Game Five

Fleetwood (D'Amico 12-5, 4.63 ERA) at Columbus (Wolf 19-7, 3.79 ERA) 

On the brink of elimination, Columbus took the field with their ace pitcher Randy Wolf on the mound.  Both teams had used their bullpens extensively in Games 4 and 5, so both teams were looking for strong starts from their pitchers.  Both would provide them. 

Columbus took the early lead in the first when lead-off batter Ricky Guiterrez, who had singled earier in the inning, scored on a Ben Molina passed ball.  Columbus would expand its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the third on an RBI triple by Bobby Higginson.  Meanwhile, Randy Wolf cruised through Fleetwood's line-up. 

Wolf would surrender his shutout in the 5th inning when Chad Curtis drove in Damion Easley with an RBI single.  Wolf then settled down, though, and no team scored again for the next three innings.  With tired bullpens, both starters had lasted into the ninth inning. 

Randy Wolf, pitching a four-hitter through eight innings, entered the top of the ninth with a 2-1 lead.  This lead was perilous, however, as Fleetwood had Chipper Jones, Paul Konerko and Jim Edmonds coming up to bat.  Once again in this series, a great finish was imminent. 

Jones, who had drawn 104 regular season walks, took ball four from Wolf.  The tying run was now on first and Paul Konerko, batting .571 for the series, stepped to the plate.  And yet again, Konerko did not disappoint...he stroked a solid single up the middle that drove Jones to third.  Columbus still had not outs and now the tying run was at third. 

Edmonds now stepped into the box with the infield in.  On the day, Edmonds was 0-3 against Wolf with 3 strikeouts.  If he could manage so much as a flyball here, though, he just might tie the game.  But while Edmonds did make contact for the first time in the game, all that resulted was a groundout to 1st.   Jones held at third while Konerko took second.  One away and Damion Easley up. 

Wolf, looking for a strikeout, was unable to hold the lead when Easley hit a sacrifice fly to left.  Chipper Jones scored easily and the game was tied 2-2.  Kevin Elster was due next. 

Columbus now faced a tough decision.  Due they stay with the left-handed Wolf against Elster?  Or bring in RH reliever Mike Timlin or RH Mike Dejean?  With LHs Bobby Abreu and Craig Counsell on the Fleetwood bench, neither option was appealing.  Deciding that Wolf was their ace all season, Columbus left him in. 

And Elster, continuing his hot hitting, ripped an RBI double into left.  The game was now 3-2 in favor of the visiting Fleetwood Walkers.  Mike Dejean would now come in, but the wind had temporarily left the Columbus sail.  Fleetwood catcher Ben Molina, hitless in his previous 14 at bats in the serires, hit yet another RBI double to left.  Dejean retired Curtis next to end the inning, but the Fleetwood lead was now 4-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth. 

With its entire bullpen facing fatigue, Fleetwood once again sent Jeff D'Amico to the mound.  With no complete games during the season, D'Amico was in untested waters.  Scheduled to face him were Brad Fullmer, Kevin Millar and Ron Belliard. 

And, amazingly, Columbus once again showed its determination.  On D'Amico's third pitch of the ninth, Brad Fullmer launched a soaring solo homerun to right field.  The game was now 4-3.  D'Amico buckled down, though, and retired Millar on a medium fly to left fielder Jeffrey Hammonds.  D'Amico then enticed a groundout from Ron Belliard.  Columbus was down to its last out. 

Stan Javier came to the plate, pinch hitting for outfielder Brian Jordan.  D'Amico leaned in for sign, mustered the last strength in his arm and through a sharp slider to Javier.  Javier made contact, but could only muster a flyball to Fleetwood centerfielder Jim Edmonds.   The game, and the series, were over. 

Fleetwood had won the series, four games to one.  WP-D'Amico (1-1).  LP-Wolf (0-2).

BOXSCORE: 2001 Fleetwood Walkers At 2001 Columbus Buckeyes          10/6/2001
Game 5: Wolf pitches great...but runs out of gas.  Fleetwood wins series 4-1.

  Walkers            AB  R  H RBI AVG     Buckeyes           AB  R  H RBI AVG
  C.Curtis DH         5  0  1  1 .286     R.Gutierrez SS      4  1  1  0 .300  
  S.Stewart LF        3  0  1  0 .250     M.Meluskey C        4  1  1  0 .176  
C-F.Crespo 1B         0  0  0  0 .000     B.Higginson LF      3  0  2  1 .313  
  J.Hammonds RF,LF    4  0  0  0 .182     R.Hidalgo CF        3  0  1  0 .333  
  C.Jones 3B          3  1  0  0 .250     S.Rolen 3B          4  0  0  0 .250  
  P.Konerko 1B        4  0  2  0 .591     B.Fullmer DH        4  1  3  1 .308  
A-J.Valentin PR,SS    0  1  0  0 .000     K.Millar 1B         4  0  0  0 .235  
  J.Edmonds CF        4  0  0  0 .333     R.Belliard 2B       4  0  0  0 .200  
  D.Easley 2B         2  1  0  1 .235     B.Jordan RF         3  0  1  0 .231  
  K.Elster SS         4  0  2  1 .385   D-S.Javier PH         1  0  0  0 .250  
B-B.Abreu PR,RF       0  1  0  0 .111                                          
  B.Molina C          4  0  1  1 .067                                          
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      33  4  7  4                 Totals      34  3  9  2

A-Pinch Ran For Konerko In 9th Inning
B-Pinch Ran For Elster In 9th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (1B) For Stewart In 9th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Jordan In 9th Inning

Walkers......... 0 0 0  0 1 0  0 0 3  -  4  7  0
Buckeyes........ 1 0 1  0 0 0  0 0 1  -  3  9  0

Walkers                  IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
J.D'Amico WIN(1-1)        9       9   3   2   1   5   1   3.38  A1
Totals                    9       9   3   2   1   5   1

Buckeyes                 IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
R.Wolf LOSS(0-2)          8 2/3   6   4   4   3   7   0   3.07  A1 D8
M.Dejean                  0 1/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   0.00  D9
Totals                    9       7   4   4   3   7   0

ATTENDANCE- 41,857 DATE-  TIME- Night 
T- 3:10
LEFT ON BASE- Walkers: 6  Buckeyes: 6
DOUBLE PLAYS- Walkers: 2  Buckeyes: 0
DOUBLES- S.Stewart(2nd), K.Elster(1st), B.Molina(1st), B.Higginson(3rd),
         B.Fullmer(1st)
TRIPLES- B.Higginson(1st)
HOME RUNS- B.Fullmer(1st)
SACRIFICE FLIES- D.Easley
WALKS- S.Stewart, C.Jones, D.Easley, B.Higginson
HIT BY PITCH- R.Hidalgo
STRIKE OUTS- J.Hammonds-2, J.Edmonds-3, K.Elster-2, R.Gutierrez, S.Rolen,
             K.Millar-2, B.Jordan
GIDP- R.Hidalgo, R.Belliard
PASSED BALLS- B.Molina

Jeff D'Amico allowed Rube Foster to rest his bullpen, tossing a complete game
at Fred Bridgedale Park as the Fleetwood Walkers staged a comeback win over
the Columbus Buckeyes by the count of 4 to 3.

Fleetwood came up with the deciding runs in the top of the 9th inning scoring
3 runs on 3 hits.  Chipper Jones opened up the inning nicely when he drew a
walk.  Paul Konerko was next and he delivered a one-base hit.  After another
out, Damion Easley came up and he hit a sacrifice fly which scored a run.
Kevin Elster was up next and he doubled plating another run.  Ben Molina
stepped into the box and doubled scoring the final run of the inning.
Fleetwood had a total of 7 hits for the game.  

D'Amico(1-1) allowed 3 runs on the game. Randy Wolf(0-2) absorbed the loss.
'We just kept swinging the bats and didn't give up,' Elster said. 'If you
just keep trying good things can happen!'

SERIES SUMMARY

Fleetwood over Columbus, four games to one. 

For the series, Fleetwood hit .274 with 4 HRs, a .342 on-base percentage and a .385 slugging percentage.  Fleetwood pitchers posted a 3.72 ERA. 

Columbus, meanwhile, hit .260 with 5 HRs, a .333 on-base percentage and a .439 slugging percentage.  Its pitchers posted a 5.40 ERA. 

The series MVP award goes to Fleetwood first baseman Paul Konerko.  Konerko batted .591 (13-22) in the series, including one double and a team-leading 5 RBIs. 

Congratulations to Columbus for its great season.  Despite losing the series in five games, the Buckeyes showed amazing perseverance in each and every game, and deserved a better fate.