NALB 2010 Playoffs - League 1 Series

K. Fields
2011-10-15T13:17:54-04:00
Baseball

2010 League 1 Series - Cornfield Axemen (97-65) vs. Brooklyn Knights (114-48)

Game 1: Brooklyn 8, Cornfield 7
Game 2: Brooklyn 7, Cornfield 4
Game 3: Cornfield 11, Brooklyn 9
Game 4: Brooklyn 8, Cornfield 6
Game 5: Brooklyn 6, Cornfield 1

The 2010 League 1 Series featured the two winningest teams in North American League Baseball. The Brooklyn Knights had an impressive 114 win season while the rejuvenated Cornfield Axemen won 97 games to put a disappointing 2009 behind them. The Knights and Axemen played each other 16 times during the regular season, splitting the series at 8 games apiece. These two teams also led the league in home run hitting. Some high scoring games were expected.

The opener in Brooklyn featured two aces on the mound. The Axemen pitched Hap Bedford (14-7, 4.02 ERA) against the Knights’ Bob Wiesner (21-6, 3.16 ERA). Cornfield broke things open in the second inning. After a pair of doubles and a single, the Axemen were on the board with a run. The real damage was done, however, by Steve Jurewicz’s 3-run homer. Martin Swader scored on a Duhon double in the bottom of the fourth to give the Knights their first run. Dick Moran kept the momentum going with a 2-run home run in the next inning to make it a 4-3 game. Moran delivered again in the seventh inning with a sac fly to tie the game. In the eights, the Axemen jumped right back on top when Dee Fletcher hit a 3-run homer off of Craig Bella. The Brooklyn crowd was electric in the ninth inning. Relief pitcher Stew Martin made a critical throwing error, which put a second man on base. Hsiao-lou Yeh made him pay. He drove the ball into the right field seats to tie the game 7-7. The Axemen turned to their closer Joe Pendarvis. After striking out Alexis Schmidt, he threw a 2-2 fastball to Martin Swader. Swader hit a mammoth 475 foot blast into the left upper deck. The Knights won 8-7 on a walk-off home run!

Cornfield had hard throwing BIlly Martinez (10-3, 3.96 ERA) on the mound for game two. Brooklyn went with veteran Tracy Corkhill (11-1, 2.30 ERA) in a battle of lefties. Catcher Willie Nolan hit a double and scored in the top of the first inning. The Axemen were out to a quick 1-0 lead. A solo home run by Kid Detherage and a 2-run homer by Yeh gave the Knights a 3-1 lead. A Dee Fletcher double in the fourth inning set up another run for Cornfield. Brooklyn’s lead was cut to one run. In the bottom of the fifth, the Knights flexed their muscle with back to back solo home runs by Schmidt and Swader. In the next inning, Detherage singled, stole a base, and scored Brooklyn’s sixth run on a John Edwards error. DIck Moran tripled and scored in the eighth to make it 7-2 for the Knights. In the ninth, the Axemen managed two runs off of Francisco Jimenez. The Knights brought in closer Bernard Gastelu to seal the 7-4 win.

As the series moved to Cornfield for game three, the Axemen desperately needed a win. Brooklyn’s young stud Jose Arisa (8-1, 1.79 ERA) was matched up against Cornfield’s veteran lefty John Watkins (14-7, 4.33 ERA). The starting pitchers did not fare well. They managed only six outs and both were pulled in the third inning. Arisa was drilled for eight runs, while Watkins surrendered five runs. The Axemen scored six in the bottom of the second inning. Aided by a 3-run blast by Dick Moran, the Knights roared back in the top of the third with five runs. Cornfield quickly responded with two more runs in the bottom of the third. The slugfest was on! Home run derby continued in the fourth inning. Angel Santago hit a solo shot in the top of the inning and Ben Nicosia countered with a 2-run homer in the bottom half of the inning. After four innings, Cornfield led 10-6. Kid Detherage brought the Knights back with a 2-run home run in the sixth inning. Their comeback fell short, however. The Axemen padded on another run in the seventh and held on for an 11-9 victory.

Fresh from their game three win, the Axemen hoped to even the series up. To do so, however, they had to beat Brooklyn starter Ralph Kerfoot (20-7, 3.78 ERA). The pressure was on Cornfield sinker ball pitcher, Hughie Grover (13-9, 5.28 ERA). The Knights started the scoring in the third inning when catcher Ted Pollet hit one over the wall in left-center field. After a few more hits, Brooklyn was up 3-0. Next inning, the Knights broke things wide open with a grand slam by rookie Hsiao-lou Yeh. Up 7-0, it looked like the game was going to be a rout. Cornfield refused to go quietly, however. In the bottom of the fourth, Ben Nicosia drove in two runs. Brooklyn came right back with a run in the fifth when Swader scored on a ground out. An 8-2 lead looked comfortable but Kerfoot did not have an easy fifth inning. He gave up three hits and two more runs. Three more hits in the sixth inning added two additional runs for the Axemen. The Cornfield crowd was going wild as their team only trailed by a score of 8-6. With Cornfield’s heart of the order (Edwards, Trujillo, and Fletcher) due up in the ninth, they hoped to mount a comeback. Brooklyn’s closer Bernard Gastelu extinguished their hopes as he struck out the side. The Knights won the game, 8-6.

Game five would determine whether or not the series needed to go back to Brooklyn. In a rematch of game one starters, the Axemen hoped Hap Bedford was up to the task. Hap Bedford was sharp but Bob Wiesner was exceptional. Both pitchers struck out nine batters. Bedford gave up 7 hits in 7.2 innings. Wiesner went the distance and gave up only 4 hits in nine innings. His sole blemish was a solo home run surrendered to Albert Pineda in the seventh. The only player on the field who eclipsed Wiesner’s outing was the Knights right-fielder, Kid Detherage. He went deep three times to set an NALB playoff record. He drove in all but one of Brooklyn’s runs. Behind Wiesner and Detherage, the Knights easily came out on top, 6-1.

In an entertaining series of power hitting, it was the superior pitching of the Brooklyn Knights that made the difference. The won the series three games to one and will play for the World Championship! The League 1 Series MVP was Kid Detherage. He hit .455 with 5 home runs and 10 RBI.