Quinn Construction’s Rally Nets Win Over Bowser For Bye

By Keith Barnes

With a bye in the first round of the Daily News League playoffs on the line Monday, Quinn Construction and Bowser took the field in their regular-season finale. But there was already a playoff atmosphere building between the teams. There were several good-natured barbs going back and forth between the players and coaches throughout the game, but both had a seriousness that had been missing in their earlier meetings. And, as it turned out, Quinn Construction came up with an ending befitting a postseason preview. With two on and two out in the seventh and the score even, catcher Corey Rodgers hit a shot off the glove of Bowser third baseman Jack Shaffer that scored Jim Pasquine with the winning run to cap a three-run inning that gave Quinn Construction (18-6) a dramatic, 7-6 victory over the Twins. With the victory, the Mudcats clinched second place and a bye into the Daily News League semifinals. “That's the sign of a good team right there,” Quinn Construction coach Tom Simcho said. “That's big for us because we've got a lot of arms that need to rest. Almost everybody pitched this weekend in one league or another, so this is huge for us.” Bowser (17-7) had a two-run lead at three different points in the game but stranded runners in scoring position in the first, sixth and seventh innings. The Twins' biggest failure at getting a runner home came in the top of the seventh with two on, one out and a 6-4 lead. Reliever and eventual winning pitcher Jason Milko helped turn a 1-6-3 double play to get out of trouble and keep the deficit at two. “They got out of jams, and we left guys on base,” Bowser coach Andy Brettschneider said. “You can't leave guys on base in a game like this because it's a close baseball game. Now we get to play a little extra baseball.” Reigning champion Bowser will begin its title defense against sixth-place finisher Clancy's Pub (10-14) in a three-game series to begin Wednesday. The Twins also will come into the tournament knowing just how close they came to having that elusive first-round bye. Bowser took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Shaffer dropped a two-run single into short right field. After Quinn Construction chipped away with one in the first and two in the second thanks to a two-run single from Kevin Quinn, the Twins used a pair of homers from Chad Jacob — a three-run bomb in the fifth and a solo shot in the seventh off Mudcats starter Anthony Garofalo — to reclaim the lead. “When he hit that (first) home run, that was the situation where I'd like to bring in a Pasquine or a (Dom) Francia right there, and I couldn't do it because their arms are sore,” Simcho said. “But Garofalo just kept on going, and we finally got some runs.”

Date: July 29, 2013     Time: 6:00pm      Venue: Winklevoss Park