 infield, took a chance and sent Parker homeward and he was rewarded when the throw home skipped by the catcher for an error to tie the game at 3-3.

    There was no RBI awarded on the hit because Parker would have been out by a country mile, and on that Scherersville #5 bad hop, McCutcheon and Benavage moved up an additional 90 feet to put runners on second and third with one out and the two best hitters in the Yankees' order coming up.

    But with the infield drawn in tight, Krauss induced a ground-out to third and a pop-up to first with the infield back at normal depth to stop any further damage.

    Limeport's Liam O'Connor started the seventh by working a seven-pitch walk. He stole second and then advanced to third on a wild pitch and suddenly, the Bulls had a runner on third with no outs. The Yankees brought their infield in and that paid off as Fada induced a ground-out to third. And that would be the last batter he would face.

    Exit Fada. Enter Adam Sandt.

    On the second pitch, Walter (who stayed in the DH spot when he pinch ran for Cavanaugh the inning before and scored) laid down a suicide squeeze bunt down the third-base line. Kressley followed the breaking runner down the line, fielded the bunt cleanly and made a strong throw home in enough time to nab O'Connor, but the ball was dropped as the catcher tried to make the tag a tad before he had the ball. Limeport now led 4-3.

    Sandt would strikeout the next two batters to end the inning, but the Bulls had a run without benefit of a hit and put the Yankees three outs away from ending their season.

    And ironically, after squandering multiple opportunities the first six innings and getting at least one base runner in every inning, the Yankees had a much-too-quiet 1-2-3 inning in the seventh as their season came to a sudden and disappointing end.

    "I knew that I had to change roles from what I usually do and be a leadoff batter," said Liam O'Connor about starting the seventh inning with a seven-pitch walk and then his subsequent stolen base to put the Bulls in a position to win the game with the suicide-squeeze play.

    "The Yankees knew (the squeeze) was coming," added O'Connor. "But give (Ryan) Walter all the credit in the world as he laid down a perfect bunt."

    Bulls' starter Ryan Gerber came into the game with a 1.18 ERA, but struggled, getting a no-decision as Krauss (2-0, 0.78 ERA and 6 saves on the season, mostly in relief) looked sharp in getting the win, going two strong innings to close the game.

    "Gerber didn't have his best stuff today," said Limeport manager Dylan Dando. "But he kept us in the game enough so that we knew the whole way that we would have a shot. If we got some runners on base and we put some pressure on them, we could do some things."

    And those "things" were the "little things" called execution that made the difference in Game Two.

    Cavanaugh was 2-for-3 and Serfass finished 2-for-4 for Limeport (23-10), who move on to face the top-seeded Coplay Reds in the semifinals that begin at 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday right back at Scherersville #5. For the Yankees (17-16), Parker finished 3-for-3 with a 2B and McCauley was 2-for-4 with a 2B.