WORLD SERIES GAME 6

Scott Hatfield could almost taste it. 14 years after taking his Delta V’s to the inaugural BARB World Series, with three more title-round appearances under his belt but no ring to show for it, his St. Francis Kansans were just nine innings away from a clinching victory. But to do it, they’d have to go through the mighty Yuma Firebirds – on Yuma’s home turf.

In the top of the first, Jose Altuve doubled but ended up stranded on third. That would be as close as the Kansans would come to a lead all night.

Rich Hill, handed the ball with a chance to make up for his extra-inning blowup in Game 4, committed an error on a comebacker on the first pitch he threw. Rattled, he left a hanger to Joey Votto. There must have been a brisk breeze blowing in from left, as the ball stayed in the ballpark for the first out. Two singles and a groundout later, however, the hosts were on top, 2-0.

Things went from bad to worse in the third, when Hill faced four batters but could not record an out.

After a Votto walk, Mookie Betts hammered a 3-0 fastball on a frozen rope apparently into the left-field corner. Actually, it was hit so hard that it carried over the fence and just inside the foul pole! The two-run bomb doubled Yuma’s lead, and got the St. Francis bullpen up and warming in a hurry. It wasn’t quick enough, as Anthony Rendon doubled and the next pitch, Hill’s last, was a grounder kicked by Altuve.

In relief came Ervin Santana. He disposed of two hitters via strikeout to put the end of the frame in view, but then fell behind Ben Zobrist. “Zorilla”, given a rare playoff start as the left fielder, lofted a fly toward right field. It continued carrying, all the way over the fence. A stunning three-run blast, taking the wind completely out of the Kansans’ sails!

The 7-0 game after three innings changed the strategies of both sides. Yuma focused on piling on more runs and extending starting pitcher Chris Sale to save their bullpen for Game 7. St. Francis, on the other hand, recognized their lost cause and also hoped to use as few pitchers as possible.

The rest of the game flew by. The hosts scored three more times in the seventh and forced another pitching change, with Rendon adding a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. St. Francis avoided the shutout with a top-of-the-ninth blast from Wilson Ramos, but they couldn’t do enough to knock Sale from the game – the Firebirds ace tossed a complete game tossed a complete-game three-hitter, with no walks and nine strikeouts.

FINAL: YUMA 12, ST. FRANCIS 1

As the Kansans trudged down to the locker room, Chris Melkonian cautiously glad-handed the guests in his owner’s suite – while the big win was refreshing after five close games, a similar performance from the 2016 Fall Classic was running through his mind. In Game 4 of that year’s Series, the Firebirds blew out the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels, 10-0…only to run out of steam and fall in seven games.

And, indeed, this year’s World Series would feature a Game 7 – the third-consecutive in BARB annals to go the distance – with Stephen Strasburg looming for the visiting Kansans.