Friday, 2008 October 22 – a recap of the divisional round

Round 2: Mozilla Firefoxes (80-82, 4-2 playoffs) vs Daly City Montis (141-21, 4-1)

Game 1: Fresh off a full 5 day’s rest (longer than any he’s had all season), SP1 Nathan Yan was dominant against the Firefoxes, throwing a 5-hit, 19-K shutout. The Montis’ core 3-4-5 of 1B Derek Lew, LF Ted Kwon, and 3B Alan Wong also put up a clinic, each driving 2 RBIs to deliver Mozilla ace Robert Kroger his first loss of the postseason.

Game 2: As thrilling as home nailbiters come, Mozilla’s unheralded #2 SP Kenneth Price (12-11, 5.59 ERA) dealt a smooth 7 innings of 1-run ball against the Montis, but wore down with the late-game heroics at the top of the order, where a 2B Cristian Ortiz single, C Tina Quach single, and a Lew homerun pushed the Montis over the top with a 1-run lead.

Game 3: Bumped to the SP3 slot after her 2-hitter in the Divisional Series, Chin struggled mightily under the lights of Mozilla Park, surrendering 4 runs in 5 innings on a collective 6 hits and 3 walks. SP5 Alfred Vong wasn’t much better in long relief, yielding 2 runs over the final 3 innings. But none of it mattered much – Mozilla’s Daniel Mouton delivered a stunning performance, all but silencing Daly City bats for 8 innings

Game 4: Daly City bats finally came alive in game 4, led by a herculean 2-homer, 4RBI game by 3B Alan Wong. SS Salgu Wissmath also went 2-4 and drove in 2RBIs, with 7 of 9 Montis scoring runs, tagging both starting ace Robert Kroger and MR Scott Gaddis for 4 runs apiece. Terrence Zhao redeemed himself from his ugly divisional start, keeping the Firefoxes to 1 run and 4hits in a complete game effort.

Game 5: Offsetting the playoff rotation, the #1 Yan dueled against #2 Kenneth Price, who went toe-to-toe for 7 shutout innings, yielding 3 and 4 hits. The bat patience and shorter 3 days’ rest eventually wore down price however, who retired after 1 out in the 8th inning after 104 pitches. Monti batters went on to feast on reliever Gary Lawrence after that, tagging him for 3 hits, a walk, and 3 runs to start the 9th.

Final Outcome: Daly City Montis win, 4-1 (4.6 – 2.0 runs/game)

Game 1: Daly City 6-0 (Player of the Game: SP1 Nathan Yan, 9IP, 5H, 0ER, 19K)
Game 2: Daly City 4-3 (1B Derek Lew, 2-4, 1R, 2RBI, 1HR)
Game 3: Mozilla 6-2 (SP3 Daniel Mouton, 8IP, 3H, 4BB, 1ER, 5K)
Game 4: Daly City 8-1 (SP4 Terrence Zhao, 9IP, 4H, 1BB, 1ER, 12K)
Game 5: Daly Cit 3-0 (SP1 Nathan Yan, 9IP, 4H, 0ER, 18K)

The Firefoxes put up a valiant effort, with impressive pitching performances against the Montis’ vaunted lineup. But an even more dominant performance by Daly City’s staff, led by Yan’s 2 shutouts, was able to close out Mozilla and send Daly City to their 5th straight World Series. The relatively muted bats have got to be a concern however, with the lineup once again held far below their regular season production.

Round 1: Paris Forfeiters (86-77, 4-1) vs. Las Vegas Valleys (99-63, 4-3)

Game 1: The series started off with a dominant pitchers’ duel, with Vegas ace Moser throwing 8 inning of shutout ball. Veteran bridesmaid Richard Eager played the hero, tagging Kyle Katarn for a 6th-inning homer and an 8th-inning double to score both runs for Vegas.

Game 2: Paris was able to respond in-kind in game 2, where #2 starter Rex White went the distance to deliver a 4-hit shotout. Valleys’ starter Frank Martin gave 8+1/3 solid innings, but succumbed to a pair of early runs from a 4th-inning Luciano Ferrant homer.

Games 3 & 4: Back on their home turf, Paris asserted their dominance – #3 starter Daniel Sluder threw a wild 6+1/3 innings of 6-walk, shutout ball, and their bats came to life for 9 runs against the Valleys’ Larry Belton and the bullpen. Game 4 found Kyle Kataran in a rare slugfest (though only 2 of his 4 runs were earned). Las Vegas’ game 1 hero Moser was tagged for 7 runs in 5+1/3 innings, as the 3-4-5 core of the Paris lineup (SS Lamont Sanchez, C Alejandro Liriano, and RF Jeffrey Hefner) combined for 8 RBIs.

Game 5: Las Vegas looked like they had finally punched back, putting together 4 runs to assemble a 4-2 lead over Paris. But the decision to trot out closer Eric Mandujano proved fatal – leading off with a walk and a hit, Mandujano retired Ferrant and Hefner but could not put down Game 5 hero Liriano for the last out. Liriano strokes a double out to right-center for his second hit of the day, walking off the game and the series for the Forfeiters.

Final Outcome: Paris Forfeiters win, 4-1 (5.2 – 2.6 runs/game)

Game 1: Las Vegas 2-0 (SP1 Joseph Moser, 8IP, 3H, 1BB, 0ER, 9K)
Game 2: Paris 2-0 (SP2 Rex White, 9IP, 4H, 2BB, 0ER, 6K)
Game 3: Paris 9-1 (SP3 Daniel Sluder, 6+1/3IP, 1H, 6BB, 0ER, 6K)
Game 4: Paris 10-6 (C Alejandro Liriano, 3-4, 1BB, 1R, 4RBI, 1HR)
Game 5: Paris 5-4 (C Alejando Liriano 2-4, 1BB, 2RBI)

It was a disappointing finish for Vegas star Richard Eager, who strokes a fantastic .378-.481-.756 line but could only carry his team’s slumping offense so far. Paris, meanwhile, appears to be running on all cylinders. Ace Kyle Katarn is throwing the postseason of his life so far (3-1, 1.44 ERA over 31+1/3 innings), SP2 Rex White has been white hot (2-0, 1.17 ERA over 30+2/3 innings), and C Alejandro Liriano is catching all kinds of fire, having won player of the game 3 times to go with his postseason-leading line of .525-.548-.775 and 16 RBIs