BARB WORLD SERIES RECAPS

GAME 4: FRIARS BATTER LINCECUM

The St. Francis Friars, down 2-1 and playing in Frostbite Falls for two more games, took advantage of struggling Tim Lincecum to tie the series back up and guarantee at least one game back in St. Francis.

Lincecum stranded runners in scoring position in the first two innings but was dinged in the third on a Chris Davis RBI single. The crooked number came in the fourth, when Lincecum walked Ryan Sweeney on four pitches with two out and the bases empty to start a three-hit (all singles), two-walk, two hit-by-pitch, four-run outbreak. Alex Cobb relieved Lincecum during the inning and finally recorded the last out with the bases loaded.

The lead extended to seven in the fifth when Cobb allowed a single, Todd Frazier triple and groundout for two runs.

After threatening multiple times early on, Frostbite Falls finally got on the board with a Mark Ellis leadoff homer in the bottom of the fifth. Back-to-back doubles plated another run in the sixth to end Travis Wood’s day.

Craig Breslow was brought on to start the seventh and gave up a first-pitch solo shot to Kendrys Morales. After seeing Breslow struggle earlier in the playoffs, St. Francis management took him out quickly in favor of Rafael Soriano. The righty couldn’t get an out and was charged with two runs, prompting an earlier-than-usual entry of Fernando Rodney. The crooked hat must have confused the Squirrels, as Rodney—faced with no one out, runners on second and third and a diminishing lead, got a strikeout, fly out and ground out to end the threat.

GAME 4 FINAL: ST. FRANCIS 7, FROSTBITE FALLS 5

GAME 5: EVENLY MATCHED

With the series tied at two games each, the teams sent out pitchers who had been their playoff aces: R.A. Dickey and Cole Hamels.

Frostbite got to Dickey right away as Bryce Harper hit a sacrifice fly to score Mike Trout. Carlos Beltran knotted it up, leading off the second with a shot off of Hamels. And back and forth it went.

The Friars went ahead in the third, as “Salvy” Perez’s one-out grounder scored Sweeney. Another Friar crossed the plate in the fifth as Pedro Alvarez’s bomb just stayed fair for a two-run lead.

The Flying Squirrels brought the seesaw battle even in their half of the fifth, as Austin Jackson lined a two-out, bases loaded single to left to bring in two. The score stayed 3-3 into the bottom of the eighth. Harper beat out an infield single and, one out later, Jose Reyes lit into a belt-high Scott Downs fastball and sent it over the left-center field wall.

GAME 5 FINAL: FROSTBITE FALLS 5, ST. FRANCIS 3

GAME 6: JACKSON SLAMS SQUIRRELS TO TITLE

Back home for the final one or two (if necessary), the St. Francis Friars had no margin for error. if they felt pressure, however, it didn’t show in the second inning. Matt Garza allowed three singles, a walk, a double, a walk, and a sacrifice fly (in that order). By the time he struck out Davis for the third out, four Friars had crossed the plate. The fans were in a frenzy, assuming their beloved team was cruising to a rubber match to decide the 2013 World Series.

Frostbite came right back and cut the lead in half in the top of the third, and then all bats went quiet until the seventh.

Bronson Arroyo had been wildly effective in his five inning stint, shutting down the Squirrel offense in all but that third inning. Shelby Miller threw a scoreless sixth. But for the final three frames, St. Francis management got antsy and had a quick hook for everyone.

Derek Holland trotted out to replace Miller in the top of the seventh. His outing, quite simply, was a disaster. Holland faced five batters: walk, intentional walk, single, walk, double. By time Clay Buchholz was warm, Frostbite Falls had put up three runs to take the lead and was threatening for more. Buchholz wasn’t any help, allowing a single to center to score another. Mariano Rivera, making what was increasingly looking like his last BARB appearance, stemmed the bleeding by inducing a double play, but another run scored on the play (no one was out when “Mo” came on). Holland’s final totals for the game: five batters faced, five runs given up.

The Squirrels didn’t sit on their newfound three-run advantage long. Rivera came back out but gave up three singles in a row to load the bases. The Friars gambled on Breslow, who actually recorded the strikeout in the high-leverage situation. The right-handed batting Jackson was next, though, so righty Rodney was brought on. The first pitch was a hanger, letter-high. Jackson ripped into it and it soared deep into the night. As the ball flew out, the Friar fan base went silent. Some cried, some held their heads in their hands and many just stared blankly. Austin Jackson’s second grand slam of the series had given the Squirrels a six-run lead with just six offensive outs remaining for St. Francis.

The final nail in the coffin was actually hammered down in the top of the ninth on a single by Mark Ellis, but when Brayan Villareal struck out Shin-Soo Choo the result was official:

GAME 6 FINAL: FROSTBITE FALLS 12, ST. FRANCIS 5

The Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels, after missing the playoffs in 2012, had come back to win the 2013 BARB World Series. In the owner’s box at The Monastery, Scott Hatfield could just shake his head in disappointment. For the fourth time (2003, 2007-08 and now 2013) his charges had made the World Series only to fall short. St. Francis fans were quickly starting to echo the cries of the supporters of the old Brooklyn Dodgers: “Wait ‘til next year!”

WORLD SERIES MVP: AUSTIN JACKSON

Jackson, the Frostbite centerfielder, had made mincemeat of the St. Francis pitching staff. He hit .458 (11/24), hit two doubles and two grand slams to drive in 10 runs, and scored five himself.