Daytona Advances in FSL; Great Falls Clinches In Pioneer League

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Thursday Sept. 8, 2011
Posted: 10:00 p.m.
CUBS Daytona A
The Cubs exploded for four eight-inning runs Thursday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium, racing by Dunedin, 4-3, to capture their opening-round series in the Florida State League playoffs. Daytona will face St. Lucie, which topped Bradenton, in the best-of-five finals beginning Friday at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Dunedin held a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the eighth before Mike Brenly and Evan Crawford led off with back-to-back singles. Logan Watkins walked to load the bases and the Jays changed pitchers, bringing in Aaron Loup. He fared no better, though, giving up consecutive run-scoring singles to Matt Cerda and Justin Bour.

Greg Rohans sacrifice fly then tied the score. Abner Abreu singled to reload the bases and Dunedin went to the bullpen again, bringing in Vince Bongiovanni. He promptly allowed an RBI single to Matt Szczur, giving the Cubs a 4-3 lead.

Jordan Latham earned the victory while Frank Batista picked up the save.

Tennessee AA
Tennessee used five pitchers and a monstrous fourth-inning outburst Thursday night at Smokies Stadium to earn a 9-6 victory over Chattanooga in the Southern League semi-final playoff series opener.

Hung-Wen Chen pitched 1 13 shutout innings in relief of Brooks Raley, who lasted only 3 23 innings, to pick up the win. He was the beneficiary of the big fourth inning in which the Smokies scored seven times. Josh Vitters and Blake Lalli each connected for two-run homers in the inning to fuel the rally. Lalli finished with three RBIs while Jim Adduci chipped in three hits.
WHITE SOXGreat Falls Rookie
The Voyagers clinched the Pioneer League North Division title Thursday night, topping Missoula, 11-8, in the regular-season finale. Great Falls will host Missoula in Game One Friday night before the series shifts for Game Two and Three, if needed.

Mike Earley, Andrew Douglas and Martin Medina were dominant for the Voyagers, combining to go 7-for-14 with two homer, nine RBIs and six runs scored. Earleys three-run double in a five-run sixth erased an Osprey lead, giving the Voyagers an advantage they wouldnt relinquish.

Stew Brase 3-2 earned the win despite allowing three runs on a pair of homers in 2 13 innings of relief.The Voyagers have reached the playoffs five consecutive seasons. Pioneer League pitcher of the year Blake Walters 9-0 will start the opener.
Birmingham AA
The Barons exploded early and then left the game in the hands of Terry Doyle and the ace did the rest in a 9-1 victory over Mobile at Regions Park in a Southern League semi-final playoff series opener.

Doyle, who had eight wins during the regular season, allowed a run in 6 23 innings. He allowed one run or less 10 times during the regular season between Birmingham and Winston-Salem, finishing the regular season with four consecutive victories.

The offense made it easy for Doyle, though, scoring five times in the first and four more times in the third inning. Jake Oesters three-run homer in the first inning was the big blow. He would added a run-scoring sacrifice fly to kick off the fourth-inning barrage. Ken Williams, Tyler Kuhn and Brandon Short added RBI singles.

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