WORLD SERIES GAME SIX: NAILBITER

October 15: The Yuma Firebirds were one win away from their third World Series title, but to clinch they’d have to win in enemy territory. Could they pull it off? Or would Casselton push the series to a winner-take-all seventh game? Read on to find out…

Two hard-luck losers took the mound: Tim Hudson, who was outdueled by David Price in Game One, and Chris Sale, whose offense saved him an official loss before the bullpen gave it up.

Hudson encountered early trouble, allowing two runners with two out in the first before inducing a grounder for a fielder’s choice. Yuma also had a two-out single in the second, but they got things going right away in the third. Ben Zobrist and Anthony Rendon drew walks before Hudson got Andrew McCutchen to ground into a double play. Casey McGehee stepped up and hit a chopper right back to Hudson, who saw it bounce off his glove. McGehee was safe and Zobrist crossed the plate for the first run of the game.

The Firebirds were back at it in the fourth, with Ryan Braun hitting a leadoff single and advancing on a passed ball and groundout. Buster Posey flew to left for out number two, but it wasn’t deep enough to score Braun. That left it up to Andrelton Simmons, and he came through. The shortstop hit a liner over his counterpart and into the gap. Braun trotted home, but Carlos Gomez’s throw was on the money to erase Simmons trying for two.

For Landon Bolt and the Casselton faithful, coming from behind was nothing new. They had, in fact, pulled off one of the biggest comeback jobs in the regular season by surpassing the St. Francis Kansans after being down nearly 10 games halfway into the season. But now, with no room for error, some fans were getting antsy. The Horned Toads trailed, 2-0, facing Yuma ace Chris Sale and only six more frames guaranteed.

Those fidgeting fanatics nearly let go an enormous roar in the bottom half of the fourth. Adrian Beltre pulled a double down the line to lead off before Sale wild pitched him to third. Justin Upton’s struggles continued with an unproductive five-foot dribbler in front of the plate, but Adrian Gonzalez walked to bring up big Edwin Encarnacion. The slugger just missed a fastball, fouling it straight back, then took a mighty hack at the second pitch…which took a dive just before reaching his bat. The result? A harmless grounder, a 6-4-3 twin killing that sucked the life out of the home squad and stadium.

Sale was on cruise control from that point on. The Yuma offense threatened a few times against Hudson and two relievers, but as the game entered the bottom of the ninth it was still a two-run Firebird advantage. Just three outs stood between Chris Melkonian and a third ring, and Sale was sent back out to finish with exactly 100 pitches under his belt.

A clamor started in the crowd. The heart of the Casselton lineup was due up. Two runs were all they needed, and the two hottest hitters of the series on either side, Gomez and Beltre, would step to the plate first.

Gomez saw two balls and fouled one off, then hit a sharp grounder up the middle. Gomez had a chance to beat it out with his speed, but possibly the only shortstop in the game with a cannon powerful enough to gun him down happened to be playing the field. Simmons went to his left, spun fired…IN TIME!  ONE AWAY!

Beltre, up next, swung at a 1-1 offering and dribbled it beside the mound, just out of Sale’s reach. Simmons was charging and let loose another laser, but NOT in time! Beltre was safe by a half-step, which meant the tying run would step to the plate.

But…Upton? Justin Upton? He of the 3-for-19 World Series so far, whom many experts considered the reason the series had gone this long (with just a few clutch hits in other games, Casselton may well have swept the series)? Who had K’d (by far) the most of any player (11) in this Fall Classic? Horned Toads fans groaned in anticipated frustration and searched the lineup for the next hitter, assuming Upton didn’t ground into a double play and end it right then and there.

The Casselton left fielder, feeling the immense pressure, took a ball and called strike, at which some jeered for not swinging. But then Sale made a mistake. A slider that didn’t break enough. It hung in Upton’s wheelhouse. He swung and connected. As the ball soared through the Casselton night, many long-suffering fans rose in excitement. In center, McCutchen went back on the ball. He reach the TRACK. He leaped at the FENCE…

GONE!

In an astounding turn of events, the slugger had tied the game with one swing! The house was roaring and his teammates surrounded him in the dugout! Just two outs away from a long offseason, one swing from the much-maligned player had given new life!

After the blast, Sale was pulled for Mark Melancon. The reliever got two quick outs and the game went to extra innings, with momentum seemingly on the side of the Horned Toads.

Both sides went in order in the 10^th, and Addison Reed walked back to the mound to start the top of the 11^th. Coming off three nearly perfect innings to help extend the game to this point, the righty immediately showed signs of exhaustion as Ryan Zimmerman lined a single and Chase Utley walked.

The call to the bullpen was made, and a lefty appeared. One whose name does not sit well with St. Francis fans or management, after his repeated failures in the 2013 playoffs: Craig Breslow.

Breslow was greeted with a two-on, none-out situation. Mookie Betts was first up, and the rookie reached a full count before striking out. Posey was next, and the star catcher was tired of the back-and-forth. Breslow, figuring the backstop’s legs had nothing left, offered a first-pitch challenge fastball…but Buster didn’t miss. In just a few seconds the ball was five rows back in left-center field. The crowd again went silent as Posey circled the bases and completed his three-RBI, 360-foot journey. Two more runners reached base after Posey, but Breslow escaped more damage with a double play.

Would Casselton have enough to come back yet again? After a season of ups and downs, it all came down to the bottom of the 11^th and the same part of the order as their previous rally.

Melancon, having retired five in a row after entering in the ninth, finally allowed a runner as Jean Segura lined one to right (incidentally, it was just his second hit in 22 at-bats in the series, for an even worse average than Upton). Gomez saw a pitch he liked and crushed it to center. McCutchen started back like before, reached the track and stopped, held up his glove and snagged the first out. Beltre, looking for his fourth hit on the day, hit a high chopper to third base that Zimmerman fielded cleanly and threw over for the out at first, Segura advancing. Two down, and the ninth-inning hero, Upton, was up. Two called strikes. One ball. Two fouls…and a fastball on the inside corner that froze him for strikeout number 12.

FINAL: YUMA 5, CASSELTON 2

The Firebirds were back on top of the BARB heap with the 4-2 series victory. As his team surrounded Melancon, owner Melkonian let it all spill out.

“Go Firebirds! Best managing job I ever had, considering all the injuries and underperforming players. Landon, great job. I respect the hell out of him. It could have gone either way.”

WORLD SERIES MVP: DAVID PRICE

Yes, the ace lefty earned the nod. Simmons and Posey had good numbers and clutch hits, but Price was 2-0, 0.60 with 17 strikeouts in 15 innings. He gave up 14 hits and didn’t walk a soul in two games, including a Game Five shutout (the first since Ricky Romero in 2012).

As for the Horned Toads, no one could discount their hard work in turning around a potentially-disastrous season and helping provide one of the most compelling, competitive World Series in BARB history. Many observers noted that Landon Bolt’s team had been lingering around playoff contention for years, and now that they tasted the pinnacle they were unlikely to disappear any time soon.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2014 BARB WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS, THE YUMA FIREBIRDS

WORLD SERIES GAME FIVE: PRICE BRINGS YUMA WITHIN ONE

Price was right in the Yuma night

October 13: With his second dominant start of the 2014 BARB World Series, David Price put his team on the brink of their third World Championship.

Flashback to October 8, the opening game of this series. David Price takes the mound in Casselton and pitches six strong innings for the win, giving up seven hits and one run while whiffing nine Horned Toads batters. Five days later, he was again handed the ball, this time in his home ballpark. This time, he wouldn’t need help from his occasionally suspect bullpen. Price cruised through a complete-game shutout and received an early explosion from his offense to put the Yuma Firebirds ahead in the best-of-seven World Series, three games to two.

Opposite Price and making his first start in the series was Tanner Roark. The rookie’s last appearance was a six-inning, one-run start in the clinching game of the division series. Roark trotted to the mound in the bottom of the first hoping to continue his great season, but early returns were disastrous. With one away, Anthony Rendon singled to left. Andrew McCutchen followed with an opposite-field double that put Rendon in position to score on Casey McGehee’s groundout. Ryan Zimmerman kept the inning going, beating out an infield single, and Ryan Braun followed with the emphatic exclamation point of a blast to left for a 4-0 lead.

Roark completed a 1-2-3 second inning, but McCutchen’s second double to right field sent the youngster to the showers in the third. Nick Vincent came on and, with the exception of a McGehee RBI single (closing the book on Roark’s two-plus inning, six-hit, five-run shellacking), shut the door for the rest of the third and the fourth inning.

Price, meanwhile, was shutting down the Horned Toads offense. He allowed one runner each in the third-through-fifth innings before encountering his first trouble in the sixth (after the Firebird offense plated another in the bottom of the fifth). Scooter Gennett led off the Casselton sixth with a single, but he was erased on a Jean Segura double play. Had the twin killing not occurred, the inning may have put the visitors back in the game. Carlos Gomez and Adrian Beltre followed with singles to right, but the frame ended when Justin Upton struck out.

The rest of the game flew by, Price retiring the side in order in the seventh and eighth. Rendon helped the Yuma cause with a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, so Price had a seven-run cushion to work with when he stepped to the slab in the ninth. Hot-hitting Gomez greeted the lefty with a double, but Beltre, Will Venable and Adrian Gonzalez went down in order.

Price had completed his shutout on 123 pitches, allowing seven hits and striking out eight without walking a batter. Contributors abounded up and down the Yuma lineup, with four players stroking multiple hits. All of that added up to the first blowout of the hotly-contested series, and it gave Chris Melkonian hope his squad would carry the momentum over and clinch the series in Casselton in Game Six.

FINAL: YUMA 7, CASSELTON 0

WORLD SERIES GAME FOUR: SIMMONS CLUTCH AS FIREBIRDS WALK OFF

Under threatening skies for Yuma, Simmons came through

October 12: Another one-run game and Yuma comeback. This time, the Casselton bullpen blew the lead and game.

The Casselton Horned Toads were just six outs away from a 3-1 lead in their first BARB World Series appearance.

A promising top of the eighth inning had netted just one run, but Adrian Beltre’s sacrifice fly was enough to hand a 2-1 lead to hard-throwing Kelvin Herrera, on for his second full inning of work.

Fortunately for a home crowd without much to celebrate through nearly two home games so far, Andrelton Simmons had other ideas. The light-hitting shortstop stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom of the eighth and took a called strike and a ball before Herrera hung a curve. Simmons put all of his listed 195 pounds behind the swing, made contact and stopped and stared, as did the crowd. The ball was arcing down toward the foul pole in left. Simmons waved his arms, ala Carlton Fisk, and craned his neck…

HOME RUN!

The solo blast just inside the foul pole at Safeco Field squared the fourth game of the 2014 World Series at 2-2.

An inning later, Simmons strode up with confidence. A man on and a man out, he swung at the first pitch he saw and grounded toward short. As Alex Gonzalez reached down to play it, the ball hit a rock and took a wicked hop to the side and through. Ryan Braun scampered to third and Simmons was safe at first. That was all Danny Valencia needed to end the game, as his fly ball down the left field line was too deep for Khris Davis to have a prayer of throwing out Braun. Series tied.

Both teams had multiple chances to keep the game from going down to the wire. The first two Yuma batters of the game reached base, but their 3-4-5 hitters went down harmlessly afterward.

Casselton came back in the top of the second and opened the scoring. Justin Upton, who was struggling at the plate (.231 in the series through four games) was hit by a pitch before advancing on a groundout and scoring on a Jay Bruce double.

Ryan Zimmerman provided the muscle to tie the game in the fourth, as he pulled a full-count, challenge fastball from Dillon Gee into the left-field bleachers. The Firebirds had a chance for more later the same inning as Buster Posey and Ben Zobrist sandwiched walks around a Simmons single. However, Gee rung up Anthony Rendon with two down to end the inning.

Yuma threatened in both the fifth and the sixth, both times putting multiple runners on base with less than two out. Gee buckled down and handled a Posey grounder flawlessly for the third out of the fifth, and Herrera successfully recorded the last two outs of the sixth with the bases loaded and the middle of the order approaching.

Casselton’s chance in the eighth was their first threat since scoring in the second. Edwin Encarnacion drew a leadoff walk against Jeff Samardzija, who was pulled for David Carpenter after Scooter Gennett followed with a single. The most questionable coaching decision of the series came on the next play, a single by Carlos Gomez. The Horned Toads’ third-base coach saw the ball trickle up the middle and, despite Encarnacion’s plodding, Andrew McCutchen’s strong arm and no outs in the frame, sent the runner. The throw was on the money in plenty of time for the first out. Beltre followed with his RBI, but Upton’s struggles continued as he struck out with an insurance run on third.

FINAL: YUMA 3, CASSELTON 2

WORLD SERIES GAME THREE: CASSELTON TAKES THE LEAD

Stroman helped his team and helped himself, but it wasn't enough

October 11: Many observers expected the host Firebirds to explode when the series shifted to Yuma, but the visiting pitching staff held off the charge at least one more day.

Coming off an eight-inning, two-run outing against Frosbite Falls in the Division Series, Bartolo Colon (derogatorily referred to as “Fatolo” by a previous BARB employer) was sent to the hill in hostile territory with the mission of giving the Casselton Horned Toads a one-game lead in the World Series. Though he didn’t stay around long enough for a decision, the aging and expanding right-hander helped keep the Yuma Firebirds offense down long enough for his team to earn their victory.

Colon had the backing of the first run of the game in the second inning. Adrian Gonzalez led off with a harmless grounder to second, but Anthony Rendon threw the ball away and Gonzalez hustled to second base before moving up and scoring on successive groundouts.

Yuma rookie Marcus Stroman was on top of his game as well, matching Colon most innings in his seven-inning stint. Stroman even helped himself in the fifth with an RBI fielder’s choice just a few batters after Colon threw away a potential groundout.

Both teams plated runs in the seventh, with Casselton’s coming on back-to-back doubles by Edwin Encarnacion and Jay Bruce and Yuma tying the game again on a Buster Posey solo blast.

The game went to the 10^th inning still tied at 2, though the Firebirds had an excellent chance to break it open in the eighth. Andrew McCutchen led off the inning with a walk and Casey McGehee singled, but Craig Stammen settled down the struck out Ryan Zimmerman before inducing a double-play grounder off the bat of Ryan Braun.

Mark Melancon had entered in place of Stroman and pitched two hitless innings, and he struck out Khris Davis to lead off the 10^th. The next batter was Scooter Gennett, who was hitless on the day. The second baseman strode to the plate looking for a first-pitch fastball, and he launched the offering to left-center to bust the tie!

Veteran Yuma wouldn’t go down without a fight. They had come back in the ninth inning of Game Two, and here in Game Three, in front of the home fans, they staged another late rally. Mookie Betts greeted new pitched Tom Milone with a lead-off single, and he took second when the ball squirted past Bruce. McCutchen flew out, but Danny Valencia drew a pinch-walk. Zimmerman worked the count full and took a mighty cut, sending the ball DEEP to straight-away center. Carlos Gomez was chasing…feeling for the wall…and then stopping short to catch the blast! Betts moved up and put the potential tying run 90 feet away with Braun at the plate. The former MVP took two balls before fouling off two pitches. Finally, Milone jammed him and popped him up. Gonzalez took in the final out, and the Horned Toads had taken a 2-1 lead in the series!

FINAL: CASSELTON 3, YUMA 2

WORLD SERIES GAME TWO: INSTANT CLASSIC

October 9: Pitchers’ duel turns into offensive explosions as bullpens get involved.

It was destined to be another close, low-scoring game, just like the first contested in this 2014 BARB World Series. Instead, when Target Field fans left the ballpark they couldn’t stop talking about the sudden bullpen collapses on both sides.

Chris Sale and Chris Tillman matched each other nearly pitch-for-pitch through seven scoreless innings. Until the bottom of the seventh, a total of two runners reached second base. Both were Casselton Horned Toads. Both happened with two out. Neither scored. Yuma’s best chance came on Buster Posey’s long third-inning drive that Carlos Gomez snatched from the stands for a spectacular Web Gem.

The host Toads nearly pushed across some runs with the help of Ryan Braun’s stone mitt in the bottom of the seventh, but Wellington Castillo swung through a Sale changeup to strand runners on second and third.

Casselton finally gave their fans something to cheer about in the eighth. Neil Walker led off with a single, and two batters later he trotted home in front of Gomez, whose two-run blast to left all of a sudden had Craig Stammen preparing for a save situation. The righty had a little more room to work with when Justin Upton hit a solo shot to right to end Sale’s night.

Stammen had come on for Tillman after the latter came up stiff following a seventh-inning rain delay, and he quickly erased Ben Zobrist to lead off the top of the ninth. Denard Span drew a walk as a pinch-hitter and advanced to second on Andrew McCutchen’s groundout. Yuma brass was just about ready to pack it in and concede a series tie heading home when Chase Utley was sent in to bat for Casey McGehee. The veteran second baseman was one strike away from the end of the ballgame, but he stayed in and drilled a hanging curveball to the right-center field gap for three bases as Span raced around to score.

Buoyed by the clutch hit, the Firebirds following Utley put compact, efficient swings on the ball. Ryan Zimmerman dumped a single into center to pull Yuma within one and bring in lefty Tom Milone, who walked Braun on four pitches. He threw a first-pitch strike to Mookie Betts, but the rookie was expecting the fastball and split the outfielders! Zimmerman rounded third and scored. Braun, with the majority of the crowd gasping and clutching their heads in their hands, used his still-reliable speed to beat the relay and score all the way from first for a 4-3 Yuma lead!

The Firebirds, sticking with their bullpen-by-committee approach, sent Gerrit Cole back out for the last half of the ninth (after he finished the eighth for Sale). After two quick outs the home squad was almost resigned to having to play from behind in the opponent’s ballpark, but again a pinch-hitter got something started. Scooter Gennett was sent up for Jean Segura, and his dribbler by the mound was slow enough to allow him to reach. Milone, fearing Gomez’s hot bat, pitched around him and ended up giving the free pass.

That’s when Adrian Beltre stepped up for the fifth time that night. Milone got ahead in the count, 1-2. Beltre swung at the next pitch and drove it down the left-field line. Braun chased into the corner, glove outstretched…and couldn’t catch it! Gennett scored easily from second! Tie game! And Gomez was waved around! Braun to Andrelton Simmons…Simmons to Posey…

NOT IN TIME! GOMEZ SCORES THE WINNING RUN!

FINAL: CASSELTON 5, YUMA 4

An instant classic that had the home fans roaring! Already the series was shaping up as one of BARB’s best-ever!

WORLD SERIES GAME ONE: YUMA TAKES NAILBITER

October 8: The 2014 BARB World Series got off to a start expected with a matchup of the top two seeds as David Price outdueled Tim Hudson.

The two veterans faced off in Casselton, as the Horned Toads earned home field advantage at Target Field by sporting the best record in the league. Price was making his first World Series start since a forgettable four runs allowed in five innings in 2011 (though he had made starts in the playoffs every year since 2009). Hudson, despite his status as wily veteran, was making his first playoff appearance since getting shelled by Yuma in the 2004 Division Series.

The visiting Firebirds nearly struck at the start in this edition. In the top of the first, Ben Zobrist walked and Andrew McCutchen doubled to put two in scoring position. Casey McGehee and Ryan Zimmerman were retired by Hudson to end the threat.

Casselton’s best early chance came in the third, when Carlos Gomez and Adrian Beltre singled with one away. Justin Upton flailed at a two-strike pitch, however, and Adrian Gonzalez bounced harmlessly to first as Price put up another goose egg.

Yuma finally did open the scoring in the fourth. With two out and the bases empty, Ryan Braun and Mookie Betts strung together back-to-back singles before Buster Posey pulled a ball into the left field corner for a two-RBI double.

Hudson and Price settled in for another few innings after that. The home crowd got a chance to roar in the bottom of the sixth when Edwin Encarnacion sent a two-out, full-count pitch over the left field fence for a solo shot.

Yuma came right back in the top of the seventh with another two-out, bases-empty rally. Andrelton Simmons lined a base hit to right and scampered to second on a wild pitch to set up a Zobrist RBI single.

By the eighth both starters had left for the showers. Yuma set-up man Mark Melancon gave up a leadoff double to Gomez in the bottom half, and three batters later Gomez tagged and scored on a Gonzalez sacrifice fly. With runners on first and second and two away, Sean Doolittle preserved the Firebird lead by striking out Khris Davis.

The game was still 3-2 into the bottom of the ninth. Doolittle hung an 0-1 slider to Wellington Castillo, and though the catcher didn’t get all of it, he got enough to reach first base in front of the top of the lineup. The next three hitters went quietly, however, and Yuma had taken the first game of the best-of-seven.

FINAL: YUMA 3, CASSELTON 2

Price (6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 9 K) had pitched well enough to give his team an advantage in their quest for their first title since 2009. Hudson, meanwhile, gave up three runs over 6 2/3 innings and could only hope for another opportunity later in the series to give the Casselton fans a parade.