Bashers Advance to Finals of Winners Bracket

The Bashers swept their two games on Wednesday night, and the second seed has advanced to the finals of the winners bracket on Saturday.

GAME 1: BASHERS 16, CHICO'S BAIL BONDS 13

The Bashers and Chico's Bail Bonds battled for a third consecutive game in the opening round of the Arlington County Wednesday D League championship. After 23-4 and 14-1 losses the previous week, Chico's came out of the gate hitting, putting up a 3-0 lead before the Bashers came to bat. However, the home side batted through in the bottom of the first, sparked my Matt's monsterous 3-run home run to left-field. In all, the Bashers put up 6 in their half of the first.

However, the lead was short-lived as Chico's continued to hit starter "Old" Danny hard. A four-run second made the score 7-6 in favor of the visitors after an inning and a half. Adam led off the bottom on the second with a triple, and was brought home on Dave's sacrifice fly to make it 7-7 after two frames.

After a scoreless third, Chico's put up 2 in the top of fourth. However, the Bashers would put themselves out in front for good in the bottom of the frame, putting up 4 runs. Chico's would cut the lead to 11-10 after 4 1/2 innings, but in the bottom of the fifth the Bashers sent 9 to the plate, scored 5 runs and led 16-10. A Chico's 6th inning rally fell 3 runs short, and the Bashers pulled off the 16-13 win.

"Old" Danny pulled out the win with four innings of strong pitching, while Miguel came on for the two-inning save.

GAME 2: BASHERS 11 SPARTANS 10

On the back of their upset of third-seeded Badabing, the sixth-seeded Spartans looked for a second consecutive upset over the Bashers. The Spartans had history on their side, being the only team this season to beat a full-strength Basher team. Things look good for the lower seed, as they put up five runs in their half of the first inning. The Bashers managed two in their half of the first on a two-run home run by Chris. The score remained 5-2 until the bottom of the third, when the Bashers lived up to their name. The team sent 10 to the plate in the inning, scoring seven times to gain the 9-5 advantage. The Spartans cut it to 9-8 in the top of the fourth, but the Bashers would extend the lead by two in the bottom on the inning. The Bashers would extend the lead to 12-8 in their half of the fifth. The Spartans had one more rally left, and scored three in the top of the 6th to cut the Bashers advantage to a single run. However, time ran out on the upset-minded Spartans, as the Bashers' at bat in the bottom of the sixth used up the remaining two minutes on the clock.

Miguel picked up the win for the Bashers, going the distance.

UPCOMING GAMES

The Bashers (2-0) remain the highest seeded team left in the tournament, thanks to fourth-seeded Last Call's (2-0) upset of the top seed, MCG Capital (1-1). Last Call and the Bashers will battle in the finals of the winner's bracket at 11am on Saturday at Quincy Park. The winner advances to the championship game at 2pm, while the loser will play in the loser bracket's final at 1pm. The team that emerges unscathed from the winner's bracket will have to be beaten twice in the championship round in order to lose the title, but will only need to win once.