NALB 2019 Playoffs - League 1 Series

K. Fields
2020-09-13T11:29:34-04:00
Baseball

2019 League 1 Series - Luisville Beasts (98-64) vs. Brooklyn Knights (108-54)

Game 1: Brooklyn 4, Luisville 1
Game 2: Luisville 9, Brooklyn 2
Game 3: Luisville 10, Brooklyn 4
Game 4: Brooklyn 9, Luisville 8
Game 5: Luisville 3, Brooklyn 2
Game 6: Brooklyn 5, Luisville 3
Game 7: Brooklyn 9, Luisville 5

For the third straight year, the Luisville Beasts and Brooklyn Knights met in the League 1 Series. This was a matchup of the league's two highest scoring teams. Brooklyn had the better pitching staff, however, and home field advantage as well. These teams were very evenly matched in their 23 regular season games with the Knights edging the Beasts 12-11. The Beasts were dealt a bad break in the final game of the season when star center fielder Oscar Barrientes fractured his wrist. His spot on the playoff roster will be filled by Clive Thoma, a minor league outfielder.

The opener featured this season's two winningest pitchers—Luisville's Noel Trevenot (19-5, 3.20 ERA) vs. Brooklyn's Tony Tamayo (18-5, 2.87 ERA). Tamayo gave up a solo home run to Yvon Chouinard in the first inning. He cruised through the next five innings, striking out 11. The Knights got a three-run homer from Maurílio Godim in the sixth inning. Brooklyn added another run in the eighth and prevailed 4-1.

In game two, Luisville center fielder Leonard O'Marron produced all the offense the Beasts needed in the club's 9-2 win over the Brooklyn Knights. O'Marron slugged two home runs, one in the first inning and a grand slam in the ninth. He drove in seven runs and scored twice as Luisville moved into a tie in the League Series.

Game three was very similar to game two. Luisville's offense overwhelmed Brooklyn's pitching. After three scoreless innings, the Beasts came alive. They scored four runs in the fourth inning, two in the sixth inning, and put the game out of reach by adding four more in the eighth. The Knights had plenty of chances but mostly failed to take advantage of them. Despite twelve hits, they managed to score only four runs and left twelve men on base. With two fielding errors adding insult to injury, it was a game Brooklyn would rather forget.

Game four was an entertaining slugfest. The Knights struck quickly as they scored five runs in the first inning, which was capped by a Flavio Marquez three-run homer. Hsiao-lou Yeh answered in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer. The Beasts added a run in second and another run in the third to narrow the score to 5-4. Cleveland Garfield's home run contributed to three more runs for Brooklyn in the fourth inning. Luisville never quit, however. They tied the game 8-8 in the eighth. The Beasts fell short in their comeback when the Knights scored in the ninth and Ken Hannah closed out the game for the 9-8 win to tie the series.

Game five was another great pitching duel between Tony Tamayo and Noel Trevenot. The Knights took a quick 2-0 lead after catcher Andrew Strain homered in his first at bat. The Beasts got a run in the fourth thanks to Amsalu Kanda, their speedy leadoff man. He singled and stole second base and third base before scoring. Despite a 35 minute rain delay in the sixth inning, the pitchers kept cruising. Okura Kono hit a solo home run in the eighth to give Luisville a chance. The game went into extra innings tied 2-2. In the 14th inning, Amsalu Kanda came through again. He singled, stole two more bases, and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly. The Knights will be thinking about all of the missed opportunities on the trip back to Brooklyn. They had plenty of chances to win game five but stranded 13 men on base.

Brooklyn took advantage of its home field advantage to prevail in game six. The Knights had Marcos Delgadillo on the mound for this must-win game. Although opposing pitcher Whitney Sanders was good, Delgadillo was just a bit better. He gave up only one run in 6.1 innings and struck out nine without walking a single batter. The Beasts had some success against Brooklyn's relief pitchers, scoring two runs in the seventh inning and another run in the eighth. However, the Knights held on to win 5-3, which forces a decisive game seven. Along with Delgadillo, the game's star was clearly Andrew Strain. The Knights' catcher was 4 for 4 at the plate with 2 singles, a double, and a home run.

The Brooklyn Knights and Luisville Beasts fought their way to game seven of the League 1 Series. After meeting 29 times in the regular season and postseason, the Knights held an ever so slight 15-14 edge. The Beasts had done a better job scoring runs in this series, however, and that trend continued early in game seven. After getting a base on balls to start the game, Amsalu Kanda used his blazing speed to steal second base and later score. A single by shortstop Connor Duck in the top of the fifth drove in a run to extend Luisville's lead to 2-0. Up till that point, Brooklyn had followed its usual script of stranding baserunners and failing to score. That came to an end in the fifth inning. A five run offensive explosion brought the crowd to a roar. The runs came courtesy of a 3-run home run by Milburn Hutchison and a 2-run homer by Flavio Marquez. With victory so near, the Knights showed a killer instinct. They added three more runs in the seventh inning and another run in the eighth inning. With a 9-2 lead, the Knights decided to send starter Alex Mobley to the mound to finish the last two innings in relief. After pitching a scoreless eighth inning, Mobley struggled in the ninth. After he surrendered back to back home runs, he was pulled. Closer Ken Hannah came in to retire the next three batters and secure the 9-3 win. The only disappointment in Brooklyn was related to the status of star outfielder Blas Ramos. Ramos sprained his knee during the game and is awaiting further evaluation.

Knight's catcher Andrew Strain was the consensus choice for series MVP. Strain hit .419 with a .455 on-base percentage. He had 3 home runs, 6 RBI and scored 6 runs.

Series MVP: C Andrew Strain (Brooklyn Knights)