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Yankees eliminate Fleetwings 7-3
Adam Sandt goes 3-for-4 and Lenhart
homers as NY makes their first trip to the finals.
SCHERERSVILLE
-- Adam Sandt was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a
pair of RBI and Matt Reppert scattered 10 singles to lead the Northern Yankees
to a 7-3 win Thursday night to wrap up the best-of-5 series 3-1 over the
Fleetwings and advance to the finals for the first time in franchise history.
The Yankees used an 11-hit attack,
including a solo homer by Darrin Lenhart and three doubles (two by Sandt and one
by Mike Venarchick) to score in every inning but the sixth, and they left the
bases loaded in that inning.
"We had runners draped on the bases all day,"
said Yankees manager Brian Polaha. "I figured we might get to Bolasky at some
point on short rest. He didn't have his full rest and wasn't himself and we took
advantage of that. We hit the ball hard and were the better team today."
The Yankees stranded 22 baserunners the
last two games, yet still managed to score in nine consecutive innings. And more
importantly, they won both games.
The Fleetwings got on the board first in
Game 4, as Ben Swatsky singled sharply to right with two outs. Scott Matejicka
followed with another line-drive to right for a single and this one skipped by
the right-fielder for an error as Matejicka advanced to second and Swatsky
scored all the way from first to make it 1-0 Volpe's. Reppert got a strikeout to
end the inning.
The Yankees answered immediately in the
home half of the first. With one out, Mike Fignar singled and advanced to third
on an Adam Sandt double. Lenhart lifted a sacrifice fly to right and the score
was tied 1-1.
Jeremy Arner got things going for the
Fleetwings in the top of the second with a one-out chopper that just made it
over Reppert's head for an infield single. Dan Hemberger then got a
swinging-bunt single and both runners advanced 90 feet as the throw to first got
away. After a fielder's choice nailed Arner at the plate and put runners on the
corners with two outs, Scott Garger then singled to score Hemberger and make it
2-1 Fleetwings.
The Yankees then batted around in the
bottom of the second.
Mike Venarchick walked and Ryan
Birkenstock singled to left to start the inning. Dave Sandt sacrificed both
runners up 90 feet and then reached safely himself when the ball was bobbled.
Steve Benavage then got an infield hit to deep short to tie the game at 2-2.
After a pair of strikeouts, Adam Sandt came up big again as he laced a two-run
double to left-center and it was 4-2 Yankees. Lenhart was intentionally walked
to reload the bases, and Bolasky induced a fly-out to end the inning.
The Yankees added an unearned tally in
the third. Birkenstock reached second base after his ground ball to short got
away at first and went out of play. After a fly-out, Benavage singled to deep
short to put runners on the corners with two outs. He then started the front end
of a double-steal by stealing second and Birkenstock took off from third and
scored as the throw was late to second and it was 5-2 Yankees.
Lenhart went opposite field in the
fourth with a solo homer and it was 6-2 Yankees. Venarchick started the home
fifth with an opposite-field ground-rule double. Justin Godusky then robbed
Birkenstock of a hit with a nice diving snag and throw to first. After a wild
pitch and a walk to Dave Sandt, Benavage's fielder's choice scored Birkenstock
and it was 7-2 Yankees.
The Fleetwings would not go quietly
(literally) in the seventh. Garger walked and Mike Cudwaddie singled to start
the inning. Swatsky hit a 2-0 pitch about 375 feet to the deepest part of the
ballpark for a long out, but Garger moved up to third. Then Matejicka was hit by
a pitch, but instead of being awarded first base, he was ordered back into the
batter's box, which upset several Fleetwings' players, especially when he
grounded out to short later in the at-bat. Garger scored to make it a 7-3 game, but
the Volpe's players felt they were cheated out of an important baserunner (not
to mention an out) with a rally brewing. Reppert got another ground-out three pitches later to end the
series.
"They were the better team," said
Volpe's player/manager Jeremy Arner. "They out-hit us, played better defense and
had good pitching. They deserved to win the series."
Arner also felt that if the Yankees
continue to play as well as they did in the semifinals, that they would have a real
good shot at winning the championship.
And Arner may have a point, considering
that the Yankees became the first team in league history to beat Gabelsville
four times in the regular season, going 4-0 vs. the Owls. And it was that fourth
win on July 26 vs. the Owls at Scherersville #5 that may have earned Polaha his
2008 Trico Manager of the Year award, because he made a decision that goes
against conventional wisdom:
He took starting pitcher Jake Argue out
of the game after six innings with a 2-1 lead, despite the fact that Argue was
throwing a no-hitter.
Polaha's closer, Adam Sandt (who hit the
go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth), was available to finish the
game, so since the Owls got a run off Argue in the sixth and since it appeared
as though Argue was losing steam late in the game, Polaha opted to go with Sandt
to close the game as he saw a chance for his Yankees' squad to leapfrog over the
Owls into the #3 seed with a win. The decision was the correct one as Sandt
finished the no-hitter and the Yankees would become the #3 seed, while the Owls
fell to the #4 seed, which ended up being huge for the Yankees as it completely
changed the landscape of the postseason match-ups in their favor.
And even more importantly, that move got
the Yankees home field for the finals.
But going 4-0 vs. the Owls in the
regular season is a double-edged sword for the Yankees and Polaha knows it.
"That means absolutely nothing," Polaha
said. "The next series is the one that counts. People who don't follow this
league don't realize how hard it is going to be to beat that team seven times
during the season. But it will be a good match-up because we are hitting the
ball really well right now."
The Northern Yankees franchise won their
first playoff series ever in the first round against Cetronia. Now, they find
themselves in the finals for the first time in its 14-year history.
"It's been a good ride so far," said
Polaha, who has made the playoffs in all three of his seasons as the Yankees
manager. "We just got to get three more wins."
The finals begin Saturday at 4:30 at
Scherersville #5, while Game 2 goes to Gabelsville on Sunday at 4:30.
For the Fleetwings (26-10-1), Garger,
Cudwaddie and Matejicka were all 2-for-4. For the Yankees (29-8-2), Adam Sandt
finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, Venarchick was 2-for-3 and Benavage was
2-for-3.
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