15.07. POKAL : Gophers @ Untouchables
The Gophers came ever so close to taking down one of Germany’s best baseball clubs this past weekend as they traveled to Paderborn to play the Untouchables in the semi-final of the Pokal tournament. It was not the day for the Gophers though as they found themselves falling just short of a big upset and looking back to what could have been. All was not lost however as the Gophers were able to prove to themselves that they can play and compete with some really good baseball teams. Even though the team from Pulheim was eliminated from the tournament with the loss, spirits were not down and confidence is growing constantly.
As the game began, it looked as though it would be a long one for the visitors. Paderborn got on the board early and the Gopher bats struggled to get comfortable the first time around the order. In the 5th inning, Pulheim was trailing 4-0 when they finally got on the scoreboard with aggressive baserunning by Philipp Krah. So then into the bottom of the inning where the Gophers quickly gave back the run but Marco Dietsch was able to wiggle his way out of a bases loaded, one-out jam by inducing a 4-6-3 double play. The momemtum shifted to the plate in the 6th for the Gophers and they found themselves with an opportunity to put themselves within striking distance. After scratching for two runs, Chris Gentles and Philipp Krah came up with the biggest hits of the day as they both drove in multiple runs with a single and a triple respectively. It didn’t stop there, the Gophers kept their discipline at the plate and tacked on a few more runs and suddenly found themselves winning by a 7-5 margin.
Marco Dietsch knew just what to do with the lead as he successfully sat down the Untouchables without incident the next two innings. As a matter of fact, Dietsch turned in one of his finest performances to date as he was around the plate all day and worked ahead of hitters and was able to keep the Untouchables powerful lineup off balance. Behind him was the usual steady defensive squad where great efforts were put forth by Fabio Lo Iacono, Oliver Büser and Johnny Correa Rodriguez. So the Gophers entered the bottom of the 8th inning with a chance to shock the team from Paderborn, they still held the lead 7-5. This inning saw the chance of victory almost disappear as the Untouchables were able to force the Gophers into a few mistakes. By the end of the inning, the defense couldn’t stand the pressure and finally had succumb to the offense from Paderborn (surrendering 6 runs). Pulheim did everything they could to keep fighting, but the bubble had burst and Paderborn knew what to do when they saw the Gophers down and eventually won the game 11-7. The Untouchables closed the door and wiped away the Gophers chance of a berth in the Pokal final, but they did not dampen the spirits of the squad who looks to keep getting better game by game.
This coming weekend the Gophers go to nearby Cologne to battle the Cardinals. The Gophers currently have a 3 game lead in the league and will try to increase their current 6 game Regionalliga winning streak. The coming weeks will be met with some notable absences from the starting lineup due to injury and tiredness. Pulheim should have no easy task as the stretch run approaches but they remain optimistic about ahieving their goal of league champion.
