Funny thing happened Monday night at Classic Park. Everyone there, all 1,453, truly cared about whether the Captains won or lost. It's simple why. The Midwest League championship was on the line.
Lake County delivered a 3-1 win over the Clinton LumberKings.
Hey, it's not everyday fans in these parts can witness a championship. As baseball games are concerned, the winner-take-all deciding Game 5 was a beautiful thing to watch. On this night, it felt like a major deal to me.
Wanted great starting pitching? Check. Great defense? Check. Great timely hitting? Check. Clutch pitching with everything on the line? Check.
Like the atmosphere of playoff baseball? It was there at Classic Park. Preston Guilmet's final strikeout of the night (he had five in three brilliant innings of work to earn the save) set off a wild celebration at the mound.
Winning Monday's game to set off that celebration wasn't easy. There were plenty of solid plays throughout by the Captains in the close, tense game:
-Giovanni Soto, whom Manager Ted Kubiak said he wasn't sure what to expect, pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and one run with nine strikeouts. Soto also picked off a runner at first.
-Greg Folgia made a running catch in right field to save an extra-base hit.
-Shortstop Casey Frawley's line-drive RBI single in the bottom of the sixth gave the Captains a 2-1 lead.
There was also great weather, a boisterous crowd and, most of all, simply a great baseball game to decide a championship. The postgame celebration in the Captains locker room wasn't too shabby either.
It was a night of minor league baseball with a major-league feel. Glad I was there to witness it.
- Mark Podolski
0 comments:
Post a Comment