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SPRINGFIELD, IL – August 12, 2008 –
The Springfield Sliders took
the first game of the 2008 CICL Championship from the
Danville Dans by a final score of 2-1. All of the offense
took place in the first inning when Andrew Pollack drove in
Jon Lilly to give the Dans a short-lived lead. The Sliders
answered back by way of a two-run homer by freshman Andrew
Quinnette, also scoring Ryan Ashe.
Springfield's Bryce Shafer earned the win. The Valparaiso
freshman tossed six innings, struck out six and walked one.
Shafer upped his record to 6-1 for the season. Dan Marcacci
earned the save with 2 1/3 innings of masterful relief.
That is Marcacci's fifth save of the season.
Danville's Austin Ross tossed a complete game. The LSU
Tiger struck out five during his eight innings pitched.
Pollack stroked three hits for the Dans, leading all
hitters, while Ashe had the only multi-hit performance for
the Sliders.
The game lasted only two hours and ten minutes. It featured
strong pitching and several double-plays turned by each
team. In the sixth inning, Ashe threw out Pollack as he
tried to score from second base on a Rich Goodenow single up
the middle. The red-shirt freshman-to-be rifled a strike to
catcher Matt Lenski who did an outstanding job blocking the
plate and applying a tag to keep the Sliders' narrow lead.
The Sliders could wrap up their first CICL Championship with
a win at Danville on Wednesday. That game will start at
6:30 p.m. CDT. A Danville win will force a winner-take-all
game to be played in Springfield on Thursday.
~ Jay Gundy
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