(2-0) Mannheim Tornados – Paderborn Untouchables 10-9, 8-0
The TORNADOS became the only lower seed on day one of the quarterfinals in the German Baseball-Bundesliga to win. They defeated the UNTOUCHABLES in both games at home to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
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In game one a long rain delay halted play in the second inning. Afterwards PADERBORN scored first, putting two runs on the board in the third. However MANNHEIM rallied for nine runs between the sixth and eighth to built a 9-2 advantage, going into the last frame. But the U’s had one answer left. They scored seven runs in the top of the ninth; including a game-tying two-out grand slam by Michael Franke. The TORNADOS won anyway, as pinch runner Lukas Egetmeyer scored on a walk-off double by Craig Pycock in the bottom of the frame.
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Martin Dewald, who had given up the tying homerun to Franke in the first match, started game two for MANNHEIM and completely silenced the bats of PADERBORN. His two-hit complete game shutout helped the TORNADOS to an 8-0 victory. A five-run rally, which was highlighted by the second homerun of Marvin Appiah on the day, blew the game wide open in the eighth. Dewald gave up just four hits and a walk during the nine innings, striking out ten. The TORNADOS played with the South African national team player Justin Lazarus at third, who finally got the allowance to play from the government.
(0-2) HSV Stealers – Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg 1-11 (7), 3-7 (10)
The BUCHBINDER LEGIONAERE survived a scare in game two to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five quarterfinal series against the STEALERS.
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In game one the offense of the reigning champion scored five runs in the first two frames en route to an easy 11-1 win in seven innings against the HSV. Additionally starting pitcher Martin Almstetter allowed just one run on four hits in a complete game win. Matt Vance, Rodney Gessmann, Chris Howard and Cedric Bassel each scored twice. HAMBURG put the lone run on the board in the seventh on a RBI single by Michael Fliedner.
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In the second match, REGENSBURG had taken an early 3-1 lead in the third and cruised towards another win, when the STEALERS first cut the deficit to a run in the eighth and then one frame later even tied the contest on a one-out RBI double by Brehan Murphy. But the HSV missed out on the opportunity to win in walk-off style. The game went into extra innings, where the LEGIONAERE scored four runs in the top of the tenth to pull away. Michael Weigl had the big hit during the rally with a two-run single.
(0-2) Dortmund Wanderers – Heidenheim Heidekoepfe 1-7, 0-12 (7)
The HEIDEKOEPFE traveled to DORTMUND for the first round of the German playoffs and drove home with a 2-0 lead in the series.
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In game one HEIDENHEIM scored three runs in the first en route to a 7-1 victory. The WANDERERS were able to cut the deficit to two runs in the bottom of the fourth, but the HEIDEKOEPFE put four more runs on the board in the seventh to seal the win. Markus Winkler pitched seven solid inning for the win. Rene Herlitzius took the loss.
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In the second match Dusty Bergman led HEIDENHEIM with a brilliant start to a 12-0 shutout. He allowed just two two-out singles in the bottom of the seventh, facing just three batters over the minimum. He struck out eleven. The offense of last year’s semi-finalist had the decided the contest early, scoring five runs against Matt Kemp in the first three frames. Seven more runs later sealed the win after seven innings due to ten-run rule.
(0-2) Mainz Athletics – Solingen Alligators 4-12, 3-12
The ALLIGATORS scored 24 runs in the first two games of their series against the ATHLETICS for two wins.
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Led by an unstoppable Chris Beck, SOLINGEN scored six runs in the second frame of game one en route to a 12-4 win. Beck went three-for-six with two homeruns, two runs scored and six RBI. Patrick Kanthak and Dominik Wulf also homered. Eight different players scored for the northern champion. Mike Larson hit the ball over the fence for MAINZ. Enorbel Marquez-Ramirez struck out eleven in a complete game victory.
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The Chris Beck show continued in the second match, where the shortstop reached five times, crossed the plate for four runs and drove in three. SOLINGEN won by a final score of 12-3 after a mid-game rally produced seven runs. Dominik Wulf went two-for-three with two walks and two RBI. Nils Hartkopf hit a two-run homerun for the A’s. Andre Hughes, who pitched for his former club, as HCAW in the Netherlands is off due to the World Port Tournament in Rotterdam, struck out eight batters in 4 2/3 one-hit innings of relief.
Game three to five are scheduled for July 11&12.
Photo: © www.eisenhuth-photographie.de