Motorheads vs Nighthawks

Game 1 at Devon:  Schmidt vs Zito. Schmidt in control all the way with a no-hitter into the 7th and one hit through 8 against the mighty Devon hitters. Escobar closed the door in the 9th. Final score NC 7 Devon 0. Bernie Williams went 4 for 5 and Sosa homered.               1 game to 0 New Castle.

Game 2 at Devon. Nomo vs Williams. Nomo outdoes Schmidt and pitches a no-hitter through 8 innings!  He finished with a 2 hitter. Spivey 3 for 5 with a homer, 11 hits for New Castle. Two straight shutouts against the powerful motorheads. 2 games to 0 New Castle.

Game 3 at NC.  Padilla vs Trachsel Through 8 the game was tied 6-6 with 12 hits each. The Devon power hitters finally woke up and belted 4 into the stands: Conine, Giambi, Garciaparra and Pujols. It was Garciaparra's 3 run bomb in the 9th that got Devon their first win of the series. Final 9-6. 2 games to 1 New Caslte.

Game 4 at NC. Another close one. New Castle led 4-2 into the 9th behind Schmidt and then Devon scored 3 runs to take a 5-4 lead. In the bottom of the 9th the Nighthawks ended the game the same way Devon did in game 3, a three-run homer! This time it was Sammy Sosa who had 2 bombs in the game and 3 in the series. Final 7-5. 3 games to 1 New Castle.

Game 5 at NC.  Another great game!  Nomo vs Williams. Scoreless through 6, Devon drew first blood pushing a run across in the 7th. In the bottom of the 9th the Nighthawks tied it to stay alive. At that point the exhausted bullpens took over and the game contined into the 13th. In the bottom of the 13th with the bases loaded and 2 out Brook Fordyce bounced a single through the infield and the underdog Nighthawks won the series. Final 2-1. 4 games to 1 New Castle.

   The irony for New Castle is that when the season started it looked like their pitching was the strength. However, as the season progressed the pitching was disappointing but the hitting far better than expected. Now in the first playoff series the pitchers finally came through when needed most.