Alexs are the heroes as Spirit top Pios

In the short and not-so-storied history of the North Shore Spirit, there have been a certain few games that have been so memorable and outstanding that they remind us why following this team since May of 2003 has been such a blast. This was one of those games.

Also, what it was was an important victory for the North Shore Spirit in their attempts to make the Can Am League playoffs, opening up a 4 game set with the lowly Elmira Pioneers with an 8 to 6 victory in front of about 1800 at Fraser Field. Ryan McCally got the start for North Shore and quickly fell behind 6-0 in the 2nd and was pulled after 1 1/3 innings. Joey Siak pitched very well in relief (perhaps making a bid for a starting job?) bridging the gap to Jarret Sues, who pitched a scoreless top of the 8th and got the win. Alex Herrera was rocky again but closed it out for his 2nd save. The win improves North Shore to 5-6 for the 2nd half.

It was very ugly early for the Spirit as converted closer Ryan McCally got the nod. In the first inning Ryan gave up 3 hits but got out of the inning as a batted ball struck a baserunner going from 1st to 2nd, retiring the side and wiping a run off of the scoreboard. In the 2nd, however, 11 men came to the plate and 8 of them got hits and 6 of them scored. McCally retired just one man before giving way to Joey Siak, who allowed an inherited runner to score, but otherwise was brilliant in relief, pitching all the way through the 7th inning without giving up a run.

As Siak nailed down the Pios offense, the Spirit began to chip away. They took out a big chunk in their half of the 2nd inning, scoring three runs. Andy Howdeshell, playing 3rd base tonight in place of the resting Eric Storey, cranked a wall-ball triple that plated Travis Oglesby and Brian Macchi. Andy scored on a Marcos groundout to make it 6-3. In the 5th inning, Vic Davilla hit a two-run bomb to cut it to 6-5 and chase Elmira player-manager Greg Kaigle from the game.

The Spirit once again made a late rally, this time having one to secure a victory. In the bottom of the 7th inning the Spirit tied it as a little blooper single reminiscent of the base hit by David Ortiz to win game 5 of the ALCS vs the Yankees in 2004 by Rob Fischer fell into centerfield to score Yuri Sanchez, who was remarkably on base (you knew that when Yuri got a double, things were meant to be for the Spirit).

In the bottom of the 8th with the game tied at 6, my man Alex Trezza parked one deep into the night to un-tie it giving North Shore an 8-6 lead. The Spirit survived a scare in the 9th as the leadoff batter pulled a bush league play, kicking out Vic Davilla's knees, and got on base; the Pios would eventually load up the bases with 2 outs but Herrera bore down and wound up striking out the side to hold on to the victory.

Game 2 of the 4 game set is tomorrow night at 7:05; let's hope Friday night means an even bigger (and more boisterous) crowd, and another Spirit win..