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La Crosse Crusaders(0-0) @ Eau Claire Badgers(0-0)
September 11th, 2013- And the playoffs are finally here! Last night was the pivotal game 1 in the Crusaders v. Badgers series, starting off in Eau Claire. Eau Claire sent forth their ace, righty James Harris. Harris went 11-7 this year, while posting a 2.48 ERA with a WHIP of just 1.00. Rather than countering with their own ace, La Crosse instead elected to send out their #2 guy, Danny Stritch, in order to give Javier Martinez one more day of rest. Strtich has been inconsistent this year, putting up 7 wins and 8 losses to the tune of a 4.61 ERA. Luckily for La Crosse, Stritch was having a good day.

It was a blustery evening, 69 degrees at game time with a wind of 18 MPH blowing straight in from center field. Pali Ciftja lined a single to center with two outs in the 1st for Eau Claire, and proceeded to 2nd after Stritch walked SS Monty Winters. Tim Moore then drove in the Badgers' first run of the playoffs with a bloop single to right, allowing Ciftja to score, and putting La Crosse down 0-1 early. Stritch allowed another walked to Marlon von Meister to load the bases. He was able to escape the jam with minimal damage, thanks to Michael Barnes's nice snag on a line drive over his head to end the inning. Josh Howard put La Crosse in business with a one out single to left in the 2nd. It appeared as if Jose Avila had grounded into an inning ending double play the next at-bat, but Eau Claire blew the chance by throwing the ball into center field and allowing both runners to reach safely. But Mullins and Thompson both popped out to end the inning, and preserve Eau Claire's 1-0 lead. Stritch settled right in after that, going 5 2/3 while striking out 6 and not allowing another run. He made things interesting by issuing 5 walks, but never really got into deep trouble. Stu Clark was brought on in relief.

Steve Ward torched a single to right to start the 7th inning, his first hit of the day. Ward was called out at second on a fielder's choice, allowing Michael Barnes to reach first safely. Josh Howard was the next batter, and came through with a huge triple to right center, scoring Barnes and tying the game at 1-1. Avila then popped up to shallow center and Ross Mullins struck out to strand Howard at third, but the damage was done.

Jim Thompson led off the 8th for the Crusaders, and mashed a 441 foot leadoff homer to center on the first pitch of the at bat. Thompson hit rather poorly all season, ending with just a .213 batting average, but came through when it counted! Steve Miller, the pinch hitter in the next at bat struck out, and Eau Claire decided to pull starter James Harris after this and have a reliever take on the top of the order. So, in came Paul Simon in relief. Simon beaned Danny Sharpe and then walked Dennis Phillips to put 2 men on with 1 out for Steve Ward. Ward knocked another single, right up the middle, loading the bases for Barnes. Barnes grounded to second base again, getting Ward out again, but drove in Sharpe and hustled to beat the throw at first(again). This put runners on the corners with 2 outs for Josh Howard, batting with a 3-1 lead. Howard brought in another run, his 2nd RBI of the day with a single, and advanced Barnes to third. That's all the Crusaders would get in the inning, but it was plenty of a lead for set up man Fred Everett and closer Rusty Daniels. Everett worked through a quick 8th inning without allowing a base-runner. Daniels got 2 quick outs before wisely pitched around Pali Ciftja, walking him, but struck out Monty Winters to seal the deal in the 9th.

This win was a huge one for La Crosse, on the road with Danny Stritch on the mound. This is made even sweeter by the fact that Javier Martinez will be available to pitch either game 2 or game 3, depending on how rested he is. Says Crusaders GM Kilian Boland, "We knew that Danny(Stritch) had the stuff to beat these guys, we just had to have the confidence in him that he'd be able to bring his best stuff today and he did. This was a huge game for him, and I think it really helped his confidence, regardless of whether or not the score book says he was the winning pitcher."



W: S.Clark(1-0) L: J.Harris(0-1) S: R.Daniels(1) HR: J.Thompson(1)

S.Ward: 2-4
J.Howard: 3-4, 3B, 2 RBI
J.Thompson: 1-4, HR, RBI, R
D.Stritch: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, 1.59 ERA

P.Ciftja: 3-3, R, 2 BB
T.Moore: 1-1, RBI, 2 BB
J.Harris: 2-3
J.Harris: 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 2.45 ERA

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South Division Playoff Update

Bloomington also came through with an underdog victory in Evansville, beating the Brawlers 3-2.

#3 BLM(1-0)- 3 | 10 | 0
#2 EVN(0-1)- 2 | 8 | 0

So that's probably going to be what the updates look like for the rest of the playoffs. If you don't like it, speak now or forever hold your peace.

Inb4 Skittles says he hates it

Nah, I like this style. Maybe a little overkill at times (why do I care how cold it is?), but the format itself is good

I have pleased the unpleaseable. There's no real reason to continue this log now. Good night.

JK, but seriously it means a lot to me

La Crosse Crusaders(1-0) @ Eau Claire Badgers(0-1)
September 12th, 2013- For game 2 of the Wild Card Series, La Crosse was able to send fan-favorite and team ace Javier Martinez to the mound. Javier was excellent this season for the Crusaders, ending up 16-5, with a 2.56 ERA and a league leading 192 strikeouts. On the hill for the Badgers was Gustavo Gallegos, who has arguably one of the coolest names in the UBL. He also posted some pretty cool stats, going 9-5 with a 3.63 ERA for the Badgers. However, Gallegos started the season in Fort Wayne, where he was 2-3 with a 5.05 ERA. Luckily for Eau Claire, he was much better after being traded to them.

La Crosse wasted no time getting into the game, and in the 1st inning, leadoff man Danny Sharpe took a 1-2 pitch in his first at bat to deep right field and into the bleachers! Sharpe's early solo homer gave La Crosse a 1-0 lead, before Eau Claire could even bat. This spelled trouble for the Badgers, with Javier Martinez on the mound.

Martinez blew threw the first 2 innings on the mound, and rapped a double to lead off the La Crosse 3rd inning. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Martinez was in prime position to score with the top of the order up. Sharpe and Phillips both struck out, and so things came down to Steve Ward, a .377 hitter with runners in scoring position, but Ward flew out to left center to strand Martinez.

Both pitchers cruised after that, making it through 5 innings without allowing anything else notable to report. However, Gallegos got into a bit of a jam in the 6th, allowing a Ward single to lead off the inning and then drilling Michael Barnes on an 0-2 fastball. Josh Howard popped out to second base, and Jose Avila reached first base, but got Barnes out on a grounder to second to put runners on the corner with 2 outs. Ross Mullins was up next, and hit a hard grounder up the middle, but Eau Claire's shortstop Monty Winters was able to get his glove on it and end the inning.

Jim Thompson had a great day behind the plate, throwing out the fleet footed Pali Ciftja not just once, but twice! He also knocked a single to leadoff the top of the 7th for the Crusaders. Javier Martinez was then pulled, after pitching 6 shutout innings with 3 strikeouts. Even though his strikeout stuff may not have been at its best, Martinez was still able to hold the Badgers scoreless. Pulling Martinez turned out being an excellent decision, as his pinch hitter, Brian Villa, squeaked a 341 foot homer over the left field wall to put the Crusaders ahead 3-0. Gustavo Gallegos was also pulled this inning, after allowing a Steve Ward single with 2 outs. He went 6 2/3 innings, striking out 8, and giving up 3 runs.

Dave LaBelle mowed through the bottom of the 7th, and it was starting to look like the Crusaders would be able to get out of Eau Claire with a 2-0 series lead.

Set-up man Fred Everett is usually lights out, but ran into trouble in yesterday's 8th. He got the first out on a grounder to short, but then back to back singles by Willie O'Teighe and Andrew McCann put him in quite the jam. Eau Claire leadoff man Ernest McIlrevie also singled, driving in O'Teighe, advancing McCann to third, and taking second on the throw. La Crosse's comfortable 3-0 lead had turned to a 3-1 nail biter in the matter of a few at-bats. Jorge Ruiz flew out to center, but it was deep enough to score McCann, narrowing the lead to 3-2. That would end the day for Everett, and Brit Hewitt came in to face the dangerous Pali Ciftja with 2 outs and a man on second. Ciftja smoked a grounder past Ward at 1st, and McIlrevie hustled home to tie the game at 3-3. Hewitt really blew it in the next at bat, hanging an 0-2 breaking ball, which Monty Winters kindly blasted 418 feet to left center field, well over the fence. This put the Badgers ahead for the first time, 5-3. Hewitt finally got Tim Moore to groundout to second to end the painful inning.

The Crusaders had their 2, 3, and 4 batters up for the top of the 9th. Phillips lead off with a double, breaking an awful streak of 4 consecutive strikeouts. Ward couldn't work his magic however, grounding out to first, but advancing Phillips to third. Barnes struck out looking, which put things squarely on the shoulders of an 0-4 Josh Howard, who singled for his first hit of the game! Phillips trotted home to score, and put La Crosse within a run, 4-5. Yet, Avila ended it on a grounder to shortstop, crushing the Crusaders' hopes of a comeback.

The Crusaders really should have won this game, after getting 6 shutout innings from Javier Martinez. However, the bullpen absolutely blew it, which allowed the Badgers to even the series. Looking at the big picture though, the Crusaders are in pretty good shape, splitting the first two games at Eau Claire. Now they'll get 2 home games in a row, where hopefully the home crowd will help lead to 2 wins!



W: J.McConnell(1-0) L: B.Hewitt(0-1) S: M.Deming(1) HR: D.Sharpe(1), B.Villa(1), M.Winters(1)

S.Ward: 2-5
J.Avila: 3-5, 2B
J.Thompson: 2-4, R
J.Martinez: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 K, 0.00 ERA

E.McIlrevie: 3-4, RBI, R
P.Ciftja: 2-3, RBI, R, BB, 2 CS
M.Winters: 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
G.Gallegos: 6 2/3 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 8 K, 4.05 ERA

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South Division Playoff Update

Evansville was also able to even their series down in the South yesterday.

#3 BLM(1-1): 7 | 12 | 1
#2 EVN(1-1): 10 | 10 | 0