June 17, 2006

ML Playoff Game 6

Hagan’s Funeral Home    7

Moppert Brothers    4

Moppert and Hagan’s squared off for the fourth time this season.  This time there was a difference:  the losing team would bow out of the 2006 playoffs while the winner would move on.

Hagan’s opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, bringing eight batters to the plate and scoring four runs.  The inning was keyed by Hunter Tierney’s (3 for 3, HR, 2B) 2-run home run blast over the left-center field fence.  Moppert bounced back in the top of the third to knot the score at 4 all.  Moppert’s outburst was lead by Alex Donoghue’s triple and a single by Ian McLarney.  Zander Brown and Jack Donoghue also scored runs in the inning. 

Facing a similar scenario in their last meeting, Hagan’s was unable to recover.  Not so this time as Hagan’s stared adversity in the eye and rallied for 3 runs in the bottom of the third.  Beau DiFiore, John Owens (3 for 3, 2B), Tierney, Tyler Hansen, and Brian Gross (3 for 3) all hit safely in the inning. 

Pitching and solid defense dominated the next two innings as neither team was able to score.  Kevin Bosco pitched out of a 2-on, no-out jam in the fifth inning by fanning three consecutive batters.  Moppert appeared to be on the verge of a big inning in the sixth, putting two runners aboard with just one out, but a heads-up play by Julian Heller was followed by John Owens’ sixth strikeout in three strong innings of relief to preserve the victory for Hagan’s. 

David Splain and Bosco shared the pitching duties for Moppert.  Brian Gross started for Hagan’s before giving way to Owens.