Royals on the Farm 9/11 -- Naturals on the brink

Hard to believe it's already been 9 years since a beyond-tragic Tuesday. Anyone who, like me, has a strange fascination with Sept. 11th documentaries should watch 9/11 made by two French brothers who were following one fire battalion at the time of the terrorist strikes. They were actually with the firemen in tower one right after the first plane hit. My wife and I watched it a month or so ago. It really shows the best and worst of that day. My thoughts and prayers go out to anyone who lost a loved one that day, but really we all lost something that day.

AA - NW Arkansas: Springfield 13, Naturals 9 (Cardinals lead best-of-5, 2-1)

1B Hosmer 2-5, HR (3), 2 RBI (5), RS -- .357
3B Seratelli 2-4, HR (2), 2 RBI (3), K, 2 RS -- .500
2B Giavotella 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI (3), 2 RS -- .417
SS McConnell 2-4, 2B, RBI, 2 K, RS -- .273
CF D. Robinson 1-5, RBI, 2 K, RS, E -- .286
DH C. Robinson 1-5, RBI, 2 K -- .273

Lamb 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 K -- 9.00 ERA
R. Hardy IP, 6 ER, 5 H -- L, 0-1, 40.50 ERA
Sisk 1 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, BB, 2 K -- 27.00 ERA
Paulino 2 2/3 IP, UER, 2 H, 3 K -- 0.00 ERA
Swaggerty IP, H, BB, K -- 0.00 ERA

* The Naturals picked a bad time for one of their worst games of the season and are now a game away from going home for the winter. Things started out good as Eric Hosmer kept up his strong play with a 2-run homer in the 1st for his 3rd in 3 playoff games. That's about where the good stuff stopped happening. The Cardinals tied it off John Lamb and Rowdy Hardy in the 3rd and then started rolling in the 4th. They started the inning with 4 straight singles off Hardy, who was soon replaced with Brandon Sisk, who allowed 5 runs to score before escaping the jam with a 10-2 Springfield lead. Sisk and Eduardo Paulino allowed 2 more runs in the 5th. Anthony Seratelli smacked a 2-run homer in the 7th but Paulino gave up another run in the bottom of the inning to make it 13-4. Chris McConnell hit an RBI double, Derrick Robinson singled home a run and Johnny Giavotella hit a 2-run double with Clint Robinson adding an RBI single in the 9th, but the torrid rally stopped there. Blake King got the final out to give the Cards a 2-1 advantage in the series. The pivotal game 4 is Sunday afternoon.