CANES TOO MUCH FOR BANDITS IN FALL CLASSIC
CANES TOO MUCH FOR BANDITS IN FALL CLASSIC
Game 1: Francisco Alvarez's RBI single in the top of the 9th inning with two outs broke a 1-1 tie and helped lift Rockledge past Boulder City by a 3-1 score. Cal Raleigh walked with the bases loaded in the next at-bat to give the Hurricanes a cushion. The first two batters in the bottom of the half of the inning would reach base for Boulder City, but Rockledge was able to escape the jam with Abner Uribe coming in to record the final out, thus earning the save. Rockledge starting pitcher Freddy Peralta allowed five hits and an earned run while striking out seven in seven innings. Peralta did not issue a walk. Boulder City starting pitcher Sonny Gray allowed five hits and an earned run while striking out nine and walking one in 5.2 innings of work. Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. hit a solo home run in the first inning to give Rockledge a 1-0 lead. Kyle Stowers hit a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the score at 1-1.
Game 2: Rockledge starting pitcher Nick Pivetta allowed no runs and two hits while striking out eight and walking two in six innings of work as the Hurricanes downed Boulder City 3-0. Cody Bellinger hit a two-run home run the top of the second inning and Cal Raleigh hit a solo home run to account for the game's scoring. The bullpen quartet of Drew Pomeranz, Bryan Abreu, Alex Vesia and Jason Adam combined to three shutout innings of relief. Bandits starting pitcher Merrill Kelly allowed three runs (with only one earned) and four hits in 6.1 innings of work while striking out striking nine and not walking a batter. Slade Cecconi added 2.2 innings of scoreless relief for Boulder City. Cecconi struck out three and walked two while allowing one hit in his stint. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Stowers each doubled for the Bandits.
Game 3: Rockledge starting pitcher Jacob DeGrom allowed one earned run and two hits while striking out 10 and walking two in 6.1 innings of work as the Hurricanes slipped past Boulder City 3-2. Bryce Harper hit a solo home run for Boulder City in the top of the ninth inning Abner Uribe came in to pick up the save by retiring the lone batter he faced. Rockledge scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning by way of a solo home run by Freddie Freeman and an RBI double by Austin Hays with two outs in the frame. An RBI single by Josh Jung in the top of the fourth inning drew the Bandits to within a run. Rockledge extended its lead after Byron Buxton drew a bases loaded walk with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Rockledge's Cal Raleigh went 2-for-3 with a double for Rockledge.
Game 4: Kyle Leahy and Josh Hader combined for six shutout innings of relief without allowing a hit as Boulder City defeated Rockledge 3-1. Leahy pitched four innings as he earned the win while Hader was credited with the save. Boulder City quickly took a lead it would never relinquish as Pete Crow-Armstrong in a two-run home run in the second plate appearance of the game. Rockledge got its only run of the contest in the bottom of the first inning when Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. walked with the bases loaded with two outs. Bryce Harper hit an RBI single for the Bandits in the top of the eighth inning to complete the game's scoring. Crow-Armstrong went 2-for-4 in the contest. Christian Yelich hit a double for the Hurricanes.
Game 5: Rockledge starting pitcher Freddy Peralta pitched 6.2 innings of scoreless baseball to pick up the win as Rockledge earned a 3-0 victory. Peralta allowed three hits, struck out five and walked two. Christian Yelich scored two runs and went 3-for-4 with two RBis in the contest overall. Edwin Diaz pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save. Rafael Devers hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Rockledge a 1-0 lead. Yelich hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Rockledge a 3-0 lead and account for the remainder of the game's scoring. Boulder City starting pitcher Sonny Gray allowed one earned run and four hits while striking out four and walking two in 5.1 innings of work. Bryan Baker added 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Baker did not allow a baserunner and struck out during his time on the mound. T.J. Friedl went 2-for-2 with a double at the plate for the Bandits.
World Series MVP: Freddy Peralta had an 0.66 ERA in two starts encompassing 13.2 innings in total. Rockledge won both games he started and Peralta was the winning pitcher in Game 5. Peralta struck out 12 batters and walked just two. He gave up eight hits.
Brendan Donovan hit .333 and had a .429 on-base percentage in the series for the Hurricanes while Christian Yelcih hit .333 in the series with a home run and two RBIs.
For the Bandits, Nico Hoerner hit .278 with a .350 on-base percentage in the series while Kyle Stowers hit .222 with a home run for Boulder City.
Boulder City had a team ERA of 2.30. Sonny Gray had a 1.69 ERA in two starts while Merritt Kelly had a 1.42 ERA after his Game 2 start. Kyle Leahy was outstanding in relief, allowing just two hits and two earned runs in 6.2 innings.
No team scored more than 3 runs in the series. The games were tight and could have gone either way. Congratulations to Ian and his team on a fantastic season and kudos to him for a hard-fought series.