The Knights and P. O'Leary were riding high, after the Cy Young candidate blanked the best lineup in the league. B. Serino looked focused during pre-game, sticking to his game plan of mixing pitches and locations and letting his field play behind him.
The game got under way with the Knights in the top of the first, putting up a heart-renching, shut-out-thought-provoking-run via a J. Ragusa double and a A. Uzcetegui RBI single.
After a one-two-three inning which saw the Barbarians vaunted top-three go down on a line-out and a couple of hard hit grounders, visions of the trophy danced in the heads of Knights Nation.
However, the Barbarians had a bull on the mound, and B. Serino pitched through his own scoreless top inning.
The Barbarians finally came through with the game tying run, their first in nine innings. After a short huddle, some chest bumping, and some go-knad punches, The Barbarians put their stank faces on.
The Knights would score a pair to take a two run lead, only to see the bottom of the Barbarians lineup done do it to em' again. A momentum-killing four run inning would put the Barbarians out in front with J. Capiningro, D. Johnson, A. Bissenti, P. Harmon, I. Amar., and a one-legged, P. Mignone doing the killing for a change.
The Barbarians would rattle of three more insurance runs, a rally that was helped by a routine flare that scooted the boot on the Knight's short fielder.
O'Leary kept the Knights in the ballgame by starching the Barbarians all-stars who were quiet all series.
The Knights came up in the top of the seventh chasing four. P. Stubblefield started the inning with a seeing-eye single and was moved along by another Uzcetegui double. A. Merenghi, the saw-chopping first baseman of the Knights, drove in the two runs to creep back into the fire-fight.
After C. Carpenter legged out a double to sneak into scoring potion, Z. Taylor was poised to create a name for himself with the press and fans alike.Taylor took a good look at B. Serino, taking a strike whilst knowing the emencity of the situation. Serino hung a curve and Taylor put a strike into it, sending a pea out to the gap in right-center. The crowd erupted as the Barbarian's outfielder W. Geraci looked to have misplayed the tailing liner. Geraci recovered in time to make a leap at the ball, partially knocking it into the air, before snagging it in the tip of his glove.
The play was an epic end to an epic series, clinching a Finals appearance for the Barbarians against the red-hot Galaxy. The Barbarians, after finishing a calm-collected second in the regular season see themselves where they thought they would be. Galaxy, after a roller-coaster season, buckled down in the playoffs to run the table, after a sixth place finish.
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