B North Finals 10/13/24

[bbozek13]

The final championship of the season has arrived, and we have a great matchup in store. We have the defending champs, Wire 2 Wire taking on Purple Cobras in a best of three series to decide it all.

Game 1:

Purple Cobras would get first swings and set the tone for this high scoring affair as they hit a couple home runs by Dan Roman and Steve Gardner to take and early 3-0 lead. Wire 2 Wire was not phased at all and answered right back with a huge seven run inning with RBI singles by Jake Haber and Jeff Judge as well as a big three run homer by Beau Ziegler to give Wire 2 Wire a 7-3 lead after one. In the top of the 2nd, Dan Roman kept it going at the plate and hit a two-run RBI double to bring the Cobras back to within one run of Wire 2 Wire. Wire 2 Wire came back up in the bottom of the 2nd and responded with another big inning scoring five runs on an RBI single by Gene Walczak and an RBI double by Ziegler to extend the lead back to 12-6 after two. Purple Cobras would fight in the top of the 3rd as Gardner homered again to cut the deficit to 12-8. Purple Cobras could not find an answer on defense to stop Wire 2 Wire as they scored another four runs in the bottom of the 3rd on a three-run homer by Derek Acker and another hit by Ziegler this time an RBI single to push their lead to 16-8 after three. In the top of the 4th, Purple Cobras made up ground and scored six runs on RBI singles by Dan and Brandon Roman, Rob Walmsley and Matt Miendl to cut the lead to 16-14. Wire 2 Wire would add a run on an RBI double by Sean Butrica as we sat at 17-14 after four. In the top of the 5th, Purple Cobras kept the momentum going scoring three more runs on an RBI double by Mike Corrigan and an RBI single by Walmsley to tie the game up 17-17 after five. In the top of the 6th an error and RBI singles by Brandon Roman and Gardner would give the Purple Cobras a 20-17 lead. After holding Purple Cobras to no runs scored in the 7th, Wire 2 Wire gave themselves a chance to either tie the game or win the game in the bottom of the 7th. After getting a couple runners on Joe DiMezza would hit an RBI single for Wire 2 Wire to pull within 2 runs 20-18 with the tying runs on base. Purple Cobras defense would come up big as they were able to get the final out and get an early lead in the series. Purple Cobras never quit and stole Game 1 from Wire 2 Wire defeating them 20-18 and only one win away from winning a championship.

Game 2:

Onto game 2, Purple Cobras has a 1-0 advantage in the series and looks to put this championship away quickly. Wire 2 Wire would get the first cracks in this game and hit a couple sac flies to take a 2-0 lead. Purple Cobras took their momentum from game 1 and batted around scoring eleven runs in the inning with RBI singles by Dan Roman, Mike Corrigan, Rob Walmsey, CJ Brancato, and Dave Clayton as well as a homerun by Corrigan to take a commanding 11-2 lead after one. They would add three more runs in the bottom of the 2nd on an RBI single by Brandon Roman and an RBI double by Dan Roman to go up 14-2. Wire 2 Wire would score one run on a sac fly in the top of the 4th to make it 14-3, but they were going to need a lot more to get back in this one. Wire 2 Wire defense kept them in the game by allowing no runs in the 3rd and 4th innings. In the top of the 5th, Jake Haber would hit a big grand slam for Wire 2 Wire as they would go onto score 6 runs in the inning to cut their deficit to 14-9 heading into the 6th. After a triple by Jacob McDevitt, he would score on a sac fly to bring the score to 14-10 Purple Cobras. Wire 2 Wire defense kept it up and held Cobras scoreless again in the bottom of the 6th. Wire 2 Wire came up in the top of the 7th needing at least four runs to keep the game and their championship hopes alive. After a couple lead off singles, Joe DiMezza came to the plate and delivered a two-run RBI triple to cut Cobras’ lead to 14-12 with one out. Derek Acker came up a hit an RBI double to trail by 1 run. Haber added another RBI double to tie the game with only one out and all the momentum was going to Wire 2 Wire. Tom Signore hit an RBI single to give Wire 2 Wire its first lead of the day. They were not done though with 2 outs as Gene Walczak came to the plate and hit another RBI single to add two more insurance runs as Wire 2 Wire now led 17-14. Cobras were down to their final 3 outs and needing 3 runs to tie and four runs to win the ship. Purple Cobras hit a couple of singles to bring the tying run to the plate with 2 outs. They hit a shot to right field, but Wire 2 Wire was able to track it down and end the game, forcing a game three. Wire 2 Wire defeats Purple Cobras in game 2 17-14 after a huge comeback.

Game 3:

The stage was set in a rubber match game 3 where the winner will take home the championship. Would Purple Cobras rebound from game 2 and win a championship or would Wire 2 Wire complete an epic comeback and remain champions of B North. Cobras would get things started as Mike Corrigan hit an RBI single to put the Cobras up 1-0. Wire 2 Wire would keep their momentum going from game 2 as they scored six runs in the bottom of the first off RBI singles by Jacob McDevitt and Jeff Judge, RBI double by Gene Walczak and an RBI triple by Jake Haber to go up 6-1 after the 1st. Cobras would get three back in the top of the 2nd on RBI singles by Tom Friedman and Dan Roman and an RBI double by Brandon Roman to cut the deficit to 6-4. Wire 2 Wire would immediately answer with two of their own on RBI singles by Haber and Tom Signore to lead 8-4 after two. Wire 2 Wire would open the game up in the bottom of the 3rd scoring 6 runs on RBI doubles by Cody Judge, Adrian Reyes and Derek Acker and another RBI single by Jake Haber as they took a commanding 14-4 lead over Cobras. Cobras would cut Wire 2 Wire’s lead in the top of the 4th scoring 3 runs on a two-run RBI triple by Dan Roman and an RBI sac fly. The Cobras needed to get a stop on defense if they wanted a shot to make a comeback in game three, but they could not find an answer as Wire 2 Wire scored a pair in the bottom of the 4th on an RBI single by Jeff Judge and an RBI sac fly to increase their lead to 16-7 after the fourth. A fielder’s choice scored a run for the Cobras in the top of the 5th to make it 16-8. Wire 2 Wire kept their foot on the gas and put up another three runs in the bottom of the 5th on an RBI triple by Acker, RBI single by Beau Ziegler and a sac fly to expand their lead to 19-8 heading into the 6th. Cobras went down 1-2-3 in the 6th and Wire 2 Wire had the championship in their grasp, but they knew after their comeback in game 2 that it just takes one inning for their big lead to disappear. Wire 2 Wire put up three more runs in the bottom of the 6th on RBI singles by Reyes and Joe DiMezza to put the game away as they now led 22-8 heading into the top of the 7th. Cobras got a couple runners on in the top of the 7th, but in the end, the deficit was too big, and they ran out of steam as Wire 2 Wire made the final out to seal the game and the championship. After a high scoring championship series, Wire 2 Wire retains the championship and sweeps the year. Congrats to Wire 2 Wire and heck of a season by Purple Cobras. See you all next year!