Panteras Top Primetime in Extra Innings of

The Panteras rallied from a 4-1 first inning deficit in the championship game, to beat Primetime, 7-6 in extra innings.  Jesse Duncan picked up the win for the Panteras.  Panteras second baseman Tony Beeson (shown in photo at far left, back row) singled to lead off the sixth, scored the tying run with two outs with some alert baserunning, made a diving stab of a Keith Barker line drive that would have ended the game in the bottom of the seventh, and doubled home what proved to be the game winning run in the 8th inning.

Panteras First:

The Panteras jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning win Anthony Rocha singled to center, went to third on a single by Jessie Duncan and came home to score when the ball was misplayed in the outfield. one run on 2 hits; Panteras 1, Primetime 0

Primetime First:

Primetime answer right back in the bottom of the first inning with four runs in their own jumped out to a four-run lead in the bottom the first inning on three consecutive singles by Joe Nuanez, Joe Fernández and Rick McCarthy. Nuanez scored on McCarthy's single, while Fernández came home on a wild pitch. The final two runs of the inning came home on a two-out single to right field by Rich Barnwell. 4 runs on 4 hits; Primtime 4, Panteras 1

Panteras Second:

The Pantera's cut the lead to 4-2 with a run in the second inning, as Ben Munoz singled to deep short and came home on a two-out RBI single by Fernie Ramírez Jr.  one run on three hits;  Primetime 4, Panteras 2

Primetime Second

Primetime took the run right back in the second inning for a 5-2 lead, when Keith Barker walked with two outs and came home to score on an error by the Panteras' shortstop on the ball hit by Joe Nuanez.  one run on no hits;  Primetime 5, Panteras 2

Panteras Fifth

Both pitchers settled in after the first two innings, throwing scoreless frames in the third and fourth innings. It appeared that the Primetime might pull away for the win, until an errant throw and an obstruction call against Primetime led it to two fifth inning runs, cutting the primetime lead to just one run at 5-4. With one out,Trino Ramírez walked; after a fly out for the second out of the inning, Eli Salazar singled to center field with Ramírez stopping at third with a throw just behind him. Salazar headed for second win the ball came in from the outfield, drawing a throw to second, which wound up in right field, bringing home Ramirez. As the throw came in from right field, Salazar rounded third, with Primetime pitcher Dan Zupp backing up third. An obstruction (by Zupp) was called, giving Salazar home, and turning it into a ballgame again. Jessie Duncan quickly retired the heart of the Primetime order in order in the bottom of the fifth inning, setting the stage for the pivotal Pantera sixth.  Two runs on one hit; Primetime 5, Panteras 4

Panteras Sixth

Second baseman Tony Beeson led off the Pantera is in need sixth inning with a single to center. A perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by row Ramirez sent Beeson to second with what represented the tying run. Ben Munoz then singled to deep shortstop though the Senate had to hold at second base. A ground ball by Mike Ginter erased Munoz at second but sent Beeson over to third with two outs, and bringing up eight hitter Bobby Gonzalves.  When Ginter came a little too far off the first-base bag, Primetime catcher Joe Nuanez made a snap throw to first-base to try and end the inning, but the throw had to be short hopped by first baseman Rick McCarthy.  The Panteras Tony Beeson alertly headed for home, sliding in ahead of the throw from McCarthy, tying the game for the first time since the first inning.  one run on two hits;  Primetime 6, Panteras 6.

Primetime pitcher Dan Zupp retired the Pantera hitters in order in the top of the seventh inning, giving his teammates an opportunity to win the game in regulation, in the bottom of the seventh-inning, which they very nearly did. with one out, Jaime Nuanez singled to left field.  after a fly out for the second out, Keith Barker in a line shot headed for the right-center field gap which was speared by a diving Tony Beeson.  Had Beeson not glove the ball the game would likely have been over.

Panteras Eighth
 

The plays seem to give the Pantera is some momentum heading into the (international tie breaker) eighth-inning.  Anthony Rocha, took his place at second base for the Panteras to start the extra inning. Eli Salazar laid down a perfect bunt and beat the throw to first getting the Pantera's runners at first and second. Jessie Duncan also laid down a textbook bunt sending Rocha to third, but Salazar rounded the bag too far at second and was tagged out for the first out, but when the ball got away, Rocha scampered home with the go-ahead run.  cleanup hitter Tony Beeson followed with a solid line drive double that split the gap in left-center field, driving in Duncan with an insurance run, before a six-game weary Dan Zupp reached back for something extra and struck out the next two hitters to end the inning.  two runs on two hits; Panteras 8, Primetime 6

Primetime Eighth

Keith Barker started the eighth inning on second base for Primetime, with the heart of the Primetime order coming to the plate.  Jessie Duncan retired Joe Fernandez on a flyball the left-field, and Joe Fernández on a check-swing grounder back to the pitcher.  Fernández tried to get out of the way of the pitch, and argued that the ball had struck him on his hand, but to no avail.  Primetime would not go quietly though, as Rick McCarthy lined a base hit down the right-field line, scoring Barker and cutting the Panteras' lead to one.  With two outs in the tying run at first base, Jay Crawley hit a line drive which second baseman Tony Beeson Joe and caught for the final out again and getting the Panteras the championship game victory.  

Reshuffled Alliance Standings (click link above for official standings)

The win puts the Panteras back in the thick of the pennant race, tied for fifth place, with Palm Springs, only nine points behind the new league leader, Primetime, who had a final four finish in the earlier Palm Springs tournament.  The host team for the weekend, the Amigos hold on to the number two spot in the standings, while RAW climbs into the number three spot, a half-point ahead of the fourth place Rounders.  

Other Notes on the weekend

Other scores:

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