The Maine Loggers, like most teams, have experienced some futility over the years. But in the storied history of the Friendship League, we'd never seen anything like this. Playing the four teams in the Sandlot Division in the first half of the season, the Loggers had gone a combined 0-12 against Boston, Lake Erie, Mount Pleasant, and Kansas City. As Wednesday evening dawned, the Loggers were intent on breaking this streak. Then, they lost three in a row to Boston, and three more in a row to Mount Pleasant. Not only was the season all over for the Loggers, but they had this enormous weight of 0-18 against this division staring them in the face. Undaunted, Manager Steve Willnus looked Pat Carr in the eye and said "one more game". Carr agreed, and the game was on. And sure enough, the Loggers were set up to extend the streak to 19 games when KC scored in the top of the 10th to take a 4-3 lead. Two quick outs left Steve Willnus searching for the door. But a walk to Aaron Hicks left a small glimmer of hope, as the disappointing DJ Lemahieu strode to the plate. Willnus point out for all who would listen that DJ had rolled a 1-6 (HR 1-17, flyout 18-20) at least four times this year and gotten an 18, 19, or 20 every time. And sure enough, Lemahieu dialed up the 1-6 right on cue. This time, the fates would have the split die stop on a "12", and Lemahieu trotted around the bases with a walk-off 2-run shot. The Loggers rejoiced. The curse was over.
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