Sarzonia finally got its first sweep of the current World Baseball Classic, breaking out the brooms against Bolgano and putting two games between them and Lisander.
How they got there will be the stuff of legend.
Sarzonia pulled away with an 8-5 victory in Game 1 of the series against Bolgano and used some late inning magic to turn the tide in Game 3, but all the talk about this series will be about Game 2.
The Stars (15-9) took an early 2-0 lead courtesy of a two-run double by catcher Matt Lopez, who picked on a 3-1 fastball out over the plate for just his first extra base hit and third RBI of the tournament thus far.
Jamie Pearson took it from there for most of the rest of the way, tossing just 96 pitches through eight innings. He talked Manager Geoff Yancey into letting him pitch the ninth. He got two quick ground ball outs, but second baseman Ian Danielson booted a routine grounder through his legs to keep Bolgano alive. Pearson immediately paid the price for a 2-1 sinker that didn't sink, and Bolgano tied the score with one swing. Closer Tyrell Douglass struck out the next batter and then fanned the side in the 10th.
The match remained level for three more innings after that as long reliever Alfred Wagner kept Bolgano off the scoreboard with a dominant performance, striking out seven of the 11 hitters he faced. Lefty long man Dima Ostrelov worked a scoreless 14th. Unfortunately for the Stars, first baseman Cody Frazier was ejected in the bottom of the 11th for arguing balls and strikes. That forced Yancey to burn the DH by sending Luke Brinkley to play first base.
That meant the pitcher would have to hit. Ostrelov came to bat with Brinkley on second after a booming double. He took third after a wild pitch with Ostrelov squaring around to attempt a sacrifice bunt.
With the count at one ball, two strikes, the Bolgano relief pitcher absentmindedly licked his fingers without calling time and stepping off the rubber. The Newmanistanian home plate umpire was all over it, immediately calling a balk that gave the Stars a dramatic walk-off win.
"The pitcher comes set. Here's the 1-2 AND THE HOME PLATE UMPIRE HAS JUST CALLED A BALK! BRINKLEY WILL SCORE AND THR STARS WIN IT!" Alden Quirk, the Stars play by play announcer exclaimed as the disbelieving Stars rushed the field in celebration.
Meanwhile, Bolgano manager Thomas Roy furiously argued with the home plate umpire, but even he knew that his reliever committed a balk. His only argument was "is that how you want this game to end?"
The series sweep means that the Stars are two games clear of both Lisander, which hosts the Stars in Sarzonia's final away series of this World Baseball Classic, and The Sherpa Empire with six games left.
Yancey warned his team that the three games away to the 21st ranked team in the world would be "dangerous," and the Stars needed to weather the storm.
For people looking to place Sarzonia's unlikely position in first place in context, it isn't just that Sarzonia are in first place in Group 5 with just two series remaining despite entering the World Baseball Classic as an unranked side. The Stars have done so after stumbling out of the gate with a 2-4 record in the first two series at Fleetwood Park. They have gone 13-5 in the games since and are now shooting for a top-flight seed in the knockouts.
They're also trying to handle the logistical challenges of trying to ensure transportation to Drawkland, hotel accommodations for the team and assembled staff, and practice fields whilst grieving the death of assistant traveling secretary Todd Meyers from the SARS 2 novel Coronavirus in spite of the team's efforts to socially distance themselves.
The Stars wore a patch with the initials "TEM" in his memory and plan to do so for the remainder of their World Baseball Classic run.
"It's incredibly tough on all of us," Yancey said. "We're all taking precautions, but we don't know what's going to happen with this."
