E.S.L. Post-Season Summaries

Plague Wins 25th ESL Championship

Pedro Martinez Hurls 1st No-Hitter in ESL Post-Season History

Second Championship for Pittsford Franchise

In a post-season that featured outstanding pitching, the Pittsford Plague captured their 2nd ESL Championsip, by winning four of five from the Mt. Vernon Thunder.  Emblematic of the strong pitching was the league's first post-season no-hitter, a 4-0 gem in Game 4 of the finals, hurled by Pedro Martinez.  He displayed excellent control, as only an error and a hit batsman kept it from being a perfect game, and Pedro fanned 9 in the course of his gem.  He also struck out 11 Thunder batters in the series opener (a 4-3 win) en route to the series MVP award. A post-season recap follows:

Semi-Finals: Mt. Vernon Thunder over the Albany Metros 3 games to 2.

Game 1:    Mt. Vernon Thunder 2  -  Albany Metros 0

This game set the tone for the post-season, as Randy Johnson beat Mark Buehrle in a classic pitchers' duel.The Unit allowed only 2 hits and fanned 9. The Thunder scored all the runs they would need in the second, on a solo shot by Moises Alou, a double by Corey Koskie and an rbi single by Mark Quinn.

Game 2:   Mt. Vernon Thunder 9  -  Albany Metros 1

Jamie Moyer continued the Thunder hill mastery, twirling a five-hitter and going all the way in a Thunder rout. Bobby Abreu, David Segui, and Russell Branyan all went deep for Mt. Vernon, as they took a commanding 2 games to none lead in the series.

Game 3:  Albany Metros 4  -  Mt. Vernon Thunder 0

This time it was Chan Ho Park as the dominator, as he tossed a four-hit shut-out, while fanning seven. Barry Bonds and Tony Clark has rbi doubles for the Metros and Jermaine Dye iced it with a two-run homer in the 8th.

Game 4:  Albany Metros 11   -  Mt. Vernon Thunder 1

Randy Johnson didn't have it this time around, but Mark Buehrle certainly did, making it all look easy with a seven-hit complete game effort. Johnson was pounded for nine hits, two walks, and six runs in 5.1 innings of work. Jeff Cirillo turned in the post-season's greatest offensive performance, with a double triple, and homer. He had five ribbies on the day. Dye also added his second homer of the series in the Metro rout, bringing on a fifth game semi-final showdown.

Game 5:  Mt. Vernon Thunder 7  -  Albany Metros 3

The Thunder made their statement early, scoring five times before the Metros had a chance in the top of the 1st. Jamie Moyer went the distance for his second series win, as he earned MVP honors for the semi-final round.  Abreu hit his second round-tripper for the MVT, and Barry Bonds hit a solo shot for the losers.  It was the only run Bonds was to score in the entire series.

Finals: Pittsford Plague over the Mt. Vernon Thunder

4 games to 1.

Game 1:  Pittsford Plague 4  -  Mt. Vernon Thunder 3

It promised to be a classic matchup between Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson, but after two innings it didn't look like one, with the Plague ahead early, 4-2. Luis Gonzalez hit a 2-run shot in the 1st, and Jason LaRue was the surprising source of a two-run homer the following inning. Both pitchers settled down after that, and 15 Thunder batters went down on strikes, as Arthur Rhodes and Mariano Rivera recorded the last four outs via whiffs.

Game 2:  Mt. Vernon Thunder 5  -  Pittsford Plague  1

Jamie Moyer continued his remarkabale performance from the semis by fanning 10 Plague hitters en route to a 6-hit complete game victory.  Sammy Sosa homered and drove in three runs, as the Thunder broke open a close 2-1 game in the 6th and cruised to victory.

Game 3:  Pittsford Plague 4  -  Mt. Vernon Thunder 2

This was the pivotal game of the post-season. Maddux had pitched brilliantly, but left after seven innings on the short end of a 2-1 score, as Jerrod Washburn had fanned eight up to that point. But the Plague rallied for 2 in the 8th on a triple by Roberto Alomar and an insurance run in the 9th. Mariano Rivera struck out all four men he faced to nail down the win.

Game 4:  Pittsford Plague 4  -  Mt. Vernon Thunder 0

The finest pitching performance in ESL post-season history also gave the Plague a commanding 3 games to 1 lead.  Pedro Martinez was never in trouble, allowing only two base runners and benefiting from a four-run Plague outburst against Randy Johnson in the 3rd inning that featured back-to-back homers by Alomar (one on) and Frank Catalanotto (solo). That was all Pedro needed to best Johnson for the second time.

Game 5:  Pittsford Plague 1  -  Mt. Vernon Thunder  0

Jamie Moyer began to look more and more like Dickie Kerr, as he spun yet another complete game (his 4th, an ESL post-season record). Unfortunately, one of the 6 hits he allowed was a solo homer by Catalanotto.  That was all that the Plague needed, as John Burkett, Arthur Rhodes, and Mariano Rivera combined to shut down the Thunder bats yet again, this time on only three hits.  

And so the Pittsford Plague, who had previously been post-season disappointments (winning only once in four earlier tries) were crowned the 25th ESL Champions.  Congratulations to all league GMs for a well-played and taught post season.