Midwest League Action: Games of September 10, 2009

Bees end Cougars’ season

For the second straight season, the Cougars made the playoffs, and for the second straight season they exited as quickly as possible.

After dropping Game 1 in Burlington on Wednesday night, the Cougars barely showed up in Game 2 at home Thursday night, bowing out of the Midwest League Playoffs to Burlington for the second straight year in two games with a 4-0 loss in which they had more errors than hits.

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“We’ve got to be pretty much perfect and be on top of our game, and if we’re not that’s what happens,” [Cougars manager Steve] Scarsone said. “Everything went their way, and my hat’s off to them.”

Amazing rally gives Kernels playoff sweep over Peoria

A team of destiny?

“It seems like it,” said Matt Crawford, after his walk-off hit by pitch gave the Cedar Rapids Kernels a crazy 9-8 win over Peoria last night at Memorial Stadium. “If we think it, then we are.”

There’s a lot of people thinking it the way the Kernels swept this best-of-3 Midwest League playoff series.

Cedar Rapids won Game 1 Wednesday night in Peoria thanks to a 10th-inning strikeout wild pitch and wild pitch on an attempted intentional walk. They won Thursday night with a two-run ninth that consisted of four walks, a wild pitch and Crawford getting plunked in the ankle.

Wild inning sends series to the limit

Alberto Diaz hit a hard grounder that kicked away from Fort Wayne third baseman Vince Belnome for an error.

As the ball rested in the infield grass, Justin Parker attempted to score from second base. Fort Wayne pitcher Erik Davis picked up the ball and threw home. Catcher Adam Zornes applied a tag, but home plate umpire Adam Schwarz ruled Parker, a Wayne graduate, safe.

The sequence summed up a wild third inning, and Game 2, for Fort Wayne. Davis didn’t get out of the inning, which featured two errors, a wild pitch and nine Silver Hawks runs. The TinCaps never recovered, falling 12-7 in front of 5,725 fans at Parkview Field.

Bonus excerpt

Davis, who finished tied for the Midwest League lead with 16 wins, had his shortest outing as a starter. He went 2 2/3 innings, giving up the three earned runs on six hits. He issued four walks.

“It’s like the definition of a disappointing outing,” Davis said. “I’d trade all of my 16 wins to have that game back. It’s really frustrating.

“More than anything, I’m upset how I put our team in that situation. I lost it in the third inning and let some things get to me.”

Whitecaps stay alive in Midwest League playoffs with Game 2 shutout of Loons

Whitecaps starting pitcher Adam Wilk turned in a near-perfect performance in 5 2/3 innings, striking out a season-high eight batters and tying his season low for hits allowed at two.

Wilk's counterpart, Great Lakes' JonMichael Redding, who finished the regular season tied for the most wins (16) with Fort Wayne's Erik Davis, was knocked out of the game in the second inning after getting roughed up for six runs on five hits.

Redding lasted just 1 2/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.

"It was awesome to see that hitting," Whitecaps manager Joe DePastino said. "I'm sure everyone knows we have struggled the last five or six games of the season hitting, and to come out tonight against a good Great Lakes team and (hit) Redding, who has been good all season, it was big.

"I can't change the lineup after what we did tonight."