We Got Wood - 42.57 - Quincy Claims AAA Title!!

[7teen]

The Portland farm system did it again. Just days after Alpine Valley claimed The Final Judgement, the title awarded to the champion in Double-A, the Quincy Firedancers overcame a 2-1 deficit in The Big One to claim the Triple-A championship over the St. Paul Riverhawks of the Calgary organization!

After dropping game one 8-6, the Firedancers recovered to take game 2 3-1 behind superb pitching by Francisco Franco. Franco allowed just 2 hits over 7.1 shutout innings to claim the win. Quincy dropped game three 7-5 forcing the Firedancers to win back to back games for the title. They did just that.

Albert Gaono and Francisco Cortez led the charge in game 4, tallying 3 hits each to spark a huge rally in the 7th inning. Up 3-0 going to the inning, the Firedancers put up 7 runs in the inning behind a Cortez double. Cortez, who homered earlier in the game said after the game "We're still alive! Game 5, at our place in Quincy. I like our chances."

"It's been a wild couple of days" said Albert Gaona after the game. "The front office contacted me the day after we won in Alpine Valley and asked how willing I was to fly to St. Paul to help Quincy with a title. At first I asked why I'd do it and they said they needed a 1B for the final two games. They were calling Rodrigo Barbosa up to Portland for the final few games to give him a look and asked if I'd fill his spot. They sold me on how cool a story it could possibly be if I were to somehow win two titles in a week for two teams. I told them sure! Now we have to go finish it. I guess it's another flight for me out west" Gaona laughed.

Game 5 had the dramatics you'd like to see in a deciding game. The Riverhawks jumped out early with a run off of Shuji Kokawa in the 3rd. Kokawa, who went 14-2 in the regular season for Quincy, was helped by his bats in the bottom half when Gaona hit a 2-out single with the bases loaded to give the Firedancers a lead. The lead was short lived however as Kokawa allowed a pair right back giving St. Paul the 3-2 lead.

A Masamichi Kubo triple in the 5th changed that and suddenly Quincy was back on top 4-3 after 5. Kokawa settled in after that, lasting 6 innings allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and a couple of walks with his team still ahead 4-3. In the bottom of the 8th, Quincy got it going. Feitze AlbersFeitze Albers and Roberto Gil each doubled with 2 on, leading to 3 Quincy runs in the 8th and suddenly the Firedancers were 3 outs away from the title, leading 7-3.

Rather than turn it over to Cisco Crespo who had saved 37 games in the regular season, manager Keith Russell stuck with Fernand Richard who had already pitched a scoreless 7th and 8th inning in relief of Kokawa. Already with 2 perfect innings under his belt and 3 strikeouts, Richard went back to work and proved Russell a genius. 14 pitches into the 9th inning and 3 fly balls later, Quincy was crowned champs.

"This is way better than any fruit basket" manager Keith Russell commented after the game, a clear jab at his former employers in Chicago. "Coming here and being a part of a well run organization that has a Master Plan on winning from the top all the way down to the bottom is such a blessing to be a part of. What a great season!"

The Firedancers join the Snow Creatures in winning 2 of the 5 minor league titles in 2042 and join the Wild Things as minor league champions over the course of 3 years since Portland's addition to the league.

[RonCo]

Now they know how to win, right?

[7teen]

Now they know how to win, right?

That's right! It's all coming together. Big league gonna get to 63 in the final sim and the minors are winning titles.

Of course when your minors are filled with guys who are closer to retiring than contributing at the big league level I'm not really sure that's the case! haha