Gnats - Bats Fall Silent in Division Series

[Sandgnats]

CRYSTAL LAKE HERALD

SPORTS – GNATS NOW
Gnats - Bats Fall Silent in Division Series
Updated: October 21, 2029 – 11:45 PM

By Howard Heskin, Gnats Beat Writer and ESPN PEBA Correspondent – Twitter @HowardHeskin1

Out with a whimper went the surprising strong finish to the 2029 season. The Gnats rebounded from last season's failure to make the 2028 playoffs as number 1 seed in the Sovereign League, only to fall to Neo-Tokyo in 6 games tonight.

Game one opened with a 3-0 victory. Jim MacCowan pitched 8.1, 4 hit innings while giving up no runs. Clarence Carpenter would hit a run-scoring double in the 3rd inning and Tony Parker drove in 2 runs with a solo home run in the 4th and a double in the bottom of the 6th. But as was the story for this series, the Gnats left 18 on base during game one - foreshadowing the short comings in the new few games.

Neo-Tokyo took game two in 10 innings, by wearing down Gnat pitching forcing the Gnats to use 6 pitchers. The honors in this game would go to Chuck Glass (Wild Card MVP) who scored 3 in the top of the 9th inning to tie the game at the expense of Closer Javier Jimenez. Atsumori Kichida finished off the Gnats in the top of the 10th with a solo home run.

The series returned to Japan for the next 3 games. In game 3, Dean McNeil pitched 8 innings striking out 5. Javier Jimenez temporarily redeemed himself earning the save. Tony Parker and Hai-liang Choe drove in 2 runs in the top of the 9th to break the tie and win the game. Giving the Gnats a 2-1 lead in the series.

The Gnats then lost two heart breaking games by one run in games 4 and 5. Again, Chuck Glass was the hero in the bottom of the 8th with a 2 run single off of Kyle Weaver. In game 5, Javier Jimenez would blow another save opportunity in the bottom of the 9th giving up a solo home run to Hector Rodriguez. The Gnats would then proceed to wear out their entire bullpen trying to keep pace with Neo-Tokyo as the game went 17 innings. Neo-Toyko pulled out the victory finally with a walk-off sacrifice fly.

Tonight in game 6, it appeared that the Gnats ran out of gas and again produced little offense. The Gnats only run would come from Gareth Bugler's RBI single in the 4th inning. Tony Parker was lit up by Neo-Tokyo in the game - giving up 7 earned runs on 7 hits. Guillermo Justavo placed the game out of reach with a 3 run home run in the 5th inning.

Hero(s) of the Series:
Hai-liang Choe - .357/.345/.607; 1 HR; 5 RBIs
Jim MacCowan - 14.1 IP; 7Ks; 2BB; 1.88 ERA

Disappointments:
Javier Jimenez - 4.1 IP; 2 Blown Saves; 1.62 WHIP; 1 HR; .278 AVG; .350 OBP; .850 OPS
Clarence Carpenter - .222/.276/.259; 0 HRs; 2SB; 0 2B; 0 3B