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HUNTSVILLE
-- Six solid innings by the Southern League's
Most Outstanding Pitcher Chris Mason at Joe
W. Davis Stadium Friday night led the Montgomery
Biscuits to within one game of repeating as
Southern League champions.
Mason
(1-0) permitted the Hunsville Stars eight
hits but no runs, and the Biscuits captured
a 4-1 victory and a 2-1 series lead in the
best-of-five battle for the Billy Hithcock
Tophy. The righty pitched out of several jams
and the Biscuits played spectacular defense
behind him. The Biscuits, 25-5 when Mason
took the mound this season, have not lost
in one of his starts since June.
Reliever
Evan Meek was equally impressive, tossing
three innings to finish the game out, striking
out six. His only mistake was allowing a solo
home run to SL home run king Brendan Katin
in the ninth.
The
pitching was supported by some early offense
from the Biscuits against Stars starting pitcher
Derek Miller. The Biscuits banged out three
hits in the second inning, scoring twice on
a base-loaded liner up the middle by Fernando
Perez and producing another run on Josh Asanovich's
ground out.
In
the following inning, Chris Nowak hit a line
drive off the scoreboard in left field for
his thrd home run in as many games. The Wisconsonian
had just seven homers during the regular season
but has homered in each game of the Championship
Series.
Miller
left after three innings with the loss hanging
over his head. The Stars bullpen of Bo Hall
(3 2/3 IP), Patrick Ryan (1 1/3) and E.J.
Shanks (1) threw scoreless baseball for the
remainder of the game.
Sparkling
defense got the Biscuits out of the first
three innings. Nowak started double plays
in the first and third innings, each time
doubling up Stars third baseman Adam Heether.
The Stars thought they had a run in the second
inning when Steve Moss rolled the Stars' third
single of the inning through the middle of
the infield. But Perez's throw from center
and an athletic play by catcher John Jaso
cut down Steve Sollman trying to score and
kept the Stars scoreless.
The
Biscuits are one win away from becoming the
first Southern League team to repeat as champions
since the 1975-77 Montgomery Rebels. They
will try to finish off the Stars Saturday
night at 7:05 with lefty Mike Prochaska facing
Stars southpaw Lindsa Gulin.
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