VISITORS STRIKE FIRST

October 8: Lower-seeded teams New England and Pottsylvania got their licks in at the homes of BARB powerhouses Brooklyn and Yuma, respectively as the 10^th BARB playoffs began.

The Yankee Stompers, in the franchise’s eighth season overall (six losing seasons as the Seattle Shocks and Black Mesa Anomalies and a campaign over .500 in 2011), were making their first playoff appearance as the wild card. The host Brooklyn Moabs, with nary a sub-.500 season in their 10-year history (and a BARB title in 2004, to boot), had won the East, traditionally BARB’s toughest division, by two games.

The Moabs struck first as their second hitter, free-agent pickup Mark Ellis, homered to left field. Cameron Maybin drove in Jimmy Rollins in the second inning, and Ricky Romero and New England appeared to be in a deep hole.

The reason the deficit looked tough was the opposing hurler. Big righty Matt Cain, coming off of a 19-7, 2.76 campaign, allowed just two hits in the first four innings—both to Carlos Beltran. Things changed in the fifth, though, when Miguel Montero (?!) beat out a dribbler down the first base line. The defense could only get one on J.J. Hardy’s chopper to the pitcher, and it came back to bite them as mid-season acquisition Andre Ethier dropped a two-out single to center to score Hardy and Michael Bourn, who had doubled, and tie the game.

New England nearly broke the tie in the seventh. Hardy led off with a double and took third on a Yonder Alonso ground-out, bringing Bourn to the plate. On the first pitch, the speedster squared to bunt as Hardy dashed for home! Craig Breslow came off the mound…scooped the ball toward the plate…John Buck received and applied the tag…IN TIME! Possibly a game-saving play for Brooklyn!

The game remained knotted at two into the top of the eighth. Miguel Cabrera lined a one-out single and Beltran walked against Huston Street. With two away, Dustin Pedroia stepped up and took a big cut at the first pitch he saw. The ball took off toward the gap in left-center and carried all the way over the fence! In the blink of an eye, the home fans were stunned and speechless as their team was down, 5-2!

The Moab offense tried to get the game back in the bottom of the inning. Andrew McCutchen and Ryan Howard singled, but Brian McCann and Jimmy Rollins K’d against John Axford. The bottom of the ninth was much easier on the nerves of Yankee Stomper fans, as Jonathan Papelbon struck out the side on just 12 pitches (11 of them strikes) for the save and a 1-0 series lead. The stakes were upped for Brooklyn if they hoped to return to the World Series

POTTSYLVANIA AT YUMA

The other first-round series was a matchup of squads with playoff experience. West champion Yuma was hosting Central titlist Pottsylvania. Yuma had been in the playoffs nearly every year and had two BARB championship trophies (second-most in the league), one coming in six games in 2009 against the Creepers. Pottsylvania was making its third playoff appearance, having been knocked out in the first round in 2006 in addition to their 2009 near-miss.

Youngsters Stephen Strasburg and Mat Latos took the hill, and the pitching duel many expected came to fruition. The Creepers got going immediately, as Erick Aybar hit the second pitch of the game for a triple. Two pitches later, Josh Reddick skied a sac fly for a 1-0 advantage.

Strasburg walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, but he struck out Buster Posey to end the threat.

Both teams traded minor rallies through the fifth, but neither could push across a run. Finally, Paul Konerko saw what he liked in a hitter’s count leading off the sixth. The blast just inside the foul pole pushed Pottsylvania’s lead to 2-0.

Other than the three walks in the first, the feared Firebird lineup hadn’t put a runner on base. Finally, after 5 2/3 hitless frames, Strasburg left one too close to Ryan Braun’s zone and the ball was stroked cleanly into left-center, but he couldn’t come around to score.

Yuma’s last chance was the bottom of the ninth, still down two runs. But the Creepers put in the Cuban Missile, Aroldis Chapman…who promptly walked Ben Zobrist on four pitches. Posey then reached on an Aybar error, and Will Clark started fidgeting in the Pottsylvania dugout. Chapman settled down, however, inducing a fly out from Ryan Zimmerman and overpowering Ryan Hanigan, before Yunel Escobar sent a weak grounder directly to second baseman Allen Craig, who threw over for the out and the victory.

After day one, both visiting teams had taken leads in the best-of-five series, but the higher-seeded and more storied squads would still have a lot to say about the makeup of the World Series.