Knights Defeat Maples

The Brooklyn Knights (121-41) defeated the Stade Maples (95-67) in a very entertaining series. In five World Championship meetings between these two teams, the Knights have won four of the match-ups. This was the ninth championship for the Knights’ franchise.

Despite cruising through the regular season, the playoff road was not an easy one for the Knights. Brooklyn needed seven games to get by the Nashville Firecats and seven games to defeat the Stade Maples. In both cases, the Knights were down three games to two. They returned to Brooklyn needing wins in games six and seven. The home field advantage was advantageous. After scoring only eight runs in the three games in Stade, the Knights exploded with twenty runs in the final two games in Brooklyn. Hooks Goetz struggled mightily in the World Championship Series. He hit .115 (3 for 26). Luckily for the Knights, Alexis Schmidt picked up the slack. Schmidt was dependable throughout the playoffs. He hit .373 with 3 HR and 18 RBI.

The Maples’ pitching staff did a fine job in the first five games. The injury to Max Brown in game one was quite costly. Stade’s bullpen stepped up and pitched very well overall. The loss of Brown was too much to overcome, however. The other starters were forced to pitch on short rest and it showed in their final performances.

Game 1: Stade 5, Brooklyn 4
Game 2: Brooklyn 9, Stade 6
Game 3: Brooklyn 3, Stade 1
Game 4: Stade 4, Brooklyn 3
Game 5: Stade 3, Brooklyn 2
Game 6: Brooklyn 11, Stade 2
Game 7: Brooklyn 9, Stade 4

Click the image for the NALB 2011 World Championship roster