9/08/2008

Stories from the MWL Playoffs

September 8 Scoreboard.

Short Story: @Burlington 2, Cedar Rapids 1; South Bend 5, @Dayton 2.

For the longer stories:

Here's how that seventh inning got messy in Dayton last night:
With one out, Linton singled, stole second and went to third on a bad throw by catcher Devin Mesoraco. Collin Cowgill then hit a grounder to Cozart in a drawn-in infield, and Cozart fired to Mesoraco.

"That guy's a rabbit," Dayton manager Donnie Scott said of Linton. "He can run."

And run he did. Mesoraco's throw went to third baseman Waring, who threw back to pitcher Ruben Medina near the plate. Medina dropped the ball as Linton broke the tie.
Bonus story on team travel plans to South Bend.
Against South Bend in Round 2, the Dragons left directly after their game Sunday night.

"I'd rather sleep in than get up early," Scott said. "I feel this will be the best thing. I'm not looking for a big advantage. That's just what I've decided to do."

South Bend, which won its first-round series at West Michigan (Grand Rapids) Saturday night, stayed over and bused to Dayton on Sunday. The Silver Hawks then stayed in Dayton overnight and began the ride home for Game 2 this morning.
And for the South Bend perspective in the seventh.
"I told Linton to go on contact when the ball was hit, and if he was in a rundown to stay there long enough for Cowgill to get to second,'' said South Bend manager Mark Haley. "It's good when you have speed on the bases and speed at bat.''
Burlington Bees, You're going to the Midwest League Championship Series! How'd that happen?
"We've come together as a team and just playing as a team and sacrificing one another to get guys over to get them in, just like a great team does," Cota said.

"Everybody started to come together as a team. We let our egos go," said Walton. "Everybody came out every day and did our job."
What about the Kernels?
"It hurts right now, but we've come a long way. It's hard not to hang your head right now, but when you look at where we came from, we came a long way."

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