Last of Mohicans? (Round 2)

[Alleghenies]

After winning the last series the Mohican’s next opponent was the Santo Domingo Tourists. The Tourists would have had 1 more win than the Mohicans this year, but the Mohicans had to play game 163 to win the division. The Tourists were 5-4 against the Mohicans this year and brought some hard challenges for the team. This series would be a series not to be forgotten by either team for a long time.

In Game 1 the Mohicans were throwing José Vazquez verse Carlos Macías and on paper it looked like the Mohicans should win this one. In the bottom of the 3rd, Vazquez gave up the game’s first run, and the Mohicans bats were missing. In the bottom of the 6th inning T. Samurankami hit a ball deep to give the Tourists a 2-0 lead. That would be Vázquez’s last inning going 6 and giving up 2 runs on 2 hits and just 1 walk. The Mohicans offense woke up in the 8th with 4 of the first five guys getting on base and one of them crossing the plate. Then reliever Ray Medrano came on and he got the final two outs without allowing another run and in the top of the 9th the Mohicans had nothing left. This was not a good start for a team with a mission. Tourists win 2-1
Game 2 had Alfredo Zambrano going against good pitching prospect Robby Parker. The Mohicans coach Joe Randall told the team before the game that this might be the most important game of the season, because going down 2-0 to the Tourists was going to be very hard to comeback from. Through four innings both pitchers were pretty much having their way with the batters and then in the bottom of the 5th the Tourists scored the games first run with an RBI single by Chon. Through 6 innings again, the Mohicans only had 2 hits and things weren’t looking good. Then in the top of the 7th Y. Kim hit a ball that just cleared the top of fence to tie the game. The Mohicans threw Lesher and Cabrera out on the mound over the next three innings and they went perfect. Meanwhile the Tourists got 3 nice innings from Steve Jackson and Medrano. Going into the 11th both Domingo Vázquez and Cesar León would pitch for the next 2 innings going scoreless. Vázquez started the 13th and allowed the leadoff batter to get on. With that Elvis Carter came in and gave up a base hit and the next batter struck out, that’s when it fell apart, a double by Nishikawa and then a single by Kim gave the Mohicans a 4-1 lead. Fred Sorley came in the bottom of the 13th inning and pitched a perfect inning to get the save.
Game 3 was Pemberton verse Somun a matchup that looked pretty good on paper. The Mohicans did not live up to expectations and got scalped by the Tourists. Pemberton gave up 2 runs in the 1st, 1 in the 2nd and 4 in the 3rd before Randall took him out. At that point it was 7-0. In the bottom of the 4th the Mohicans managed to get a run across, but that was the closest they would get. The final score was 9-2 with the Tourists having a complete day a team.
Game 4 would have Mohicans’ ace Avíla going against Shimada. The Mohicans started the game off well. In the bottom of the 1st they scored 3 runs quickly off Shimada and that gave the team and the fans some energy they have been lacking. In the top of the second it almost all went away as Avíla had trouble and gave up 1 run on a 2-out double that could have been 2 runs if the player had decided to attempt. Then thanks to an error by the catcher Chon in the bottom of the inning the Mohicans blew it open with 5 runs. The rest of the game wasn’t very exciting as it ended 10-3 Mohicans.
Game 5 was Vazquez vs Macías again and again one would think it was advantage Vázquez. In a pivotal game 5, this one would live up to the hype and then some. For as important as a game it was, it was a nail bitter. In the top of the 2nd Antonio Correa hit a 1 out double and one out later Tong Chang hit a single to score Correa for the first run of the game. Hamilton Coffey led off the bottom half of the inning with a 442-foot shot to tie it back up and that was all the scoring until the 12th inning. Between that time Macías 7 IP Jackson 1 IP, Medrano 3.0 IP pitched for the Tourists, while Vázquez 6, León 2, Cabrera 2, Lesher 1.0 went for the Mohicans. In the top of the 12 Lesher allowed Correra on 1st and then the next batter John Gosselin hit a rbi double giving the Tourists the lead. Lesher would then finish out the inning without giving up another run. Going into the bottom of the inning Medrano stayed in and gave up a leadoff double to Joe Kenny, then got Nishikawa to strike out and then gave up a single to Higgins for his last batter. Vázquez would then come in and continue to retire the next to guys, but unfortunately Kenny scored on Coffey ground out. Then the next scoring would not happen until the 18th inning. To get to that point the Mohican had Donald Lesher .1, Bill Rice 2.1, Fred Sorley 1.1 and Alberto Nieves 1.0 pitch while the Tourists had Vazquez 2.2, Carter 2.1. In the top of the 18th inning Nieves let up a base hit but was able to pitch around it. Going into the bottom half of the inning, Carter gave up a hit to CF Lamberts with 1 out. At that point Jon Dalton was called to pitch. With Dalton on the mound Lamberts decided to steal and that he did, second base and third base. Then on a 3-2 count Dave Pacheco hit a ball up the middle to win the game 3-2 in 18, Mohicans.
Game 6 with both teams still taking in game 5 was going to be Parker vs Zambrano again. Joe Randall was very sure that Zambrano would be vintage Zambrano and clinch it for them, but was he mistaken. Alfredo didn’t have it all game long and gave up 4 quick runs after 3 innings and just when his team scored 2 runs to catch up, he gave them right back in the bottom half of the 5th. That would remain the score the rest of the game until the 9th inning. Steve Jackson gave up a 2 out double to Kim, followed by a home run by Duane Higgins. That was when the Tourists put in Ray Medrano who would then give up 2 singles and a walk before getting Lightbody to fly out. 6-4 Tourists.
Game 7 we have Pemberton vs Somun in Santo Domingo. This game is a crapshoot as all game 7’s usually are, but the Mohicans are confident in prospect Pemberton. The Mohicans came out on fire and scored 2 quick runs in the first inning, but much to their disappointment Pemberton gave them right back in the bottom half. In the top half of the 3rd Juan Fuentes got a rbi double to give the Mohicans back the lead. Then in the top of the fifth Mr. Fuentes hit a home run to give the Mohicans a 4-2 lead. Then in the top of the 6th after scoring a run with 1 out the Tourists went to Elvis Carter to get them out of the inning. In the bottom half of the 6th Pemberton gave up a lead-off homer but got through the rest of the inning un-harmed. In the bottom of the 7th Cesar León came in and wasn’t too brilliant giving up a run and reducing the lead to 5-4. Going into the bottom of the 8th with 2 outs, León gave up a double to T. Chang leading to a pitching change and the introduction to Tomas Cabrera. Tomas proceeded to get the next guy out and pitched a perfect bottom of the 9th. Mohicans win 5-4, series 4-3.
This was a series that was competitive all the way through with 2 equal teams. One hit in a different spot or one less hit and this series goes to the Tourists. The Mohicans will hopefully take this moment to the championship and win the championship. They will be facing the Nigata Gigans a team they definitely won’t be taking lightly. Will this be the Last of the Mohicans?