A Moment in the Sun for Fort Wayne

Photo by Samuel Hoffman | The Journal Gazette

The Midwest League Champions had a rally at Parkview Field last night. That's Robert Lara, the guy who hit the series ending homer in the Eastern Division Finals against Great Lakes, in the picture. Here's part of the Journal Gazette article...

The evening gave fans everything they needed to savor the season for a final time.

Video highlights, speeches, concessions and even the national anthem helped nearly 2,000 TinCaps faithful Friday night celebrate the city’s first Midwest League title with the members of their minor league baseball team at Parkview Field.

Team President Mike Nutter noted the crowd was much larger – and louder – than the one at the team’s championship-clinching game the night before in Burlington, Iowa. He heaped praise on the fans, telling them they helped the team to a 50-20 home record.

Oh, Mike. Did you really have to go there with the attendance thing? I mean, it's understandable that you want to say something for the folks at home, but, come on.

After the team took the field, mascot Johnny ran out carrying the Midwest League championship trophy. A few fans had signs calling for a repeat, something Nutter wouldn’t quite guarantee. But he said his staff would work to make next season just as enjoyable.

“Thank you for a 2009 at Parkview Field we’ll never forget,” he said.

Take this image to your nightmares tonight

Photo by Chad Ryan News-Sentinel

2009 MWL Finals Game Three

It's over. It's all over.

The Fort Wayne TinCaps win for the 101st time, grab a three-game sweep of the Burlington Bees, and claim their first Midwest League Championship.

Fort Wayne 4, @Burlington 3

There is a lot from the Fort Wayne-Journal and we'll kick it off with this picture from Stephen Mally

TinCaps are champions

Brad Brach flung his glove high in the air.

The closer raised his arms and then hugged charging catcher Robert Lara.

The scene plays out every year at the end of the baseball season. For the first time, the celebration involved Fort Wayne.

The TinCaps captured the first Midwest League title in franchise history by defeating Burlington 4-3 in the Midwest League Championship Series.

Brach struck out pinch-hitter Hilton Richardson to complete a 3-0 series sweep and set off the celebration in front of 891 fans at Community Field.

“Robert, we’ve been together for two years now. To strike (Richardson) out and see (Lara) coming at me and then everybody else charging the field. That’s something I’ll never forget,” Brach said.

Team gave city reason to cheer

Well, now. The weatherman never predicted this.

Giddy with a chance of champagne? Scattered jumping up and down like children on Christmas morning? Who saw that coming, way back in April?

Who saw any of it coming?

And so they jump up and down, these Fort Wayne TinCaps, and the champagne front comes roaring until it drips off their chins and soaks their shirts and falls like heaven’s rain from the ceiling, and this is how the fairy tale ends. This is the scene behind the final credits of this crazy-mad dream, which began with a nickname and downtown ballpark everyone crabbed about, and ended with a baseball team so skilled and gutsy and calm-in-the-belly, it won over an entire city.

Thursday night, they came here to close it out in a tiny stadium not far from the Mississippi River, and it was the same old familiar script. First the TinCaps scraped together four runs on a sacrifice fly and a fielder’s choice and a leadoff triple and a two-run homer from Jaff Decker, who’d been quiet since getting plunked on the hand Monday night. Then Burlington got three back on a homer and a single and an uncharacteristic fielding error.

One point...

Well, sure. Everyone talks about the value of team at a time like this, how everyone loved each other and played as one unit. But the cliché stands up, this time around.

How else to explain why pitcher Anthony Bass – called up to Lake Elsinore in July – was in the TinCaps’ clubhouse Wednesday night, having come back to cheer on his former teammates? You want to know how often a guy does that in the minors? Would you like to guess “never”?

Unless you happened to read this article in the Grand Rapids Press from last week. Mark Sorenson, other former Whitecaps on hand to cheer West Michigan to victory in Game 2

That picture up top showed TinCaps fans in Burlington. What about those who couldn't make the trip?

Die-hards settle in at Parkview to hear TinCaps win

Even though there was no home game Thursday night, and the TinCaps were in Burlington, Iowa, clinching the Midwest League championship, 54-year-old Doug Martin stood on the main concourse on the first-base side of Parkview Field and looked across the empty greenery.

He, and about 60 or 70 others, had settled into the stadium Thursday just to listen to the radio broadcast of what turned out to be a 4-3 TinCaps victory over Burlington.

Indeed he – they – could have listened to the game in their warmer homes but instead chose to come to the ballpark one final time to bid farewell to a most magical and memorable 2009 season.

“I just wanted to be part of the excitement,” Martin said. “I’ve had a lot of fun times this summer here, and I just wanted to finish the season in good style and be out here with the rest of the die-hard fans.”

Later in the story there is this comment.

“It’s very disappointing that they’re not here, but we just wanted to keep the energy going and come down and cheer them on from afar,” Martin said.

I'm going to pick up on this point in a different post.

From the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel
CHAMPIONS!

It was sweet.

And it was a sweep.

Fort Wayne “capped” its sensational 2009 baseball season Thursday with a 4-3 win over Burlington at Community Field in front of 891 fans to win its first Midwest League Championship in franchise history.

The win was the third of three games, as the TinCaps swept the championship series. With the victory, which was Fort Wayne's 101st of the season, the team tied the 1978 Appleton Foxes for the most victories in league history.

“It was tight; we knew that it would be tight,” TinCaps manager Doug Dascenzo said. “But they came out on top just like they'd been doing all year long.”

From The Hawkeye
Bees buzzed

The Burlington Bees players lined the top of the dugout, watching the Fort Wayne TinCaps pile on top of each other, the traditional way to celebrate a championship.

Last year, that was the Bees, splashing and sliding around on a wet field in South Bend, Ind., Midwest League champions.

This year, it was the Bees who were silently filing into the Community Field clubhouse as Fort Wayne rejoiced in its first league title after taking a 4-3 victory Thursday to complete the three-game series sweep.

"There's a reason they won 101 ball games. They're a good team," said Burlington manager Jim Gabella. "We still played good baseball, competed every pitch, and that's something we've told them all year long. Just go out there, compete every pitch and when you do that usually good things happen.

"We just ran into a pretty good ball club. They beat us."

101 ways to win a championship

One hundred and one wins. Doug Dascenzo was asked to explain what that number meant. The Fort Wayne TinCaps manager thought for a second as the party swirled around him.

"I heard someone say the other day (when asked about) 100 RBIs, that (it meant) they had done their job," Dascenzo said

"So, I guess we did our job."

2009 MWL Finals Game Two

@ Fort Wayne 2, Burlington 0:

Closing in on crown
Fort Wayne one win away from winning first Midwest League title

The TinCaps opened Parkview Field with a shutout.

They ended the first year at the downtown park Wednesday with another, and in the process moved one victory away from the franchise’s first Midwest League title.

Four Fort Wayne pitchers combined on a four-hitter as the TinCaps blanked Burlington 2-0 in Game 2 of the Midwest League Championship Series.
...
“Pitching coach Tom Bradley always says, ‘if you shut them out, you’ve got a chance to win,’ ” TinCaps manager Doug Dascenzo said. “They pitched fantastic all day.”

Starter Chris Fetter allowed three hits in 5 1/3 innings. The 6-foot-8 right-hander from Carmel struck out four and did not allow a walk.

“I had a great fastball. It’s a little bit harder than it’s been the last few outings,” Fetter said. “I was able to utilize that. They seemed to be behind the ball all night, so we stuck with it the last three or four innings. We went right at them.”

Pitching again stymies Bees
TinCaps need one more win to secure first championship

Parkview Field’s inaugural season closed in exemplary fashion Wednesday, as Fort Wayne rode incredibly strong pitching to a 2-0 victory over Burlington in Game 2 of the Midwest League Championship Series.

The TinCaps can clinch the first championship in the franchise’s 17-year history with a victory in Game 3 of the best-of-five series. That game will be played at 7:30 p.m. (Eastern) today in Burlington, Iowa.

“We came in (to Parkview Field) and win a few games right out of the gate (10 straight), and now we close it that way,” TinCap manager Doug Dascenzo said of the final game of the year at the magnificent facility.

Fort Wayne won 55 of its 76 games at Parkview Field, and playing in front of 6,269 boisterous fans Wednesday was key to picking up the team emotionally.

“That was unbelievable,” Fort Wayne third baseman Justin Baum said of the crowd support. “They’ve been coming out all season, and just to have (a large crowd) tonight made it that much more special.”

Fort Wayne takes Game 2 of series

The last weeks of the regular season and the beginning of the Midwest League playoffs, the Burlington Bees' offense took off.

In a whole bunch of bad timing, those hot bats disappeared as the championship series against the Fort Wayne TinCaps began. Add strong opposing pitchers to the mix and the Bees find themselves in trouble.
...
"Their pitchers have done a nice job," Bees manager Jim Gabella said. "We've got to figure a way out here the next three days to get some offense going. That's basically what it is. You're not going to win games when you don't score runs. We've just got to find a way starting tomorrow, find a way to swing the bats and get some offense going."

Game Three Probables:
FW: Michael Watt
BUR: Manauris Baez

2009 MWL Finals Game One - After Action Report

The TinCaps are up 1-0 after their win over the Bees last night. Here are the reports from the papers.

First up, the Journal-Gazette

Redemption for TinCaps starter
Davis rebounds from loss to win Game 1 of finals

Erik Davis couldn’t have had a worse performance than his first playoff start.

His second one went more according to plan.

Davis pitched six strong innings, leading the TinCaps to a 6-2 victory over Burlington in Game 1 of the Midwest League Championship Series in front of 3,403 fans Tuesday at Parkview Field.

“Coming into the game, I just wanted to give us a quality start, and the way we’ve been swinging the bats, if I could keep them to a few runs, we would have a chance,” Davis said. “The hitting didn’t disappoint.”

The News-Sentinel

Bees stung by TinCaps' defense
Bullpen shuts down hitters after 3rd inning

You need good pitching, great defense and timely hitting to win a baseball championship, and Fort Wayne received them all Tuesday. The TinCaps opened the Midwest League Championship Series with a business-like 6-2 win over Burlington in front of 3,403 fans at Parkview Field.

Game 2 of the best-of-five series is at 7:05 p.m. today at Parkview Field. Following tonight's game, the remainder of the series will be played in Burlington, so this will be the final game of the season at Parkview Field.

“I like Parkview Field,” Fort Wayne right fielder Daniel Robertson said. “It's going to be a bittersweet moment. We've had a lot of fun playing here. I'm going to be sad when we leave it, but I won't be that sad when we come back and we get to do something that this franchise has never done (in winning a championship).”

The Hawkeye sent their Bees' beat writer to Fort Wayne.

Fort Wayne smothers Burlington in 6-2 victory

Pitching, hitting, defense. The three pillars of a baseball team.

Lose one, the other two can keep a team propped up.

Lose two, the team likely topples.

So went the Burlington Bees Tuesday night in the first game of the Midwest League championship series.

A strong offensive start crumbled after the third inning, and the Bees' pitching cracked under the Fort Wayne TinCaps' bats as Burlington fell 6-2 at Parkview Stadium...

Jim?

"Sometimes in the first game of a championship there are jitters," said Bees manager Jim Gabella. "We got the first one under our belts. Coming here, we thought if we could win 1-of-2 here we'd be in good shape going home.

"Tomorrow is another day. We'll be OK."

Game two starters are:
BUR:Mike Lehmann
FW: Michael Watt

2009 MWL Finals Game One -- Initial report

@Fort Wayne 6, Burlington 2

The big inning appeared to be the Fort Wayne 6th. The score was tied 2-2 when...

* Pitcher Change: Justin Garcia replaces Timothy Melville.
* Cole Figueroa doubles (1) on a line drive to left fielder Hilton Richardson.
* Allan Dykstra grounds out to first baseman David Wood. Cole Figueroa to 3rd.
* Justin Baum doubles (1) on a ground ball to left fielder Hilton Richardson. Cole Figueroa scores.
* Robert Lara walks.
* Kevin Hansen flies out to center fielder Patrick Norris.
* Blake Tekotte singles on a ground ball to shortstop Yeldrys Molina. Justin Baum scores. Robert Lara to 3rd. Throwing error by shortstop Yeldrys Molina.
* Dan Robertson singles on a ground ball to right fielder Adrian Ortiz. Robert Lara scores. Blake Tekotte to 3rd.
* With Jaff Decker batting, Dan Robertson caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Jose Bonilla to shortstop Yeldrys Molina.

Bees version | TinCaps version

More in the AM.

A MWL Finals Preview

Here is MiLB.com's take on the matchup between the Bees and the TinCaps.

No one said repeating as Midwest League champions would be easy, and the Burlington Bees are faced with the ultimate challenge as they meet Minor League Baseball's winningest club in 2009, the Fort Wayne TinCaps, for the title. Both clubs squeaked into the Finals, edging their second-round opponents by just one run in their decisive Game 3s last night.

Burlington's Jason Taylor has been the offensive star so far in the playoffs, going 9-for-16 with two homers and six RBIs over five games. Teammate Adrian Ortiz has also been a major contributor, adding nine hits and four RBIs.

The hitting standouts for the TinCaps have been second baseman Vincent Belnome (.385) and his double-play partner Cole Figueroa (.365), who have five RBIs apiece in six postseason games. Of course, it was Robert Lara's extra-inning blast last night that helped continue the TinCaps' remarkable season.

I think that you can throw these out the window

Regular Season Records:
Fort Wayne: 94-46
Burlington: 64-79

Season Series was tied 3-3:
Fort Wayne was 2-1 at home
Burlington was 2-1 at home

I am not picking a winner in this series. Just going to enjoy it. Good luck to both teams.

Post-mortems continue to roll in on Division Finals

From the Midland Daily News, here is the writeup on the Loons loss at Fort Wayne.

"What a game, another thriller. It just wasn't meant to be (for us)," Loons' manager Juan Bustabad said via cellphone. " ... I'm proud of our team. They played their hearts out. They have nothing to be ashamed of. We got beat by a good team."

[Rob] Lara was an unlikely hero for the TinCaps, having gone hitless throughout the postseason and having managed only two homers during the regular season before taking Loons' closer Cole St. Clair deep.

"It was just a fastball, and he smoked it," Bustabad said of Lara. "He hit it good. You've got to give the kid credit."

The game, which was close throughout, was not without controversy.

In the bottom of the eighth, with Great Lakes leading 3-2, Fort Wayne's Jaff Decker stepped to the plate with two outs. St. Clair delivered a pitch up-and-in to Decker, and home plate umpire Greg Stanzak ruled that the pitch had struck Decker on the hand.

Following a brief dispute between Stanzak and Bustabad, Decker was awarded first base.

The next batter, Vincent Belnome, rifled a double to deep centerfield to score Decker, tying the game and eventually forcing extra innings.

Bustabad said he wasn't sure if the pitch struck Decker's hand or the knob of the bat, or both.

"It's a tough call (for the umpire to make)," Bustabad admitted. "It could've gone either way. You never want to (bash) the umpires, but it was a questionable call."

Bustabad applauded Belnome for capitalizing on the opportunity.

"Belnome got a big hit for them with two outs," he said. "That was clutch right there."

From The Hawkeye in Burlington here is the writeup after the Bees' win at Cedar Rapids moved them into their second straight MWL Championship series.

The Bees had just enough to fend them off.

Burlington rode Jason Taylor's two-out, two-run home run in the first inning, and three strong pitching outings, to a 2-1 victory at Veterans Memorial Stadium, and into the championship series for the second year in a row.

"It was a great team effort tonight and I can't say enough about my teammates," said Taylor, one of two remaining players along with Juan Rivera from the 2008 title squad. "We all came together. Everybody made good plays."

"Who'd have thought two runs in the first inning would be the final run?" said Bees manager Jim Gabella. "Played solid defense and pitching was outstanding. That's what we've done the past month and that's why we're in the position we're in."

Taylor took Cedar Rapids starter Will Smith over the left-field wall, over the porch, and out of the stadium. The bomb scored David Wood, who got on ahead of Tayor with a broken-bat single to shallow center.

"I knew it was a big hit in the game because it put us up early and it's a lot easier to play with a lead," said Taylor, who hit a home run in the first round against Kane County. "But no, I didn't expect the home run to be the only run scored. When it comes down to it, I'm glad I hit it now."

So are the folks in Burlington, Jason.

Two MWL Teams on the verge...

of punching a ticket to the MWL finals. Two others are almost done for the year.

@Burlington 3, Cedar Rapids 2:

From the Bees Website:

In the top of the first inning, Alexi Amarista singled and then moved to second when Roberto Lopez walked. A wild-pitch moved both runners up a base and then a passed ball score Amarista and moved Lopez to third. Beau Brooks then hit into an RBI ground-out to score Lopez and the Kernels led 2-0.

The Bees trailed 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning when they scored three runs. Cedar Rapids starting pitcher Ryan Chaffee did not allow a hit in his first four innings of work but allowed four hits in the fifth and did not make it out of the inning. Ryan Wood led the inning off with a base-hit and was replaced by Fernando Garcia, who reached on a Fielder's Choice. With two outs, Adrian Ortiz hit a bloop single to score Garcia for the Bees' first run of the day. David Wood then singled and Jason Taylor walked to load the bases. Shawn Griffin came to the plate and singled, which scored both Ortiz and David Wood, which gave the Bees the 3-2 lead.

From the Kernels version:

Game two of this best-of-three series between the Kernels and Bees is Sunday afternoon at 2:05 pm at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Manaurys Correa starts for the Kernels against Sam Runion for Burlington. Gates open at 1:00 pm.

Game One in the Eastern Division Finals looks like a candidate for Game of the Year.

@Great Lakes 11, Fort Wayne 10 (11 innings):

TinCaps version

The Fort Wayne TinCaps led the Great Lakes Loons on four different occasions, but lost, 11-10, in 11 innings Saturday at Dow Diamond in Game 1 of the Midwest League Eastern Division Championship Series. A walk-off single by Jerry Sands in the 11th finished the game.

Four different leads? Surely one of them wasn't heading into the bottom of the ninth?

Fort Wayne again emerged in the top of the 9th, scoring three runs. Cole Figueroa hit a go-ahead RBI single to left, plating Decker to make it 7-6. Two batters later, Justin Baum scorched a two-run single up the middle to push the lead to 9-6.

That lead was erased in the bottom of the 9th. After the first two batters reached, Jaime Pedroza belted a three-run homer over the right-field wall off RHP Brad Brach to tie it at 9-9. It was the second home run Brach has allowed in his career, both coming against the Loons.

That Brach would be Brad Brach, the Midwest League Leader in saves, who went 33-for-34 in save opportunities during the regular season.

Wait. The final was 11-10...That would mean the team with the best record in Minor League Baseball had a lead in the...oh...

Fort Wayne scored again in the top of the 11th when Figueroa flipped a single to center. When the ball was misplayed by the center fielder, pinch-runner Jason Codiroli scored from second to put the TinCaps ahead, 10-9.

Great Lakes finished it in the bottom of the 11th. With runners at the corners and one out, Alfredo Silverio hit a game-tying sacrifice fly. Sands followed with a drive down the left-field line to plate pinch-runner Parker Dalton and deliver the game-winning run.

Looooooons version was not available yet. That's understandable.

Starters for Game Two? Not available either.

Newspaper articles with quotes and everything in the morning.

Two are over; Two continue

The Western Division Finals are set.

Burlington 4 @Kane County 0

Tim Melville...Pretty Good

Tim Melville got the start for the Bees and also picked up the win. Melville pitched six shutout innings allowing just two hits with three strikeouts and four walks. Cole White pitched two shutout innings allowing one hit with one strikeout and no walks to pick up a hold. Blaine Hardy pitched a no-ht ninth inning with one strikeout and one walk.

@Cedar Rapids 9, Peoria 8

The Chiefs had an 8-3 lead after scoring three in the top of the seventh. Then,

Cedar Rapids Bottom 7th

* Tyson Auer grounds out, shortstop DJ LeMahieu to first baseman Rebel Ridling.
* Alexia Amarista flies out to left fielder Nelson Perez.
* Roberto Lopez singles on a ground ball to left fielder Nelson Perez.
* Gabriel Jacobo singles on a ground ball to left fielder Nelson Perez. Roberto Lopez to 2nd.
* Beau Brooks singles on a line drive to pitcher Aaron Shafer. Roberto Lopez scores. Gabriel Jacobo scores. Beau Brooks to 3rd. Throwing error by pitcher Aaron Shafer. Throwing error by right fielder Kyler Burke.
* Angel Castillo hit by pitch.
* Pitcher Change: Manolin De Leon replaces Aaron Shafer.
* Darwin Perez singles on a line drive to right fielder Kyler Burke. Beau Brooks scores. Angel Castillo to 2nd.
* With Jon Townsend batting, Angel Castillo steals (1) 3rd base. Darwin Perez steals (1) 2nd base.
* With Jon Townsend batting, wild pitch by Manolin De Leon, Angel Castillo scores. Darwin Perez to 3rd.
* Jon Townsend pops out to first baseman Rebel Ridling.

Yes. There were two outs and none on when the Chiefs let the Kernels back into the game. And no, it's not over. Here's the game winning "rally" in the bottom of the ninth.

Cedar Rapids Bottom 9th

* Pitcher Change: Chris Huseby replaces Manolin De Leon.
* Roberto Lopez walks.
* Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Mike Trout replaces Roberto Lopez.
* Gabriel Jacobo walks. Mike Trout to 2nd.
* Coaching visit to mound.
* Beau Brooks bunt pops out to third baseman David Macias in foul territory.
* Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Dwayne Bailey replaces Gabriel Jacobo.
* Angel Castillo strikes out swinging.
* With Darwin Perez batting, wild pitch by Chris Huseby, Mike Trout to 3rd. Dwayne Bailey to 2nd.
* Darwin Perez walks.
* Jon Townsend walks. Mike Trout scores. Dwayne Bailey to 3rd. Darwin Perez to 2nd.
* Matthew Crawford hit by pitch. Dwayne Bailey scores. Darwin Perez to 3rd. Jon Townsend to 2nd.

Does anyone need to be reminded that the Chiefs are the Midwest League affiliate of the Chicago Cubs?

Kernels @ Bees on Saturday night for Game one of the Western Division Championship Series. By the way, the Bees have won eight straight playoff games.

In the East one home team won to push the series to Game Three
@West Michigan 7, Great Lakes 0

The West Michigan Whitecaps sent 11 men to the plate and scored 6 runs in the 2nd inning Thursday night on their way to a 7-0 shutout over the Great Lakes Loons. The best of three Midwest League Opening Round Playoff Series is now tied at 1 game each.

Starters for Game Three please?

The Whitecaps will send Luke Putkonen to the mound in the third and the deciding game of the series Friday night. He’ll be opposed by Loons righthander Ethan Martin.

Thank you.

I'm not surprised that this last series is going to a third game, I am surprised that it was so....lopsided at one point.

South Bend 12 @Fort Wayne 7

12-7 doesn't sound so bad? Well, if the team scoring seven was the team with the best record in all of minor league baseball and the team scoring seven committed five errors? What say you now?

Trailing 1-0, South Bend exploded for a season high nine runs in the top of third inning, chasing Fort Wayne starter Erik Davis (LP, 0-1) from the game early. After Jake Elmore walked to start the inning, A.J. Pollock lined a homer over the left field wall for the 2-1 South Bend lead.

From there, the flood gates opened. Four hits, two walks, and two errors later, the Silver Hawks had scored nine times in the inning to take a 9-1 lead. Justin Parker and Elmore each had RBI singles, and Reynaldo Navarro added a three run double to help account for the Hawks biggest inning of the season.

What say you now?

Game three starters, please?

The deciding game three is Friday night at Fort Wayne's Parkview Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM Eastern Time. RHP Ryan Cook (11-11, 3.66 ERA in the regular season) will start for South Bend, and will be opposed by Fort Wayne's RHP Chris Fetter (2-1, 2.22 ERA).

Well, that will be interesting.

Back in the morning with links to any newspaper articles with quotes.

Midwest League Action: Games of September 9, 2009 (UPDATED)

Complete scoreboard

Fort Wayne 3 @ South Bend 1:

Fort Wayne starting pitcher Simon Castro worked 6-2/3 innings of no-hit baseball, but was taken out after issuing a pair of two-out walks in the seventh.

"If (Castro) doesn't walk those guys and gets three quick outs, he has maybe 80 pitches at the end of the seventh," Dascenzo said, "heck, man, I'm going to let him go for it.

"But it got to the point where he lost some command, he was getting tired, and we had (Nick) Schumacher ready. That was one of the hardest times I've ever had to take a pitcher out."

@Great Lakes 7, West Michigan 2 (New Links):

Great Lakes Loons' manager Juan Bustabad's pick for starting pitcher Wednesday was definitely the right choice.

Bustabad put the ball in Aaron Miller's hand, and the lefthander responded with six shutout innings as the Loons beat West Michigan 7-2 at Dow Diamond in the Loons' first-ever Midwest League playoff game.

And this one from our friends in Midland

Kyle Russell led off the bottom of the second inning for the Loons with a screaming triple to deep left-centerfield, and, two outs later, Joe Becker singled him home to give for a 1-0 lead.

Russell admitted that the start of the game was a little nerve-wracking. "I would be lying if I said I didn't have any jitters coming up for that first at-bat," he said with a smile. "We tried to (offset) those jitters as much as possible by going out there and having fun and having a good time before the game. And I think that showed in the game. We played really good baseball today."

Bonus excerpt:

"If we get that next win (Thursday), we'll get a day off, and that's something we really want to get," Russell added. "But it's going to be a rough matchup over there, because we know the environment over there at West Michigan.

"It's a beautiful stadium, and we saw the environment there when Detroit Tigers' pitcher Jeremy) Bonderman pitched in front of 10,000 fans," he added of Fifth Third Ballpark. "We're expecting the same kind of turnout (Thursday)."

Cedar Rapids 6 @Peoria 4 (Final 10):

The normally loose Chiefs’ squad was uncharacteristically tight, turning routine plays into disaster.

How disastrous? A wild pitch on an intentional walk scored the game-winning run. A routine double play turned into an unearned run. And, a runner was able to go first-to-third on a passed ball.

“They didn’t beat us tonight. We beat ourselves with unforced errors,” Chiefs manager Marty Pevey said. “You do that you’ll lose. It doesn’t matter who you play, or at what level. We played a little tight tonight and it ended up costing us.”

@Burlington 12, Kane County 7:

The Bees had the better name, and the best arm, in Wednesday's 12-7 win over the Cougars in Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs.

The guy's name is Ivor Hodgson, and he was darn good on this night.

Hodgson gave up three hits and walked one in six innings. And when his night was over, the Cougars' night was over, although the Bees' bullpen and the ever-shrinking strike zone of plate umpire Tyler Wilson made the game interesting.

2009 Midwest League Playoff Previews

South Bend:

Tunnel vision can be a baseball player’s best friend. And when the South Bend Silver Hawks look over their season numbers against tonight’s first-round playoff opponent, Fort Wayne, they may want to wear blinders.
...
The Tincaps, a San Diego affiliate, whacked the Silver Hawks in 15 of their first 16 meetings. Fort Wayne hit .304 as a team against South Bend (with 18 homers), and South Bend hit .214 against Fort Wayne (with three homers).

It goes downhill from there for the Hawks.

Fort Wayne’s league leaders include Simon Castro (strikeouts, 157), Erik Davis (wins, 16) and Brad Brach (saves, 33). South Bend’s league leader is Brett Moorhouse (tied for most losses, 14).

Fort Wayne took the season series 16-4, winning 15 of the first 16 meetings. But in the last four meetings, South Bend won three.

Fort Wayne:

Fort Wayne finished with a franchise-record 94 wins. The team had the best record in all of minor league baseball and the best regular-season mark in the Midwest League in 22 years.

[Daniel] Robertson played a major role in the success.

“His teammates love him. Plus, he’s a pretty good ballplayer,” Dascenzo said. “He can swing the bat. He can play defense. He can steal a base. He can do just about anything to help the team win. He’s a very important part of the team.”

Robertson had a .296 average in the regular season with five home runs, 65 RBI and 20 stolen bases. Robertson finished second on the team in hits (128) and tied for second in runs scored (78).

And he’s been productive all throughout the lineup. Robertson has hit everywhere but fourth for Fort Wayne.

See also these two links for the TinCaps

West Michigan:

The West Michigan Whitecaps head to the Midwest League playoffs on a downturn, scoring just two runs in their season-ending series against Fort Wayne.

But Gary Bond says the Whitecaps have a chance against Great Lakes in the first round, which opens Wednesday night in Midland. Game 2 is Thursday at West Michigan.

Great Lakes:

Wednesday's 7:05 p.m. series opener will feature two lefthanded starters: the Loons' Aaron Miller (3-1, 2.08 ERA) and the Whitecaps' Casey Crosby (10-4, 2.41), who is the Detroit Tigers' No. 3 prospect in the minor leagues.

Kane County:

Dusty Napoleon unveiled his vaunted eephus pitch on the Midwest League during the ninth inning of the Cougars’ Aug. 27 home loss to Beloit. The Snappers led, 9-1, at the time, the kind of score that necessitates a designated take at the mound.

Getting two quick strikes against Beloit first baseman Nathan Hanson, Napoleon looked to Cougars manager Steve Scarsone for approval before lofting the ball high in the air. Hanson watched it arc down right over home plate, and Kane County had an unlikely rallying point for the postseason.

“It took a loss,” Napoleon said, “and allowed us to kind of start having fun with it. The next day, people weren’t dwelling on it as much as they might be. We just started to get focused in on the playoffs and on playing better.”

Bonus excerpt

The Cougars planned to leave Elfstrom Stadium for their 31⁄2-hour trip to Burlington, Iowa, at 10 a.m. today. Scarsone cited temptation as the reason the club did not stay overnight Tuesday. The Cougars would have stayed in an entertainment and casino resort.

“Fun City,” Napoleon said. “Yeah. It’s a good time there. A casino and a waterpark, good restaurants, but we won’t stay there. It’s better that way.”

Left-handed reliever A.J. Huttenlocker expressed concern that players would have to wake up earlier than usual, but still noted they could sleep on the bus. (Editor's note: Earlier than 9:30 for a 10am bus? What a tough life.)

Burlington: N/A

Cedar Rapids:

It’s the Cedar Rapids Kernels and Peoria Chiefs in the first round of the Midwest League playoffs. Game 1 of the best-of-3 series is Wednesday night in Peoria (6:30 first pitch), with Games 2 and 3, if needed, in Cedar Rapids on Thursday and Friday nights (6:35 first pitches).

Here are a few numbers and other tidbits about the series:

- Peoria won the regular-season series, 8-3. That included sweeping a four-game home series in late April, the only time the teams played in Illinois.

- Peoria beat Cedar Rapids three of four games at Memorial Stadium two weeks ago. That included winning games by scores of 16-5 and 11-1.

- Kernels Game 1 starter Will Smith gave up 12 hits and 10 runs (7 earned) in three innings Aug. 30, his only start this season against the Chiefs. Peoria Game 1 starter Austin Bibens-Dirkx allowed five hits and a run over 6 2/3 innings a day earlier, his only start against Cedar Rapids.

- Bibens-Dirkx was signed as a free agent by the parent Chicago Cubs after being released from the Seattle Mariners organization. He pitched for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in 2006.

Peoria:

Winning, while definitely nice, isn’t the primary goal in the lower levels of minor league baseball, where player development rules the day-to-day process more than victories and losses. But once September hits, teams hang on every win and loss.

So it is now for the Peoria Chiefs.

The Chiefs begin the best-of-3 opening round of the Midwest League playoffs in what they are hoping will be a week-and-a-half sprint to a potential Midwest League title.

“We’re trying to do what (high-Class A) Daytona did last year and bring a ring to the (Chicago Cubs) organization,” Chiefs catcher Michael Brenly said. “That was fun to see those guys’ rings in spring training, so that’s what we’re trying to do here.”

Rattler Radio Picks:

Fort Wayne over South Bend in two
West Michigan over Great Lakes in three
Burlington over Kane County in three
Peoria over Cedar Rapids in three