| THE BIG DANCE quarterfinals 1 SEED) THE SERBIAN JEW DOUBLE BLUFFS (2004) 8 SEED) PJ & THE LADIES II (2002) LINEUPS: LADIES SJ2B 1- pj nespor 1- shelley goodpastor 2- big rando knight 2- nate tomko 3- katie burger 3- matt mcclelland 4- steve mentrek 4- jon olsavsky B- joel lepak B- ben smith |
| PJ & THE LADIES II- 15 SERBIAN JEW DOUBLE BLUFFS- 18 (10 INNINGS) after dispatching of the third version of the sbl's favorite sons without so much as breaking a sweat in their first game, the mighty serbian jew double bluffs got all they could handle and then some from pj & the ladies version two, needing extra innings to dispatch of the anarchists. matt mcclelland, the 2004 player of the year, and nate tomko outmuscled steve mentrek and rando knight in a 2 vs. 2 scrum to claim home-team glory for the purple people eaters, and it proved big as the bluffs would twice come back from defecits in their final at-bats. much to the dismay of everyone in attendance at the Big House (including pj & the ladies, cause they sure couldn't have expected it either), the ladies plated 6 runs in the top of the first before the bluffs could record a single out. ?pj nespor started thing off with a right double, and knight and burger followed suit from the middle and left, respectively. 2-time player of the year finalist steve mentrek plated burger with a 2-run middle homer to make the score 4-0. nespor stayed hot, drilling a right triple and rando score him with a middle single. burger finally gave the bluffs a break, missing way right with a single, but the hard rebound bounced right into the hands of knight, who banked it back home for an assist. of all people, shelly goodpastor finally stopped the bleeding, tipping in mentrek's next miss for 2. the mojo ended there as nespor couldn't connect on a right homer and a long top of the first came to an end. the bluffs got to work chiseling away at the lead. goodpastor led off with a double and tomko plated her with a middle triple. mcclelland drove in tomko with a middle single, but that would be all the bluffs could muster as mentrek got olsavsky for a psyche-out/double play combo and goodpastor's triple went in and out. the ladies slowed only slightly in the second. knight hit his third consecutive shot, this time a middle triple and was scored by a burger single. mentrek hit another 2-run homer to make the count 9-2 before olsavsky got nespor with a psyche-out, then tipped in knight's first miss of the contest for outs 2 and 3. facing one of the largest defecits they'd ever seen, the double bluffs looked lost over the next two innings, failing to advance a runner beyond second base. the ladies, however, also seemed to cool off, as they were also held scoreless. the top of the fifth saw the ladies load the bases with 2 outs, but the bluffs got a break when joel lepak inserted himself into the game and, ignoring the pleas of his teammates, launched a completely uneeded grand slam attempt from the middle homer line into the ionosphere for out number 3. sensing lady blood in the water for the first time all game, the bluffs made a run at the lead in the bottom of the inning. after a goodpastor miss, tomko got the ball rolling with a leadoff triple. mcclleland and olsavsky duplicated his feat, and goodpastor's single made the count 9-5. tomko's homer attempt went in and out, but he managed to swat the ball out out of mentrek's hands before the double play could be put back up. mcclelland made the ladies pay, as he did what tomko could not, driving in goodpastor with a huge 2-out homer. olsavsky reached via a double, but goodpastor missed a right single for out number 3. the score after 5 stood at 9-7 in favor of the ladies. unlike the other versions of pj&l, these ladies held it together despite the bluffs run. in fact, they got nearly every run back on the first hit of the inning as big rando knight banked in a running grand slam, a shot he only took to prevent lepak from totally pissing it away. burger stayed hot, reaching on a double, but both mentrek and lepak were unable to capitalize, the latter's miss getting tipped back in for a double play by olsavsky. once again in a huge hole, the bluffs looked to their bench to get themselves back in it. tomko was sent to the pine in favor of rookie phenom ben smith, who came up big in his first at-bat, drilling a solo homer to get the ball rolling for the bluffs once again and closing the gap to 13-8. the shooting became infectious as the bluffs reeled off 5 more hits in a row to bring themselves within one run of the ladies, but pj nespor came up with a huge psyche out on mcclelland, then put back the double play himself. one missed triple later and the ladies had escaped the inning with the lead, albeit by the slimmest of margins. the seventh saw no change in the score as olsavsky and knight exchanged double plays to prevent any rallys. the ladies got two more in the top of the eight on a 2-out, two-run jack from the red hot mentrek, then managed to keep the bluffs off the board in the home half of the stanza despite a leadoff triple from goodpastor. for only the second time in their existence, the bluffs went into the ninth trailing. while a lesser team might have folded it up, the bluffs came out like a team possessed. the ladies, who had up until that point played the game of their lives, were unable to even sniff the rim as all three defenders were attempting psyche-outs. while none were credited, it can only be assumed the ladies were shocked by the normally stoic bluffs coming at them with such passion in the psyche-out sector. after keeping the score at 15-12 throught the ladies final at-bat, the bluffs looked to extend or win the game in theirs. goodpastor drilled her fifth straight triple, but ben smith was off on his homer attempt for out number one. mcclelland hit another run-scoring single, and olsavsky advanced mac to third with a double. with the game on the line, goodpastor calmly swished through a double to knot the game at 15, and just in time as smith's very next shot was double played by knight to end the ninth. the ladies, who had fought so hard throughout the game, were deflated as they took to the plate in the top of the tenth. tho mentrek did reach third on a 2-out triple, he was unable to score as nespor's single went in and out. looking for a lone run to earn a win, the bluffs went short, with mcclelland, olsavsky and goodpastor notching consecutive singles ot load the bases with no outs. smith made up for his 3 out inning in the ninth by banking home the game-winning triple and the bluffs were finally able to put down the huge challenge from the 2002 ladies. ??the victorious bluffs were paced by matt mcclelland's 6-hit, 6-rbi performance. goodpastor collected 8 hits and 4 rbi, while olsavsky tipped in 4 double plays and drove in 3. smith was credited with 4 rbi. mentrek hit a trifecta of homers and drove in a game-highe 7 for the ladies. knight tipped in a pair of double plays to go with his 5 rbi, and burger had notched career highs in hits with 6 and rbi with 3. following the contest, all members of both teams celebrated with keg stands. except jon olsavsky. he did a milk chug stand, because he is straightedge. 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