While the Atlantic League regular season winds down, affiliated minor leagues are deciding their playoffs.
In the Double-A Eastern League, Trenton (New York Yankees) took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five championship series against Akron (Cleveland Indians) with a 3-2 win Wednesday night.
Why am I writing about this on my blog?
Former Somerset Patriot for a day, Noah Hall, had the walk-off RBI single with no outs in the bottom of the ninth. He drove the final pitch to the opposite field.
Hall did not play in Game 1 but got the Game 2 start at designated hitter and went 3-for-5.
The outfielder went to Atlantic League spring training with the Patriots and collected two hits on Opening Night before signing with the Yankees and spending the entire season as a backup outfielder at Double-A.
Former Lancaster Barnstormer Scott Patterson earned the Game 2 victory. Patterson allowed nine earned runs in 74 1/3 innings for Trenton this season.
The interesting thing about this story is I covered one game in Trenton this season and a few writers in the press box gave me a hard time about the quality of play and respectability of the Atlantic League. It is important to note that these hecklers were not Thunder employees.
But it seems to me like the Thunder's season -- and Wednesday night's pivotal game -- would have been more of a struggle if not for their Atlantic League alumni.
Also of note, if the series reaches Game 4, former Rutgers University and Newark Bears pitcher Bobby Brownlie is expected to make the start for Akron.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the return of good ol' Anon-a-Moose.
The Moose thinks that it's interesting that all these Atlantic League alumni are making an impact in affiliated baseball.
Who would have ever thought that a Somerset Patriot and a Lancaster Barnstormer would play such key roles in the Eastern League playoffs?
The Moose digs it.
Post a Comment