This year’s Junior Division playoffs did not play out as expected at Thomas Stadium.
The third seeded Cubs won the tournament beating the second seeded Rangers in the semifinals 8-6 and then beating the No. 1 seeded Giants 7-5 for the championship game.
Against the Rangers, the Cubs jumped out to an early 8-1 lead after two innings, scoring once in the first and seven times in the second to take a commanding lead.
The Rangers scored two in the second, two in the fourth and one in the fifth, but the Cubs defense would allow no more runs.
The fine pitching of Evan Hartman earned him the win as he kept the Rangers at bay until Timmy Meade could come in and get the final seven outs for the save.
For the Cubs, Keith Jann, Jake Brentlinger, Dakota Jackson, Meade, Eric Gaedtke, Ayden Richer and Trevor Kizer all collected hits.
Ben Getz went 3-for-3 for the Rangers in a losing cause.
In the top half of the opening frame of the championship game, the Cubs went down in order only to see the Giants score three times in their half of the first.
Jordan Griffin opened the frame with a single, Ryan Zimmerman was sent up to the plate to lay down a sacrifice bunt but was safe at first after an error.
With one out, Alec Landon hit a fly ball deep into center field that Cubs outfielder Trey Casey caught at the base of the fence for a sacrifice fly. Fritz Findeisen then tripled and scored later on a wild pitch.
In the Cubs’ second, two were out when Casey took a called strike three that went to the backstop that would have ended the inning, but he beat the throw to first. He later scored on a wild pitch that inning to make the score 3-1.
In the Cubs’ third, Alex Walters walked with one out and Jann walked with two out bringing up Brentlinger. Brentlinger sent a single through the middle scoring both runners to tie the score. Hartman followed with a double sending home Brentlinger for a 4-3 Cubs lead.
In the Giants’ fourth, Landon tripled with one out and scored on a fielder’s choice from Findeisen that knotted the score at 4-4.
In the Cubs’ half of the sixth, Jann lead off with a double, stole third and scored on an error to put the Cubs back on top 5-4.
In the bottom of the sixth, Zimmerman walked with two out and scored on a single by Landon to make tie the score again, this time at 5-5.
In the seventh inning with one out, the Cubs put together four consecutive singles by Casey, Meade, Jake Wright and Kizer that netted two runs for a 7-5 advantage.
Meade made that hold up as he earned his second save in as many games. Jann deserved the win but got a no-decision while scattering 6 hits over five and two-third innings.