Ron Guzman’s RBI Single in Bottom of 7th Puts the Lumberkings in the Elite Eight
The Lumberkings were down by a run – in the sixth and again in the seventh, rallying to tie the game in the bottom half of each inning, winning it on a walk-off RBI single by Ron Guzman, for a 5-4 win over the Bridgeport Ontario Braves, and advance to the Elite Eight today, where they will take on the Ottawa Team Easton Thunder.
Dave Drotzman went the distance for his third win of the tournament. It was nail biting time for the Lumberkings, last year’s runner-up, as they fought to get to the final day of the single elimination tournament. Brian Teeters and Greg Oliver were each on base four times in the game to drive the offense. Down 4-3, it was Teeters who came up big, leading off the 7th with an inside the park home run to the 275 sign in centerfield. Teeters flew around the bases, with skipper Dave Weldin waving him home to score the tying run. Oliver then reached base and advanced to second, where he was replaced by pitcher Dave Drotzman. Guzman then drilled a line shot to the gap in right center, giving his team the walk off win.
The Lumberkings will take on the Ottawa Team Easton Thunder, who boast one of the deepest pitching staffs in the tournament, including pick-up Corey Costello, the all time ISC II strikeout king. Costello set the strikeout record in 2006 with more than 100 strikeouts, including 41 in his first two games that year.
The ISC II Tournament of Champions concludes today with the championship game at 2pm, Central time.
Ballparkradio will be broadcasting a quarterfinal this morning at 9am, central time, followed by two semi-final games at 11:00am, and the title matchup at 2pm. See www.ballparkradio.com for the login links to listen.