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Spirit Let Sweep Slip Away; Jackals Stay Alive

September 17, 2004 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
North Shore Spirit News Release


Lynn, MA – The North Shore Spirit were thinking sweep. The New Jersey Jackals were thinking survival. Survival won.

The Jackals fought back from a 4-1 deficit and the brink of elimination and outlasted the Spirit, 7-4, in 13 innings before a New Fraser Field playoff record crowd of 3,623.

Catcher Jay Laflair stroked a single to left off Spirit closer Ryan Bicondoa to score Scott Goodman with the eventual winning run in the top of the 13th. Zach Smithlin followed with a bloop single to left that Joe Hastings got a glove on, but could not come up with the catch.

Jackal closer Fabricio Benitez got a hard-earned win, pitching 4 2/3 innings in relief. Benitez, who had 15 saves in the regular season, retired the first eight batters he faced and 11 of 12 at one point. He ran into trouble in the bottom of the 12th, but the Spirit stranded two runners.

Scott Goodman had tied it for the Jackals with a solo home run to deep rightfield with one out in the eighth. The Spirit threatened in the bottom of the inning, but stranded runners at first and third with one out.

The Spirit had taken a 4-1 lead into the seventh, but the Jackals scored two runs to get within one.

Aaron Dean started for the Spirit and held the Jackals to five hits and two runs in six innings. It was his second quality start of the postseason (he picked up a complete-game 3-2 loss in the divisional series vs. Quebec), after a regular season in which he went 6-4 with a 6.07 ERA.

Edison Reynoso worked three innings in relief of Dean and allowed two runs.

The Spirit jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second on the strength of three straight singles, including Brian Macchi's RBI base hit. They made it 3-0 in the third on RBIs from Joe Hastings and Frank Charles.

The Jackals got on the board with a run in the sixth, but the Spirit answered with a run in the bottom of the inning to make it 4-1.

Lefty Bryan Morse (2-0, 2.35) will take the mound for the Spirit in Game 4 and will face New Jersey's Jackson Crowther (1-0, 2.57).

You can catch all Spirit games, home and away, on the flagship station of the North Shore Spirit, WESX 1230 AM. All games are also broadcast via the Internet on www.northshorespirit.com.

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