Fremonts Take Divisional Series in Seven

 

Game 1

Men 11 Fremonts nil

Game one wasn’t in doubt for long as the Men put up a 7 run third off Trevor Bauer. Jake Odorizzi led the Men pitchers yielding five baserunners over 7 scoreless innings. Five Men had multiple hit games with Eric Sogard’s 4 RBI and Austin Meadows’ three-run homer leading the barrage.

Game 2

Fremonts 10 Men 4

The flood gates opened in the other direction with the ‘Mont getting runners across four of the first five innings in game two -- staking starter Trent Thornton to a 8-3 lead. Kyle Seager hit two home runs, driving in 5 overall. Ryan Yarbrough gave up nine runs and 16 hits in just 6 2/3 innings.

Game 3

Men 4 Fremonts 2

After an off day the series moved to Minnesota. The Men picked off single runs in the third and fourth off ‘Mont starter Zack Greinke and Shin-Soo Choo drove in two with a one-out single in the seventh to pull the Men over the line and give them a 2-1 series lead. Spencer Turnbull was solid for the Men putting in 6 1/3 scoreless innings.

Game 4

Fremonts 7 Men 4 (18 innings)

Game four is always pivotal and this was no exception. The Men entered the top of the ninth up 4-2, three outs away from a commanding 3-1 series lead. Aroldis Chapman came in to close the deal and stuck out the first ‘Mont hitter. Trey Mancini doubled and pinch hitter Kyle Seager walked to put the tying run on first. Robbie Grossman stuck out to leave the heroics up to Nicky Lopez, the 141th of 144 players taken in this year’s draft. Lopez finished the season with a .317 slugging percentage but took Chapman to the gap scoring Mancini and Seager and tying the score at four. The Men went quietly in the ninth taking the game to extra innings.

There were various tense moments, but for the most part a pitcher’s duel broke out among the bullpens over the next eight frames. And then came Jorge Lopez for the Men. Zoom camera footage shows the Men owner cringing the moment Trevor May ran out of gas with two outs and a man on first in the top of the 18^th – leaving him no choice but to bring in Lopez, who ended the season with a 7.79 ERA. On queue Mark Canha singled to bring home Dustin Garneau, then the dagger came in the form of a two run Jose Ramirez home run. Ty Buttrey struck out the side in the 18^th to earn the win and put the series back level at two apiece.

Game 5

Men 9 Fremonts 5

The wheels came off again for Trevor Bauer as the Men put up four in the first and never really looked back. The ‘Monts had a chance to tie the game in the sixth, but Nicky Lopez was thrown out at home to end the inning. The Men put up three in the bottom of the frame with an Aledmys Diaz double and a Brian Goodwin single to put the game out of reach and give Jake Odorizzi his second win of the series. The two teams returned to Las Vegas with Minnesota holding a 3-2 series lead.

 Game 6

Fremonts 7 Men 4

With their back against the wall and the score 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Cavan Biggio walked and Kevan Smith singled to put two men on. Dustin Garneau came to the plate. Men catcher Omar Narvaez made probably the first two-base catcher error in league playoff history, scoring Biggio and Smith to tie the ballgame. Kyle Seager followed with his third home run of the series giving the ‘Monts a lead they would not relinquish as the ‘Mont pen threw 4 innings of one hit ball to seal the deal.

Game 7

Fremonts 4 Men 0

The fifth to last player taken in the 2017 draft, Mike Leake, took to the hill to start game seven for the ‘Monts versus Spencer Turnbull. Las Vegas started quickly with two runs in the first via a Biggio walk, Ramirez triple and Marcus Semien single. And it was smooth sailing from there as Leake and three ‘Mont relivers scattered nine hits.

There were hero’s everywhere for the Fremonts in the series. Nicky Lopez hit .333 in addition to his game four double. Jose Ramirez hit safely in six games with a .344 average. Tommy Kahnle pitched six scoreless innings out of the pen, including three in game four’s extra frames. Mike Leake had a 1.64 ERA in two starts, winning game seven.

But it was Fremont legend Kyle Seager – the Fremont all-time leader in Games, At Bats, Hits, Runs, and Walks -- who came through with a .462/.538/1.308 slash, 3 HRs, 9 RBI and is a fitting divisional series MVP.