Playoff Recap 9/10: Captains Advance, Kinston Eliminated

Captains Win 3-2, Advance to MWL Semifinals

The Captains 3-2 win on Friday night over the WhiteCaps punched a ticket into the second round of the Midwest League Playoffs. Lake County won the series 2-1 over West Michigan setting up a best of three game series with Great Lakes. The Captains will host the Loons on Saturday September 11 at 6:30PM in Classic Park.

Chris Kersten provided an offensive spark last night finishing 2-for-3 with two RBI singles. Kersten single in the sixth drove in Adam Abraham for the Captains third run of the game.

Jason Smit added a solo homerun his first of the postseason in fifth inning for Lake County.

Jason Knapp (1-0) was fantastic in his start tossing five scoreless innings allowing just two infield singles, walking one and striking out six. Preston Guilmet was rock solid earning his second save of the playoffs pitching 2.2 scoreless innings, striking out three.

Jared Wesson (0-1) took the loss for West Michigan tossing 5.1 innings giving up two runs on five hits, walking only one and striking out seven. Jordan Pratt kept the WhiteCaps in the game pitching two scoreless innings and striking out three.

Pino, bullpen pitch Clippers to series lead

Yohan Pino gave up a lead-off single Friday night and then walked the next batter he faced. That, however, would be the extent of the offense for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

Pino teamed with Zach Putnam and Vinnie Pestano on a one-hitter and the Clippers regained the series lead with a 1-0 victory in Moosic, PA.

The game was scoreless into the seventh, when Columbus had not one, but two men thrown out at the plate on consecutive singles. In the eighth, though, they finally broke through. Luke Carlin doubled with one out, and then with two down in the inning, he came all the way around to score on Jose Constanza's infield single.

That would be enough for Pino, who struck out six over seven innings of work, along with Putnam and Pestano, who both struck out the side in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

K-Tribe's Season Ends in Marathon Loss

Jose Martinez’s three-run homer in the 12th inning snapped a 5-5 tie and sent Winston-Salem to a 10-5 victory and a three-game sweep of Kinston in the Southern Division Championship Series on Friday night in Kinston. The loss ends the K-Tribe’s 2010 season, while the Dash will host the Mills Cup Championship Series against the Northern Division Champion starting on Monday night.

Kinston had the bases loaded in each of the first two innings, but Dash starter Nate Jones escaped without surrendering a run. Winston-Salem took the lead in the third inning on a two-run homer to left by Brandon Short. The next batter, Jon Gilmore doubled and Seth Loman hit an RBI single to make it 3-0.

The K-Tribe scored a run in the fourth on an RBI double by Bo Greenwell. The Dash answered the run in the sixth on Greg Paiml’s RBI single to take a 4-1 lead.

Five outs away from elimination, the Indians mounted a furious rally in the eighth inning. Doug Pickens and Donnie Webb hit back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners. Justin Toole hit a sac fly to left to cut the lead to 4-2. Greenwell doubled to put runners on second and third for Jeremie Tice. Tice hit a two-run single to left to tie the game at four. The next hitter, Chun Chen, hit a triple to left center to score Tice and give Kinston a 5-4 lead heading to the ninth.

With a runner on second and two out in the ninth, Gilmore hit an RBI single to tie the game at five and eventually send it to extra innings. Gilmore and Loman started the 12th with back-to-back singles. With one out, Martinez hit a dramatic three-run homer off the foul pole in left to give Winston an 8-5 edge. Later in the inning, Paiml added a two-run double to make it 10-5.

Jake Rasner pitched the final four innings for Winston to claim the victory and shutout the Indians on one hit. K-Tribe reliever Matt Langwell took the loss after allowing three runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings.

The loss ends Kinston’s first playoff appearance since 2007. The K-Tribe went 73-67 in the regular season under first-year manager Aaron Holbert and had a nine-game win streak late in the season to catapult them into the playoffs. The streak was the K-Tribe’s longest since 2004.

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