The West Michigan Whitecaps won the decisive game 5, and beat the Beloit Snappers 11-6 to claim the Midwest League Championship. West Michigan is now the first team since the Appleton Foxes to be repeat champions in the Midwest league. The title is West Michigan's third in four seasons, and fifth overall.
The Whitecaps got on the board first, scoring twice in the first inning. A Brennan Boesch single, and misplay in the outfield, allowed Scott Sizemore to score from first. Boesch moved to second on the error. A wild pitch after Jeramy Laster struck out allowed Boesch to go to third. Jordan Newton brought Boesch home with a single.
The 'Caps added a run in the second inning when a Gorkys Hernandez sacrifice fly brought home Michael Bertram. Bertram had previously tripled.
The West Michigan lead didn't last long. Beloit added 5 runs in the bottom of the third. All of those runs were credited to Charlie Furbush, who only lasted 2 innings. He allowed 5 hits, 5 earned runs, 1 walk, and struck out 3 batters, overall.
The fifth inning came along and everything went downhill for the Snappers. The Whitecaps scored 8 times on 7 hits. Beloit committed 5 errors in the inning. West Michigan went ahead 11-5.
Meanwhile, Luis Marte did an awesome job in relief for the Whitecaps. At one point he retired 12 straight Beloit Batters. He pitched 5 innings, allowed 2 hits, and struck out 9 Snappers. He was the winning pitcher.
Casey Fien pitched the final 2 innings and was solid once again. He allowed 1 walk, and struck out 2 batters.
Every Whitecaps batter had at least one hit. All but one scored a run. Scott Sizemore was 3-5, scored twice and drove in a run. Michael Bertram was 3-5, scored twice and drove in two. Jordan Newton was 2-4, walked once, scored a run, and drove in a run.
Congratulations Whitecaps!!!
Box Score and Log
MiLB.com - Whitecaps repeat in Midwest League
GR Press - Whitecaps capture another crown
Detroit Free Press - Dombrowski pleased as Tigers minor leaguers have championship success
1 comments:
What a great victory it was. We were cheering them on while listening to the radio as the runs kept piling up. This morning's welcome home party (were you there?) was great too.
A fantastic season from a fantastic team!
It is, however, a bit sad that the season is over and that players are already returning home. Opening day for 2008 is seven long and wintery months away... :-(
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