Game 2: Szentendre plays cool, Óbuda left frozen in 0-2 hole (date Oct-17)
On an unusually cold October weekend game two of the championship series, two veteran pitchers started and one of them even managed to complete it. Attila Varkonyi limited the Óbuda offense to four hits and one run, struck out seven and was helped by a stellar defense to pitch a complete game. It was a great pitching duel, Xiong Xiabo, the Chinese import of Brick Factory, matched up with Varkonyi through eight innings.
Score was tied 1-1 in the top of the 9th, when Xiabo hit the first batter he faced and was relieved by Zsolt Zalabai. Zalabai pitched well but despite the cold weather there came a defensive meltdown for team Óbuda. After the hit by pitch the next two batters reached base on infield errors, both of them commited by first baseman Jorge Fernandez. In addition to that the Sleepwalkers grabbed the lead, scoring on a passed ball. After another passed ball and a balk the bases were empty, so the fans actually cheered a three-run rally which happened without a basehit. After these misplays Zalabai settled in and retired the next three batters in order.
Balazs Kalocsai started the bottom of the ninth with a basehit, but the Óbuda rally was closed short after Norbert Goor grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Várkonyi finished the game by striking out Csaba Goor looking. It seems the cold weather gave the necessary cold blood to Szentendre team to win this nailbiter.
Szentedre Sleepwalkers @ Óbuda Brick Factory 4-1 / G2 boxscore / Szentendre leads series 2-0
Game 3: Óbuda bats come alive in must win situation (Oct-18)
The third game of the series was played again in cold weather but the Brick Factory players brought hot bats to the plate. After wasting a great performance by Xiong Xiabo in game two, Óbuda jumped on Sleepwalkers starter Péter Gyurcsek right from the start scoring four runs in top of the first inning and they never looked back.
Sleepwalkers answered with only one run in the bottom of the first and Jorge Fernandez made it 5-1 in the third inning with a long drive that landed in the woods way behind the right field fence. Giving a comfortable lead early to their ace on the mound the defending champion Brick Factory cruised the rest of the way.
Sleepwalkers scored four runs on nine hits but this time the defense did not work smoothly. Péter Gyurcsek pitched seven innings giving up eight runs, only four earned as Szentendre defense committed four errors. Zalabai pitched eight innings allowing four runs (3 ER), slugger Jorge Fernandez added another solo homer to right center in the seventh inning and also pitched the ninth allowing two hits but no runs. Besides Fernandez going two-for-two with two homeruns, the top three hitters of BF lineup (Lupták, Xiabo, Morua) collected two hits each. But the difference in the game was made by the bottom of the orders. Óbuda got production from seven through nine too: four hits, two runs, two RBIs, two walks. Arpad Korcsogh batted in two from the eight spot and rookie Gabor Munkacsi doubled, walked and scored two runs in his first playoff game. Szentendre bottom three hitters could not get on base at all.
This was a must win game for Óbuda and after the split this weekend the series is led by Szentendre 2-1, but seems there is still a lot of baseball left to play in this best of seven series. Game four will start at 1pm on Saturday, October 24 in Szentendre. See you there!
Óbuda Brick Factory @ Szentedre Sleepwalkers 11-4 / G3 boxscore / Szentendre leads series 2-1