Down 1 game to 0, Hawaiian skipper Stan Pietruska attempted to right the ship by sending his best groundball and control pitcher, Joel Pineiro (14-10, 3.72, only 38 walks and 25 HR in 240 ip) to the bump.
Once again, speedy LCC leadoff hitter Nick Johnson rang the bell early, this time with a wall-ball double to center. He advanced to 3rd on an Adam Lind single, then scored on a Garrett Jones groundout. LCC added a 2nd run in the inning on a Ryan Zimmerman sacrifice fly.
Unlike in Game 1, the Hawaiians had an answer to the early LCC outburst. Homeruns by sluggers Jayson Werth and Kendry Morales (combined 72 regular-season HR) tied the game at 3-3 in the 7th.
With all-time NASBL saves leader Mariano Rivera on the mound in the 8th, things seemed promising to the Hawaiian hometown faithful. But rookie of the year candidate Garrett Jones (.338/28/66) was able to jerk a Rivera cutter down the line for a crowd-quieting go-ahead homerun.
Equine Mike Wuertz again went multiple innings (2-2/3 ip, 1 hit, 4 k's), but allowed the tying run on base in the form of a 2-out Casey McGehee double before handing the game over to ROOGY Jason Frasor. Frasor was left in the unenviable position of facing Hawaiian uber-pinch-hitter Miguel Tejada (.347/10/81). Tejada stroked a single to center, and the game devolved down to one split-throw, with McGehee running on the pitch and Cannibal CF Curtis Granderson coming up throwing. With McGehee potentially safe 1-18, and McGehee, the ball, and Brian McCann all seemingly occupying a tiny slice of the plate at an identical point in time, when the dust of the home-plate collision settled, the home crowd was stunned to see the umpire's thumb up in the air and the baleful glare of a "20" on the split die.
LCC 4 - HHA 3, Lake Champlain leads the series 2 games to 0.
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