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Familiar Territory: Newts advance to NLCS after epic series win over South Bend
NEW CARLISLE- Back before the season started, New Carlisle's Koby Keck and South Bend's Anthony Rieff competed in a bidding war for the Cult West core. While it was the Newts who were able to bring the core to New Carlisle, South Bend was able to steal a few of the others from Cult West.
South Bend was also able to land former Newts Seth Shail and Matt Serge, adding to the rivalry. The rivalry headed up in a big way on Sunday as the Newts and Sour Chicken Muffs met in the ALDS.
With the wind howling out, both teams knew that they would need to score a lot of runs to come out on top. With Game 1 tied at 19 heading into the bottom of the 6th, Matt Soos put himself in the Newts record books mashing a walk off 2 run Home Run propelling the Newts to a 1-0 series lead.
South Bend did not hang their heads though as they came out ready to go in Game 2. They held a solid lead for most of the game until the Newts started to chip away. However, the Sour Chicken Muffs were able to force a Game 3 as they took Game 2 by the score of 19-14.
With everything on the line, Game 3 did not disappoint. South Bend got off to a quick start taking a 6-4 lead after 2 innings. The Newts came right back and tied the game at 7 heading into the 5th. Following a scoreless 5th, the Newts were able to take an 8-7 lead heading into the 6th.
However, on a day where Danny Hernandez was launching balls across the street at Migley Field, the Sour Chicken Muffs were not able to force a bottom of the 6th as they were held scoreless. It was no easy task for the Newts as they advanced to the NLCS with a Game 3 (8-7) victory.
New Carlisle will now have the chance to make it to their 4th consecutive ORWBL World Series with the Saugany Lake White Lightning awaiting them in the National League Championship series.
As for the Sour Chicken Muffs, the loss meant that Matt Serge has likely played his last ORWBL game. He announced his retirement from the league immediately following the loss. While it was not the ending that Serge had pictured, Serge's legacy will forever impact the league as he is one of the all time greats.
