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MVP Hernandez, Voodoo homer propel veteran Guides
in Brewmaster's clincher
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/IewCie0.png" style="float:right; width:175px;margin:22px 56px;border:solid black 2px;">PORTLAND, ME -- They say age is just a number.
For 41-year-old Fernando Hernandez and the Guides, only a single number mattered Friday night.
One.
As in the best team in Brewers League Baseball, which the Guides are after finishing off the Batavia Muckdogs Friday night at Old Port Park.
Hernandez capped off a brilliant postseason by spinning five strong innings, allowing only one earned run while pitching on short rest. His final playoff statistics, while perhaps overshadowed a little by those of his teammate William Eddy, tell the tale.
Four wins. No losses. A 1.62 ERA in 33 1/3 innings.
His Game 3 complete game shutout will live long in the memories of baseball fans.
Eddy didn't pitch in this one. He watched from the dugout instead, ready to go if called upon for a Game 7. He and his 1.08 postseason ERA cast a reminding shadow of what awaited Batavia back home if they could manage a victory in Old Port.
But the Guides offense proved too strong in the middle innings.
Izzy Rivera plated two runs in the fifth on a bases clearing triple. Shigetaka Saito brought him home with a double off the wall in center.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/ZImbjPX.png" style="float:right; width:175px;margin:22px 56px;border:solid black 2px;">While the bottom of the order cashed in for the Guides in the fourth, it was the future Hall of Fame catcher Voodoo Davila who provided the exclamation point in the following inning.
It began with Muckdog mistakes.
Leadoff man Steve Suarez slapped a ground ball to short that DWI-winning shortstop Geoff Perritt could not handle, allowing Suarez to reach first safely.
Second baseman Jarrod Rowles tried to sacrifice himself to send Suarez to second, but Rowles outdid his own expectations by beating out the bunt.
Davila stepped in to the batter's box.
He fell behind 1-2.
But then early entry reliever Dave Harmon hung a slider.
And if you don't get to be a multiple-time Stout Slugger winner by excusing hanging sliders.
The ball landed in the left field seats, 373 feet from home plate, and the Guides had a six to two lead, thrilling the crowd at Old Port Park.
Batavia fought back, plating two in the next half-inning to cut the deficit in half, thanks to the bottom of their lineup coming through.
The Maine crowd stayed in it and brought the energy.
As the game turned to the ninth inning, excitement echoed throughout.
Excitement, tinged with some anxiety perhaps.
The disappointment of Tuesday night's ninth inning collapse remained fresh, threatening to return and spread like an infected wound.
Closer Shane Burrows retired the first two batters, but then sluggers Stu Stark and Fred Frederick connected on consecutive singles.
The uneasiness grew in the ballpark, as Davila took a moment to talk with his pitcher.
And then came the release.
Burrows induced Tom Ackers to hit a looper to center field, easily caught by Amir Pugh, touching off the biggest celebration in Maine since the club's last title a dozen years ago.
For Hernandez, Davila, Suarez, and Ignacio Alvarez, it's a return to the top of that championship mountain.
They won as a Wild Card entry back then, too, though this time it required a BLB record 13 playoff victories.
So maybe this time, the climb was a little longer.
A little bit harder.
A little bit more.
They're not as young as they once were.
But you're never too old to enjoy a parade.
in Brewmaster's clincher
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/IewCie0.png" style="float:right; width:175px;margin:22px 56px;border:solid black 2px;">PORTLAND, ME -- They say age is just a number.
For 41-year-old Fernando Hernandez and the Guides, only a single number mattered Friday night.
One.
As in the best team in Brewers League Baseball, which the Guides are after finishing off the Batavia Muckdogs Friday night at Old Port Park.
Hernandez capped off a brilliant postseason by spinning five strong innings, allowing only one earned run while pitching on short rest. His final playoff statistics, while perhaps overshadowed a little by those of his teammate William Eddy, tell the tale.
Four wins. No losses. A 1.62 ERA in 33 1/3 innings.
His Game 3 complete game shutout will live long in the memories of baseball fans.
Eddy didn't pitch in this one. He watched from the dugout instead, ready to go if called upon for a Game 7. He and his 1.08 postseason ERA cast a reminding shadow of what awaited Batavia back home if they could manage a victory in Old Port.
But the Guides offense proved too strong in the middle innings.
Izzy Rivera plated two runs in the fifth on a bases clearing triple. Shigetaka Saito brought him home with a double off the wall in center.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/ZImbjPX.png" style="float:right; width:175px;margin:22px 56px;border:solid black 2px;">While the bottom of the order cashed in for the Guides in the fourth, it was the future Hall of Fame catcher Voodoo Davila who provided the exclamation point in the following inning.
It began with Muckdog mistakes.
Leadoff man Steve Suarez slapped a ground ball to short that DWI-winning shortstop Geoff Perritt could not handle, allowing Suarez to reach first safely.
Second baseman Jarrod Rowles tried to sacrifice himself to send Suarez to second, but Rowles outdid his own expectations by beating out the bunt.
Davila stepped in to the batter's box.
He fell behind 1-2.
But then early entry reliever Dave Harmon hung a slider.
And if you don't get to be a multiple-time Stout Slugger winner by excusing hanging sliders.
The ball landed in the left field seats, 373 feet from home plate, and the Guides had a six to two lead, thrilling the crowd at Old Port Park.
Batavia fought back, plating two in the next half-inning to cut the deficit in half, thanks to the bottom of their lineup coming through.
The Maine crowd stayed in it and brought the energy.
As the game turned to the ninth inning, excitement echoed throughout.
Excitement, tinged with some anxiety perhaps.
The disappointment of Tuesday night's ninth inning collapse remained fresh, threatening to return and spread like an infected wound.
Closer Shane Burrows retired the first two batters, but then sluggers Stu Stark and Fred Frederick connected on consecutive singles.
The uneasiness grew in the ballpark, as Davila took a moment to talk with his pitcher.
And then came the release.
Burrows induced Tom Ackers to hit a looper to center field, easily caught by Amir Pugh, touching off the biggest celebration in Maine since the club's last title a dozen years ago.
For Hernandez, Davila, Suarez, and Ignacio Alvarez, it's a return to the top of that championship mountain.
They won as a Wild Card entry back then, too, though this time it required a BLB record 13 playoff victories.
So maybe this time, the climb was a little longer.
A little bit harder.
A little bit more.
They're not as young as they once were.
But you're never too old to enjoy a parade.
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