SL1 Mississippi Braves

Boscan's Drive Forces Game Five

Published on September 13, 2008 under Southern League (SL1)
Mississippi Braves News Release


Pearl, MS - With their backs against the wall and on the brink of elimination, the M-Braves came out swinging in game four Friday night. Mississippi brought their bats, but so did the Mudcats. Kala Ka'aihue gave the Braves an early lead with a three-run homer in the first, but the Mudcats answered with a three-run bomb of their own. The Braves took a 4-3 lead into the eighth but couldn't hold it. Scott Cousins then ripped a solo home run in the 11th to put the Mudcats on top only to see Jordan Schafer tie it up with a solo homer in the home-half of the inning. In the bottom of the 13th, JC Boscan's 'single' to centerfield gave the Braves a 6-5 win and forced game five Saturday night.

The Braves got out to a quick start with a three-spot in the home-half of the first. JC Holt drew a walk to start the inning and moved to second on a wild pitch. Reid Gorecki then singled to right and moved to second on the throw to the plate. With Holt at third and Gorecki at second, Kala Ka'aihue blasted his third home run of this series off the batter's eye in centerfield. After one, the Braves led 3-0.

After a Gaby Sanchez single, Cameron Maybin reached on a fielder's choice in top of the second. Scott Cousins then reached on a fielder's choice-error that allowed Maybin to stand safely at second base. With one out in the inning, Lee Mitchell jumped all over a Kris Medlen offering and deposited it over the wall in left field. Mitchell's shot tied the game at three.

The Braves went back on top in the third. Gorecki and Ka'aihue hit back-to-back one-out singles and Gorecki came around to score on a two-out single by Javier Guzman. Ka'aihue was thrown out at the plate attempting to score, but the Braves had reclaimed the lead, 4-3.

Carolina tied the score in the eighth. Manuel Mayorson shot a single through the right side to start the eighth. He moved to second on a groundout and to third on a flyout. With two outs in the inning, Cameron Maybin ripped a double to deep right-center easily scoring Mayorson from third. Heading to the bottom of the eighth, the score was tied at four.

The score remained tied at four until the top of the 11th. Scott Cousins ripped a solo home run to give the Mudcats the lead and what everyone thought would be the Southern League Championship. The Braves had other ideas.

With the game seemingly over, Jordan Schafer stepped to the plate with one out in the bottom of the 11th. Schafer ripped an opposite field home run that just cleared the top of the left-centerfield wall. Schafer's blast knotted the score at five and kept the M-Braves hopes alive.

Ka'aihue led off the bottom of the 13th with a double off the centerfield wall. Robert Marcial came in to run for KK and he moved to third on Schafer's infield single. After Javier Guzman was intentionally walked to load the bases, JC Boscan stepped to the plate. With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 13th, Boscan ripped a ground-rule double to centerfield that scored Schafer from third to give the M-Braves the 6-5 win. Boscan was only awarded a single because he was mobbed by his teammates between first and second.

Medlen got the start for the M-Braves and was outstanding again. He made one bad pitch that Lee Mitchell hit for a three-run homer. In all, he gave up three runs, two earned, on four hits through seven innings. Medlen left the game with a 4-3 lead. Steve Marek gave up a run in his inning on the hill. Luis Valdez came on in the ninth and threw two shutout innings before the 11th. He gave up a solo home run to Scott Cousins that gave the Mudcats a 5-4 lead. Bryan Dumesnil threw 1.2 scoreless innings and Sung Ki Jung retired the only batter he faced. Jung improved to 1-0 in the postseason.

Graham Taylor gave up four runs on seven hits in four innings as the Mudcats starter. He left the game trailing 4-3. Tim Wood threw two scoreless innings and Jeff Gogal tossed one shutout frame. Jesus Delgado came on in the eighth and tossed one scoreless inning. Todd Doolittle threw three scoreless innings in relief. Chris Mobley came on in the bottom of the 11th and gave up a solo home run to Jordan Schafer that tied the game at five. Jarrett Santos fell to 0-1 after giving up the game-winning run in the 13th.

With the M-Braves win in game four, Mississippi and Carolina will play the deciding game five Saturday night at Trustmark Park at 7:05 ct. The Braves will send lefty Johnny Venters to the hill in the finale while the Mudcats will go with game-one starter, Willie Glen.

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Southern League Stories from September 13, 2008


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