Devil Rays drop first playoff game 3-2
September 7, 2005 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Southwest Michigan Devil Rays News Release
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. -- The Southwest Michigan Devil Rays were held to just three hits in a 3-2 loss to the South Bend Silver Hawks in the first game of the Midwest League's best-of-three Eastern Division semifinals on Wednesday night at C.O. Brown Stadium.
Josh Asanovich drove in Reid Brignac in the first inning for a 1-0 lead but it didn't last as the Silver Hawks scored two runs in the third and added another in the fourth for a 3-1 advantage. South Bend, who led the Midwest League in hitting all season, used three hits from Emilio Bonifacio, two RBIs from Alberto Gonzalez and two hits plus an RBI from Travis Gulick to score the three runs.
James Houser allowed eight hits and three runs in five innings of work before Ryan Bitter, Tony Perez and Austin Coose pitched shutout relief to keep it close. Shaun Cumberland hit a solo home run in the eighth to bring the Rays to within a run, but Matt Elliott shut the door in the ninth.
The attendance for the first playoff game since the Battle Creek Yankees took the field in 2003 was 2,065. It marked the fourth largest crowd ever for a postseason game at C.O. Brown Stadium. The Michigan Battle Cats had the only larger crowds in the team's inaugural season of 1995.
The Devil Rays, now down one game to none, will have to win the next two games in South Bend if they are to advance to the second round of the postseason. LHP Jarrad Lavergne will start for wild-card Southwest Michigan against RHP Ross Ohlendorf for division winner South Bend. The games in Indiana start at 8 p.m. EST.
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Midwest League Stories from September 7, 2005
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