WAKEFIELD — The Slap are back.
With an exciting 7-4 victory over the Expos in extra innings last night at Moulton Park, the Slappers became the first team to claim a spot in the Finals for the Twi League’s 50th season.
The Slappers swept the Expos 2-0 after taking game one 7-5 on Sunday night.
The Slap will now await the winner of the Loafers vs. Brewers semifinal. Game two of that series will be tonight, 5:45 p.m. at Moulton. The Loafers lead the series 1-0.
In the best game of the playoffs so far, the Expos rallied to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the 7th.
After the customary meeting at the plate to discuss daylight with the umpires, the meteorologists trotted out for an 8th inning.
Atypical from what you’d expect, leading off in extra’s is usually preferred in the Twi. With the light dwindling, pushing a run or two across adds pressure to the home team who has to deal with tougher vision at the dish along with the task at hand.
The Slappers wasted no time in building that pressure as Paul McGunigle led off with a walk, Matt Mercurio hit a broken-bat single and Kevin Deleary followed with a base hit that got past the left fielder, allowing McGunigle to score and take the lead. Later with one out, Brian Tartarini came up with a clutch, 2-RBI double to left, extending the lead to 7-4.
After emphatically telling the umps that they wanted an 8th, the Expos joked that the conditions were now too difficult. C’mon Blue, it’s dangerous out here, let’s just call this off.
Despite the loss, it was hard to argue that any team had more fun this season than the ‘Spos. The “young guns” of the Twi had plenty to laugh about and play for not the least being Zack Kane’s inspirational speech before the bottom of the 7th. Kaner and the ‘Spos just loved playing sandlot ball together and they wanted it to continue. That worked when with two outs and Erich Hickey on 3rd base, John Porter (2-for-2, 2 RBI) came up with a clutch RBI base hit to tie the game and send the Expos into a frenzy.
The Slappers aren’t far removed from these current Expos. Their core includes a group that was the last to win a Twi title not named the Brewers. That was back in 2020 when the happy-go-lucky Slappers reached another level in the playoffs before winning it all. That core group, a mix of newcomers and veterans five years ago, are mostly grizzled old-timers now, but they were having plenty of fun in a 3-run 1st which set the tone. Brendan Dudman (2-for-5) led off with a double and later with the bases loaded, McGunigle was hit by a pitch to draw first blood. Mercurio walked to make it 2-0 and Deleary hit a sac fly for one more.
Slapper starter Nick Galli (5IP, 5H, 5BB, 1K, 3R, 3ER) kept the Expos off balance and off the board in the first two frames. The Expos got one back with a two-out rally in the 3rd starting with a Tommy Mottl walk. After advancing on a wild pitch, Nick Knowles (2-for-4, RBI) drove in a run with a single but as he did all night, Galli stayed in control and got out of it with a fly out.
The Slap got one back in the 4th on an RBI bloop by Andrew Porter and Galli worked around an error and a base hit with three straight outs to escape the bottom of the 4th.
The Expos made their move with two runs in the 5th. Mottl walked, Knowles singled and Hickey hit a sac fly. Frank Leone then walked and Luke Hopkins was hit by a pitch — twice actually as his first grazed the sleeve and was called quietly by the ump before the two just moved on despite the Expos calling for “Hop” to take his base. He was plunked on the next pitch, leading to an epic bat flip and sarcastic cheer from his teammates. Porter hit a sac fly to make it 4-3 but Galli again came up with a big out, getting another fly ball to end the inning.
Knowles (4IP, 6H, 1BB, 1K, 3R, 2ER) replaced Porter on the mound in the 5th and shut the Slappers out for three innings, allowing his team to come back and eventually tie it in the 7th. In the end, the Slappers lived up to their billing as the second-best team in the league this summer, coming through with their always-solid hitting as they will bring a combined 14 runs scored in two playoff games into the Finals.
If the Brewers can win tonight and extend the series, game three will be played on Thursday night. If the Loafers finish it off tonight, game one of the Finals will likely start sooner, on either Thursday or Friday.