Game 1 (2011 playoffs) Cougars 4 – Bees 0

Just got back from Playoff Game 1, Kane County winning 4-0 over Burlington in a quick game. PDF scorecard here, and some notes…

– it’s chilly suddenly! Summer is over (for like a week before it comes roaring back one last time.)

– also, it’s post season, and I forgot they close down almost all the concessions because no one turns out, but did happen to eat before hand. About half the crowd was the junior high choir brought in to sing the national anthem, and they were gone after about 7 innings. Upside is I got to park really close.

– Greg Brillo seems like he’s elevated himself from non-prospect to fringe prospect with a really good season. He was strong here: 6 IP, 7 K (two different dropped strikes), 5 H/BB/HBP, and barely in trouble the whole time. The problem was the Cougars were doing little more.

– Brian Fletcher has hit great all season for the Cougars – 328/386/580! – and I kept waiting for him to get yanked up a level at an unfortunate time. The Cougars don’t have much offense as it is (which is the same as it’s been for many year), but Fletcher never got the call up and I couldn’t figure out why. And then, today, Brian turned a not hard catch into a double (with some help from some generous scoring) and everyone around me groaned about him botching another play. I haven’t seen it, but they sure had and were just rooting for the ball not to be hit near him for the next six innings. That doesn’t quite show up in the minor league numbers. As a rule, though, whenever you look at minor league fielding statistics, just assume that the error count only includes throws, and the occasional ball going thru the leg.

– this was about as minor league-ish as I’ve seen a game this season; bad errors (called and not), people getting picked off going extra bases, wild pitches and bad throws to cost runs. It was not a sharp game, but a win is a win.

That’s my 11th game of the season, and possible the last. This is a 3 game series with Thursday and Friday (if needed) in Burlington. I’d try to make the Friday game, but it’s a bit too far away for me to make in time. If the Cougars advance, they play another game Saturday or Sunday, but I’ve got a ticket for Dragon Gate at least one of those days and maybe other stuff to do on Sunday. Hopefully they make it all the way to next week, but at least I got to see one more win (and eat one more hot pretzel.)