It Was Close...

Quincy 4, Chillicothe 2 (Quincy leads PLCS 1-0)

Say what you will about the ninth inning doing the team in, and by all intents and purposes, the error to start the top of the ninth might have done it, but overall, this was a competitive game played by both the Quincy Gems and the Chillicothe Paints. This was definitely how I expected the game to be. I pretty much knew going into this game that Quincy weren't no pushovers to begin with. After all, the Gems are the best team in the Prospect League win-loss record wise, so it's no surprise to see the consistency coming from this team. Even during their brief practice right before this game started, I could tell that they were very much in sync with what they were doing. Simply put, they were focused.

Going into the Prospect League Championship Series, the Paints had to make decisions as to who to give the ball to for this Game 1 start. They chose A.J. Achter to carry the load for this first game. Achter, to his credit, did everything he could to make this start count. I do openly admit that Achter was a bit shaky in the first three innings of this ballgame, as I noticed that he was dancing around the strike zone, but not technically hitting his spots. However, from what I saw from that point on, Achter was pitching brilliantly down the stretch of his start. As he got deeper into his start, the more he just found his rythym, and at the time, this was a huge thing for the Paints.

Achter would pitch an amazing 8 innings deep in his start, and he would give up two earned runs in all on 6 hits allowed and one walk to boot, but he would come back and record 5 strikeouts. Towards the end of his start, Achter was really feeling it. He knew exactly where the strike zone was, and he wasn't holding anything back, mowing down Quincy's offense with surprising ease.

You know, it's amazing just how much I can get my hopes up whenever I go see a playoff game involving the Paints. You always hope that one year will be the year for the Paints, that they'll finally raise a championship flag over V.A. Memorial Stadium, and granted that can still happen if they manage to win both of these road games on Quincy's turf, but as I watch on to see Paints playoff games progress, there's always one thing that will set us back and flatten our tires, so to speak.

Blake Mascarello took the mound for the ninth inning, and at first, he wasn't all that bad. Seriously, he was doing a fine job until that error third baseman Zach Leonard made to open the door for the Gems in the top of the ninth. It was from here that Mascarello started to come undone. He would give up a walk and two hits, and he would give up two more runs to the Gems. The tie was eventually broken by the precision and the execution by the Gems.

For the offense, Ben Allen had an RBI single. Kyle Gendron had a single. Right fielder Eian Banks had such a great game here, and if you just look at the stats, then you'll be convinced that he did a great job. Eian went deep to left center field, blasting a solo homerun shot that hit the V.A.'s scoreboard in the second inning, and then would add onto his great night by getting two doubles. You could say that Banks provided most of the heavy lifting for the offense. Catcher Andrew Mashall had a single. Center fielder Steven Mirizzi had two singles. Second baseman Tim Krofcheck had a triple.

I know what the end result of this game is. The Quincy Gems defeated the Chillicothe Paints in Game 1, and they take a commanding 1-0 lead in this best-of-three series, putting the pressure onto the Paints, who now have to win the Prospect League championship by going on the road and beating the Gems at QU Stadium. I know this will be hard to do. It's definitely alot to ask for, but throughout this year, this team has been through alot, and this organization has been through so much more these past few years. I believe it wouldn't surprise me if we make this interesting later this week. There's still a chance, folks, and there's every reason to still believe that we can do it. Stay tuned on the radio.