| THE BIG DANCE semifinals 1 SEED) THE SERBIAN JEW DOUBLE BLUFFS (2004) 5 SEED) THE PINK BANDANA GIRLS (2002) LINEUPS: BLUFFS PBG 1- shelley goodpastor 1- jason biddle 2- nate tomko 2- justin shaffer 3- matt mcclelland 3- jared clayton 4- jon olsavsky 4- sean hood B- ben smith |
| PINK BANDANA GIRLS 26 SERBIAN JEW DOUBLE BLUFFS 24 with two outs gone in the bottom of the ninth with his team down by 2, ben smith's 3-run homer attempt was off it's mark, giving 2002's pink bandana girls a huge victory over the '04 double bluffs and propelling them into the finals against the ratchet thunder stud-hoosier daddy winner. while the 5th-seeded bandana girls are without a doubt one of the best teams ever to play in the sbl, their win has to be considered one of the biggest upsets in the tournament. the double bluffs entered the game on a 23-game winning streak and had never been defeated while fielding their team at full-strength. the pbg ended both of those streaks in what will go down in history as one of the greatest baseketball games of all time. the bluffs physically dominated the pbg in the 4-on-4 scrum, getting the ball back across the line in less than 10 seconds to secure last at-bats. jason biddle led things off for the bandana girls with a double. justin shaffer plated biddle with a triple to draw first blood, but jared clayton's homer attempt was tipped back in by jon olsavsky for 2 and hood's single found nothing but backboard to end the top of the first. the home half of the inning began as so many innings before it, with shelley goodpastor knocking down a side triple. nate tomko followed suit from the middle, and matt mcclelland from the right. olsavsky singled in mcclelland, but that would be all the bluffs could muster as goodpastor's double went for a shaffer double play and tomko choked on a single attempt. after one, the score stood at 3-1 in favor of the purple people eaters. the girls knotted the score at 3 in their next at-bat when, with 2 gone, jared clayton banged home his first homer of the day, driving home biddle. hood's double miss would end the second for the pbg one batter later. the bluffs were unable to answer, falling 1-2-3 in the bottom of the second. tomko's double play on leadoff hitter jason biddle gave the pbg 2 quick outs in the top of the third, but the girls would show the sucka-free outdoor sports complex a little two-out lightning, plating 5 runs before the inning was over. shaffer, clayton and hood went back-to-back-to-back from the triple stripe to make the count 5-3, and biddle would single in hood to give the girls a 3-run cushion. shaffer's 2-bagger was followed by clayton's second longball of the contest and the count stood at 8-3 when hood's homer went in and out for out number 3. the bluffs leapt right back into the contest in their half of the third. tomko's tripled, mcclelland doubled, and olsavsky recorded his first homer to bring the bluffs to within 2. though shelley goodpastor would miss a rare single attempt that went up for 2 off the hands of shaffer, tomko would not let the rally die, swishing through a solo homer. mcclelland made the final out of the frame by missing a double from the right side, but the bluffs had drawn within one run of the pbg. the bluffs looked to their defense to keep the game close, and it came through in a big way in the top of the fourth as he pbg sent only 2 batters to the plate. the first, jason biddle, was psyched out by jon olsavsky, and justin shaffer's missed triple was put back through by tomko. the sj2b regained the lead in their next at-bat, setting the table for mcclelland with 3 consecutive singles. mac answered, clearing the bases with a middle triple to give the bluffs a 10-8 lead. though jon olsavsky would miss a double in the following at-bat, mcclelland was able to outmuscle shaffer for the rebound and put back olsavsky's shot for an assist. goodpastor drove olsavsky home with a double of her own, but that would be all the double bluffs could muster as tomko and mcclelland missed back-to-back triples, the latter tipped back home by clayton to end the stanza with the bluffs holding a 12-8 lead. the sj2b would hold the pbg scoreless in the 5th thanks in large part to a jon olsavsky double play, then get another run when tomko nailed his second solo shot of the contest with 2 gone following a shaffer double play. the defenses continued to control the middle innings in the 6th as neither team would get a run. mcclelland and clayton were credited with leadoff double plays. facing a 13-8 hole, the bandana girl offense came alive in the 7th. hood led thing off for his squad with a single that sat on the rim for what seemed like 20 minutes before falling through. the friendly roll lit a first under the pbg, who were able to knock down 9 consecutive hits in route to 8 runs before a tomko double play would end the rally. during the run, the girls were able to get back-to-back-to-back homers from shaffer, clayton and hood, the first being of the 3-run variety. as the teams headed to the 7th inning stretch, the bluff's 5-run lead had become a 3-run defecit. shellshocked, the double bluffs were unable to answer the ounding they had taken, going down 1-2-3 from the triple line. the tide of the game was turning, and the girls continued to rain shots on the bluffs. in the top of the eighth, the pbg once again went off, starting the inning off with 8 extra base hits in a row culminating with jared clayton's 2-run homer to extend the pink lead to 24-13. though hood would miss a single that was put back by olsavsky for 2, the girls would get one final run out of the inning when biddle and shaffer went back to back from the side doubles. the bluffs finally came back to life in the bottom of the eight and went on a run of their own. beginning with shelley goodpastor's triple, the double bluff offense got themselves back into the mix on the strength of 12 consecutive shots, clearing the board and plating 11 runs before back to back missed by tomko and mcclelland, the first a shaffer double play, would end the run-heavy eighth. during the stretch, tomko would stroke 2 longballs and olsavsky a 3-run job of his own. with the score standing at 25-24 in favor of the underdog pink bandana girls and the bluffs in the midst of 11 in a row, the pbg looked to add a few much-needed insurance runs. things would look bleak as hood's first shot of the inning, a triple, would go in and out then back in for a nate tomko double play. however, biddle and shaffer would once again be the battery for their squad, hitting doubles to give the girls one final run before clayton's missed homer accounted for out number 3. needing only 2 runs to extend the game, the bluffs headed to the plate for what would be their final at-bat in the tournament. olsavsky led things off with a single, but goodpastor missed only her 3rd shot of the contest, a triple attempt that would have drawn the bluffs to within 1. not willing to go out like that, goodpastor followed up her shot and caused enough problems for shaffer on the put-back that he was unable to connect for the double play. looking to knot the game up with one shot, tomko lined up for a left homer, but was ruled over the line as his shot went through by referee billy weisberg. after debating the merits of weisberg's reffing skills, tomko was sent to the penalty box for the remainder of the game and play was suspended as weisberg looked for some underwear that still had a waistband in them. with two outs and man on first, mcclelland calmly banked in a huge double to put runners on second and third with 2 gone. looking to rookie phenom ben smith to end the contest with one shot for the second consecutive game, the bluffs went to their bench and smith lined up at the middle homer for his ill-fated attempt. after the missed homer hit the ground to give the pbg a stunning 16-24 win, the girls went into a euphoric celebration, one that to the untrained eye might seem a little too gay. the bluffs, meanwhile, looked like they had just lost their first baseketball game in 20 some tries. cause they had. for the victorious pink bandana girls, jared clayton nailed 4 homers and drove in a game-high 9 runs. shaffer collected 8 rbi of his own, and both he and clayton tipped in 3 double plays. biddle contributed 5 ribbies and hood a homer and 4 runs batted in. biddle was led his squad with 9 hits in 14 attempts. nate tomko and jon olsavsky paced the double bluffs with 7 runs batted in apeice. tomko had 4 homers and 4 double plays while olsavsky 2 and 3 to go with his psyche out. mcclelland added 6 rbi and an assist while goodpastor connected on 11 of 14 attempts and drove in 4. BACK |