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HUNTSVILLE, Ala.
-- With the Huntsville Stars two outs away from celebrating, Sergio Pedroza lined a three-run homer off of Luis Pena over the left-centerfield wall, catapulting the Montgomery Biscuits to a stunning 4-3 victory and a second straight Southern League Championship.
The Biscuits defeated the Stars three games to two in the best-of-five series, becoming the first team since the 1975-77 Montgomery Rebels to repeat as Southern League Champions. The triumph marks the city of Montgomery's seventh title, the most in the history of the Southern League.
Pena (0-1) and the Stars entered the ninth inning clutching a 3-1 lead, built on a rare fielding error from Montgomery centerfielder Fernando Perez. Chris Nowak, the SLCS Most Valuable Player, started the rally by grounding a single through the infield. John Jaso lined out hard to right and Gabriel Martinez sprayed a base hit of his own to move Nowak to third.
Pedroza, promoted from Vero Beach at the start of the postseason, wasted no time. The 23-year-old crushed the first pitch from Pena to the opposite field, pushing the Biscuits into the lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, Montgomery closer Tim Corcoran struck out Mat Gamel but surrendered a Brendan Katin single and walked Lou Palmisano. With the Joe W. Davis Stadium crowd of 1,431 roaring, Corcoran induced Steve Moss to bounce a pitch at shortstop Reid Brignac, who stepped on second for the force and fired to first to end the Championship Series.
It was the first time all season in which the Stars had lost a game that they led after eight innings.
The dramatic turn of events in the ninth erased the memory of Perez's fifth inning miscue. With Montgomery leading 1-0, thanks to a Nowak RBI double in the first, the Stars put runners at first and second with two outs. Mickey Brantley followed by driving a Richard De Los Santos delivery to deep right-center. The speedy Perez tracked it down, only to watch the ball glance off of his glove for a two-run three-base error. An RBI infield single from Alcides Escobar then plated Brantley, giving Huntsville a two-run cushion.
Apart from the fifth, De Los Santos was excellent. The Dominican righthander hurled six innings, his longest stint of the year, allowing five hits and one walk, hitting a pair of batters and striking out two.
He was bettered by Huntsville starting pitcher Steve Hammond, who limited Montgomery to one run on four hits while fanning eight batters in seven splendid innings
That effort was undone by the Pedroza in the ninth, transferring the victory to reliever Brian Henderson (1-1), who threw a perfect eighth inning. Coincidentally, it was the southpaw Henderson who was on the mound when the Biscuits clinched the 2006 Southern League Championship in four games against the Huntsville Stars.
In the jubilant visiting clubhouse, the 6'5 Chris Nowak loomed largest. Nowak went 4-for-4 in the game, capping off a series in which he batted .611 (11-for-18) with three home runs. He was a unanimous choice for Most Valuable Player of the Southern League Championship Series.
The Biscuits begin defense of their second championship on Thursday, April 3, 2008, with a season-opening five-game series against the Chattanooga Lookouts at Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium. | 
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