By CLIFF CONNERS
SARANAC "" One more win.
That's what the Hockey Plus Padres need to be crowned champions after continuing their Cinderella run through the Champlain Valley Baseball League playoffs with an exciting 4-3 victory over the Plattsburgh Cardinals in Game 1 of the championship series Sunday.
The series will now shift to Lefty Wilson Field this Sunday. If the Padres win the first game, they will become champions for the first time in their short history. If the Cardinals win, the two teams will play a deciding game for the title immediately following.
Both teams played solid all game long before a wild turn of events in the ninth inning.
Tied 2-2 heading into the top half of the inning, things began to get interesting. Padres' starting pitcher Craig Bujold, who was once again dominant, retired the first two batters he faced.
Dave Betrus then singled and stole second to move into scoring position. Nate Graves proceeded to walk, but when the ball was delivered back to the mound, Betrus took off for third base, which was unmanned when the third baseman failed to call timeout before heading to the mound to talk to Bujold.
By the time Betrus was noticed, Bujold fired to the shortstop, who was covering the bag, but the ball skipped past and allowed Betrus to come home to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.
Two batters later, the final out was recorded and the momentum was with the Cardinals heading into the Padres' half of the ninth.
Gary Duquette, who took over for starter Tom Neale in the eighth inning, began the inning just like Bujold had by retiring the first two batters.
But those were the last outs the Cardinals recorded.
Kyle Siskavich hit a sinking liner into center field that just snuck underneath a diving Matt Duquette for a double, putting the tying run in scoring position.
The Padres then called upon Joel Siskavich to pinch hit. On the third pitch of the at-bat, Siskavich hit a slow roller to short. The ball was fielded cleanly, but with a speedy Siskavich heading down the line, the shortstop had to hurry his throw.
The throw was in the dirt and up the line, getting by the first basemen and rolling all the way to the outer fencing. Kyle Siskavich scored to tie the game, and Joel Siskavich motored to third base.
Shane Perrotte then lofted a ball down the right-field line that landed just past the outstretched glove of a diving Nate Bilow and inside the line to give the Padres the win.
It was the second time the Padres have won a game in walkoff fashion, with a extra inning win over the Adirondack Timberjax in the quarterfinals.
"Our team chemistry is the best it has been all year and our guys are playing with confidence," Padres manager John Coryer said. "But we're playing the defending playoff champions, who we have a great deal of respect for, and we haven't won anything yet."
Bujold and Neale battled back and forth on the mound.
Bujold finished with 10 strikeouts and six walks, while only giving up five hits in going the distance to pick up his second win of the playoffs.
Neale finished with six strikeouts while giving up just three hits. He walked just three.
"We couldn't have asked for more from Craig, and the Cardinals couldn't have asked for more from Tom Neale," Coryer said. "Both were outstanding."
The Cardinals jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on Jason Perry's RBI single.
Hockey Plus then put two runs on the board in the fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead on Jeff Norton's two-run single.
Rob Malloy got the Cardinals back even in the fifth when he delivered a two-out run-scoring single.
"Good pitching and defense are allowing us to stay competitive in our playoff games," said Coryer. "Then, we come up with a clutch hit or two, along with taking advantage of some breaks when we get them."
Zach Welch paced a six-hit Hockey Plus attack with two singles. Bujold and Kyle Siskavich had doubles.
Malloy and Perry each had two hits for the Cardinals. Gary Duquette suffered the tough-luck loss.
Padres 4, Cardinals 3
Cardinals100 010 001 "" 3 5 5
Padres000 200 002 "" 4 6 2
Neale, G. Duquette (8) and Perry. Bujold and Norton. WP- Bujold. LP- G. Duquette. 2B- Bujold (P), K. Siskavich (P).
cconners@pressrepublican.com
