NALB 2011 World Championship Series - Game 5

K. Fields
2012-11-03T11:06:15-04:00
Baseball

Pivotal game five was the last one in Stade. Rico Haros (17-3, 4.04 ERA) got his second start of the Series for the Knights after a no-decision in game one. The Maples pitched Jose Battista (16-10, 4.06 ERA) on short rest. Battista hoped to erase the memories of his abysmal game two loss, in which he gave up five runs without retiring a batter.

A sacrifice fly by Leslie Hubbard scored Mark Huff in the first inning. Travis Araoz doubled in the third and later scored on a throwing error by Martin Swader. The Knights finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning thanks to a solo home run by Flavio Marquez. Martin Swader tied the game 2-2 when he hit a home run to left field. The game appeared headed to extra innings. However, in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, Mark Huff hit a single off of Carl Hatton. The Knights brought in lefty Craig Bella to pitch to the Maples’ string of left-handers. In response, Stade called for right-handed catcher, Topper Blefary, to pinch hit. Huff stole second base and the tension began to mount. On the second pitch, Blefary ripped a groundball past Swader. The Maples’ waved Blefary in from second base. He scored and gave the Maples another thrilling victory at home.

Final score: Stade 3, Brooklyn 2

             1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R  H  E
Brooklyn     0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0   2  5  2
Stade        1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1   3  8  0

W: B. Smith
L: C. Hatton