Monday, August 9, 2010
by Jeremy Weinstein
Going into the C-League finals Monday evening August 2, Without A Prayer had to defeat Eight Men Out in order to force a winner-take-all championship game under the lights at the New Castle Recreation Field. If Eight Men Out were to win the first of the possible two games, they would be crowned champions.
Without A Prayer jumped out to a an early lead in Game 1, eventually winning the game 8-0, led by dominant pitching from Martin Hewitt and superb defense all around.
In the second and final game, both teams struggled to score early, leading to a 1-1 tie, which was eventually extended to a 6-3 lead in favor of Without A Prayer.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, a late rally by Eight Men Out tied the score at 6-6 going into the final inning. Without A Prayer opened the top of the seventh with a blooper single to right, and a line drive single up the middle, putting runners on first and second with no one out, and the heart of their order coming to bat.
David Walker then legged out a three-run homerun to put Without a Prayer up 9-6. Without a Prayer proceeded to scratch out two insurance runs on key hits with two outs later in the inning, bringing the score to 11-6.
In the final inning, Eight Men Out mounted a comeback, scoring three quick runs, eventually bringing the tying run to the plate, but was unable to tie the score before the game ended on a fly ball to left field.
The final score was Without A Prayer 11, Eight Men Out 9. The game MVP was Fred Maxfield, who hit four two-out singles to preserve a number of Without A Prayer rallies.
Jeremy Weinstein has lived in New Castle for 18 years. He just completed his second season playing the outfield for Without A Prayer.
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