Mathewson McCarthy
'Major East' Royals finish regular season in good fashion

The Mathewson McCarthy "Major East" Royals are going into the postseason on a high note with a 12-6 win over the Brewers.

Matt Jungier and Richard Schwartz made their debut on the mound for the Royals with Jungier picking up the win and Schwartz recording the save.

The Royals got things going in the bottom of the first inning. Brenden Chambers' long fly ball got up into the sun for a base hit and Jungier, whose bat is as hot as anyone's in the league, hit a rocket up the gut to score Chambers. Jungier stole second and third and came home on starting pitcher Rob Paslaqua's sacrifice grounder.

The Brewers got one run back in the top of the second as Jonathan Castronova singled and came home on Nick Eberhard's triple to left center.

The Royals answered back with one more run in the bottom of the third as Chambers drew a walk and was knocked home by Jungier's shot down the left field line for a double.

The Brewers took advantage of some Royal miscues combined with some timely hits to score four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 6-4 lead. Will Carroll led off with a towering drive into the sun in right that dropped for a hit. Carroll scored on Castronova's double to left center just before Matt Shank's liner to right fell just out of the reach of Royal Mike Geiger. Shaun Baranyi reached on a dropped third strike and scored on Eberhard's single to center. Mc- Quade Milligan's base hit scored Eberhard for the final run.

The Royals answered back again, this time with five runs. Andrew Zgoda and Tommy Weisansal opened the inning with consecutive singles. Jake Berke's single plated Weisansal just before Ryan Czwerinski drew a walk and Sam Berke was hit by a pitch. Schwartz then singled home Jake Berke and Czwerinski and was followed by Chambers' run-scoring single for a 9-6 Royals lead.

The Royals scored three more times in the bottom of the fifth, highlighted by Weisansal's two-run shot to the left center field fence for a double and Jake Berke's perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt to score the final run in the rubber match between both teams.

Schwartz blanked the Brewers in the final two innings, striking out three batters. Dan Lumadue also pitched well for the Brewers, also striking out three batters.

Royals 15, Red Sox 5

The Royals continued their hot hitting, winning 15-5, in an American Division showdown against the Red Sox.

Leading the charge was Brian Bookbinder's 4 for 4 day at the plate. He also knocked in three runs. Tommy Weisansal and Matt Jungier split six hits and four RBIs with timely production at crucial points of the game.

Jungier opened the game with an RBI triple in the top of the first inning to score Brenden Chambers. Rob Paslaqua then hit a sacrifice grounder to score Jungier for the 2- 0 lead. A hot Royal outfield made two great plays to stifle a Red Sox first inning. Weisansal then sent a shot down the right field line to score Andrew Zgoda in the top of the second. Mike Geiger's poke to center scored Weisansal to give the Royals a four-run lead. The Red Sox's' Derek Caudil sacrificed Tommy Klein, who drew a walk, home to tighten the score 4-1 in the bottom of the second.

The Royals got three more runs. Matt Pragel plated Jungier, who reached on an error. Bookbinder's second hit of the day knocked home Pragel as Zgoda's shot up the middle brought in Bookbinder to make it 7-1 after three innings.

The Royals picked up another run in the fourth as Geiger's second hit of the day knocked home Jake Berke. The Red Sox also got one in the fourth as Blake Schneider scored on a sacrifice grounder by Alex August.

The Royals had a big fifth as four more runs crossed the plate. Chambers led off the inning with a single, followed by Jungier's hard RBI double to the center field fence. A walk by Pragel set up Bookbinder for his third hit that scored Jungier. Weisansal's smash up the gut knocked Bookbinder home for the last run of the inning. The Red Sox got one more as Jacob Sieracki drew a bases loaded walk to score Caudil.

In the final inning, the Royals scored three more runs. Jungier sent a shot up the middle. Pragel hit a blast to the right center field fence for a double to score Jungier. Bookbinder's fourth hit of the day plated Pragel before Zgoda ended the scoring with an RBI single to center.

The Red Sox started a bit of rally in the bottom half of the inning, scoring two runs, highlighted by Schneider's double to right.

Pragel pitched the final four innings for the Royals, picking up the save while Paslaqua earned his seventh win of the year. James Celeste made a great play at third, robbing a Royal hitter from extra bases and recording the out. Ryan Czwerinski played six solid innings at short for the Royals.

'Majors West'

Red Sox 7, Athletics 4

The Red Sox finished their regular season beating the Athletics.

The A's came out early with big bats, scoring all their runs in the first three innings fueled by Matt Ruggeiro, Chris Geatreu, and a rocket that cleared the left center field fence on a bounce by Mike Lambert.

The Red Sox came alive in the middle innings and eventually took the lead in the fourth. Francisco McGowan led off the second with a triple and scored on Jimmy Honsberger's triple. Honsberger then scored when Clay Tuyn ripped a single up the middle.

Other big bats for the Red Sox were Matt Macomber, who added two hits, including a triple, and Eric Kwietniewski, who contributed a triple.

The name of the game that day was pitching. Matt Ruggeiro was masterful in his four innings for the A's, while Macomber, A.J. Aqualino, and Honsberger spun a gem for the Red Sox.

Braves 16, Cardinals 8

The Braves finished the regular season where they started it - against the Cardinals - but this time, a much-improved Cardinal team.

After the Braves scored four in the top of first, the Cardinals scored five runs in their half of the inning to take the lead. The Braves took the lead for good but not without some scares from the Cardinals.

Connor McKenna led the Braves with a home run, two singles, two runs, and three RBIs. Sam Scime also did some damage with a three-run triple and two RBI singles. Richard Patti, Mark Glieco, and Tom Krasinski also had run-scoring triples for the Braves. Jeremy Zgoda, Joey Couche, Adam Demer, and Scott Kaempf also hit safely for the Braves. Zach Fancher starred on defense for the Braves, making two key catches.

Michael Spence led the Cardinals with two singles and three RBIs. Dan Courtney crushed a triple and Rick Procknal and David Krasinski added singles.

The Braves used six pitchers to stymie the Cardinals. John Carroll, one of six Braves pitchers who stymied the Cardinals, made his pitching debut, striking out two in the third. Scime struck out the side in order in the sixth to seal the win. Patti, Zgoda, McKenna, and Costanzo, were the other Braves pitchers who held the Cardinals to five hits while striking out 13.

Braves 23, Brewers 2

The Braves offense proved to be too much for the Brewers.

David Costanzo led the Braves with a triple, two singles, three runs, and four RBI. Adam Demer (triple, single, two runs, three RBIs), Richard Patti (two hits, two runs, three RBIs), and Tom Krasinski (double, three runs, three RBIs) also swung the big bat for the Braves. Jeremy Zgoda, Connor McKenna, Sam Scime, and Scott Kaempf delivered singles to help the cause.

For the Brewers, Tyler Richards was 2 for 2 with one RBI, Joe Bennett had a RBI double, and John Vaughn and Christian Wheatley added singles.

Costanzo and Krasinski kept Brewers in check from the mound, striking out ten in four innings while allowing five hits.