Gud Twins Tourney, St. Paul Sectional, Game 3: I burned my “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” reference already

Four series, all on verge of sweeps. Will any complete their advance to the Minneapolis Mid-Round? Let’s see.

TJ Division

(2) Scrabble Babble 5
(3) Digital Divide 1
Babble win series 3-0

Early hitting prowess put an end to the Divide’s season.

Bill Zuber pitched 6.2 innings of four-hit ball and the Scrabble offense knocked Félix Jorge out of the box in the fourth inning, winning 5-1 to sweep Digital out of the playoffs.

While the Divide scored first on a Logan Morrison RBI single, the Babble first got to Jorge in the third inning, Ken Landreaux singling in Joe Quinn and series MVP Norm Zauchin socking his second home run of the series. One inning later, Jose Zardon doubled, Luis Quinones singled him in, and Frank Quilici doubled in Quinones.

The offenses would remain quiet for the rest of the game, Zuber and a pair of relievers ensuring no further runs would be needed.

(1) Wonder Years 13
(4) Bristol Barstools 4
Years win series 3-0

Did we expect anything different?

The Barstools avoided the ignomy of being shut out in an entire three-game series, but still got pummelled by the Wonder Years, losing 13-4 and suffering rapid playoff elimination.

Most of the Years’ scoring came in an eight-run fourth inning, the crooked number capped off with a Bobby Kielty three-run home run. Lew Ford (named series MVP) would later match Kielty’s feat in the ninth inning to set the scoreboard at its final position.

The only thing keeping the Barstools from a third consecutive shutout was an Ernie Oravetz grand slam in the seventh inning, but against the complete-game pitching of Joe Mays, Bristol could do little.

Benjamin Division

(2) Special Ks 1
(3) Alliterative Appellations 5
Ks lead series 2-1

Hey, one that’s not a sweep!

The Appellations scored four runs in the second inning and Bert Blyleven scattered four hits across 6.1 innings as Alliterative staved off elimination 5-1.

Alliterative used small ball to take their early lead, putting that 4 on the scoreboard via two RBI singles, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly. Thanks to an inning-opening error by Brian Dozier, only two of those runs were earned.

Miguel Sanó bopped a homer to put the Ks on the scoreboard, but Alliterative extended their lead on a Rich Rollins RBI single in the eighth, and Mike Marshall shut Special down in the ninth.

(1) Inside Baseballers 14
(4) Early Birds 2
Baseballers win series 3-0

Despite their name, the Inside Baseballers kept hitting balls out of the ballpark.

Tom Brunansky hit three home runs, series MVP Joe Mauer had four hits, and the Baseballers trounced the Birds 14-2 to advance in the playoffs.

Rich Rollins and Zoilo Versalles added home runs to spark the Inside offense, the latter’s homer coming two batters into the game to give the Baseballers an early lead. Brunansky clobbered his first one batter later to go back-to-back with Versalles.

On the mound, Jim Kaat allowed only three hits and both of the Early runs, one on a Torii Hunter homer, the other on a Dave McCarty double.

Those three hits matched Brunansky’s home run total, as he clobbered his third deep shot, a three-run tater, in the eighth.

In the end, the game — and the series — completely belonged to the Baseballers.

SPS (Game 2) | SPS (Game 3) | SPS (Game 4)