| SBL 2005 PLAYOFF OPENING ROUND JULY 31 K-Y COURT @ ASSBANG FIELDHOUSE 5TH SEED) UNCLE JED'S POCKET WATCH VERSUS 6TH SEED) TRAIN ON TERRY SHERNISKY TRAIN ON TERRY SHERNISKY 26 UNCLE JED'S POCKET WATCH 15 behind the power game of stud frankovich, the ben smith-less tots were able to pull out a huge game one win in their best of three series with uncle jed. the sbl board of directors, who met before the game to cast all-star votes, unanimously agreed to let frankovich, who had appeared in only one regular-season contest, to round out the tot lineup in the abscence of player of the year finalist smith. unfortunately for jed, stud then turned in the performance of his career, nailing 7 homers on 9 of 14 shooting with 16 runs driven in. in the top of the first, and in a move that set the tone for the entire series, the normally tight pocket watch defense allowed aryn christman to put back a 2-out frankovich homer attempt for a huge 3-run assist. the put-back was the first for a female player in the postseason, and only second non-male assist overall. while jed answered with 2 runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, they would never secure a lead in the contest, as the tots slowly pulled away throughout, climbing to a 3-run lead after the third and sprinting out to a 9-run cushion by the seventh. jed, who appeard to have the far superior defense coming into the series, was outgunned 5-4 in that department. in addition, jed left 13 runners on base while the tots stranded only 6. stud was supported in his efort by mikey moroco's 9 of 15, 5 rbi line. aryn christman chipped in with 8 hits and 4 ribbies, while katie kelly nailed 7 of her 10 shots. for losing jed, shelley goodpastor knocked in 4 runs on 9 for 12 shooting. UNCLE JED'S POCKET WATCH 22 TRAIN ON TERRY SHERNISKY 20 though they fell behind by 10 runs after the first inning, uncle jed was able to storm back to knot the series at one thanks to another huge game from shelley goodpastor. moving herself from the leadoff slot to the third position, goodpastor took advantage of some accurate close-range shooting from terry hall and kurt rodemoyer to gobble up 11 runs batted in on an 11 for 13 performance. hall, who batted first, went 8 for 14 with an assist and 3 double plays, while knight also hit on 8 of 14 with 5 ribbies and a pair of d.p.'s. the tots big first inning started modestly, with katie kelly, mikey moroco and aryn christman going back-to-back-to-back from the single stripe. stud frankovich, however, was looking for something a little more flashy, and stayed red-hot with a middle homer that cleared the bases. following a kelly miss, the tots drilled 6 in a row including 2 more frankovich homers, before a pair of misses killed the rally at 10 runs. jed, perhaps in shock from the sudden burst of tot offense, were unable to respond, and it looked as though the series would be over as quickly as it started. however, the defense managed to pull it together and sit the tots down in two batters to kick off the second. then, as if slapped in the face, jed's bats erupted for 6 runs in the bottom of the second and the game was suddenly anyone's to win. by the the bottom of the 4th, jed had taken their first lead of the series, a 2-run advantage they would hold onto all game. even when stud and co. threatened with 6 in the bottom of the seventh with no outs and the bases juiced, the uncle jed defense locked down with a huge double play/psyche out combo from jeff kngiht and terry hall to hold onto the lead. when the bottom of the ninth rolled around, the tots found themselves trailing by a pair and looking to pull out a last-second win to advance. they quickly put two runners on, but kurt rodemoyer put back a game-winning homer attempt by frankovich to close the lid, and a patrick nespor miss one batter later put the nail in the coffin. the losing tots were paced by frankovich's 7 for 13, 5 homer, 13 rbi outing. moroco posted a 9 for 13, 4 rbi game. TRAIN ON TERRY SHERNISKY 16 UNCLE JED'S POCKET WATCH 18 despite complaining about the inclusion of stud to the tot lineup all series long, jed found themselves in the best sitation they could have asked for, but still came up short and were booted from the playoffs far too soon. trailing by 2 in the bottom of the ninth with 2 outs, player of the year candidate and jed captain shelley goodpastor had the ball in her hands with a chance to tie or win. goodpastor opted to attempt the triple with runners on first and second, even though she had twice hit a game-winning homer in her 2005 season. the move prove ill-fated, and the normally money goodpastor watched her triple rim out and her teams championship hopes disintigrate in front of her eyes. after once again falling behind early, jed pulled themselves from the brink of elimination again and again, coming back from 5 and 6-run defecits in the middle innings. the tots went cold in the final 5 frames, plating only 2 runs from the 5th on, but jed was unable to capitalize as the much maligned tots defense continued to own them down low as they had all series. in the ninth, jed needed only 3 to pull out the win, but their hopes were quickly squashed as knight and goodpastor missed back to back to lead off the inning. little used kip corbett gave the squad hope with a middle triple, and back to back singles by terry hall and knight set up goodpastor for her devestating last-second miss. the tots, who had lost 2 of 3 to jed in the regular season, got 6 homers and 16 runs batted in from frankovich on 8 of 12 marksmanship. aryn christman added 11 hits in 13 attempts from the leadoff hole. katie kelly was unable to play in the contest, most likely because she had hemmoroids. in a losing effort, terry hall banged home 10 of 12 shots, and shelley goodpastor drove in 7. the tots advanced to the second round, where they'll face second-seeded team koopa troopa in another best of 3 series. jed. well... they go home. GAME OF THE SERIES: GAME 3, THE DECIDER. 9 of 10 times, shelley nails that shot. lucky tots. PLAYER OF THE SERIES: STUD FRANKOVICH, TOTS we sent the scorebook to nasa to total up: 24 for 39, 45 rbi, 18 homers PLAYOFFS HOME |