After an incredible comeback against Mannheim, one that had never been done by a Paderborn team in the history of the organization, we were set to play at home again against Regensburg. Because we were the second place team from the north, and they were the first place team from the south, they had home field advantage just as we did against Mannheim. So in the case that we played 5 games in the best of five series, they would host the final three of the 5 games at their places. Playing in Regensburg is as close to "American" professional baseball as you can get in Germany. We had played their earlier in the season when we won the Buchbinder Cup, beating Regensburg in the championship game on their field.
There was no doubt in our minds that our team was getting hot and we were peaking at the right time. Everything started to come together to create a championship team. Solid pitching, defense, and timely hitting.
Hosting the first two games on the series at our place it was critical that we win at least one game, if not both games. If we could head south to Bavaria with two wins under our belts we had a great shot at making it to the championships. If we split, it would be tough to win 2 of 3 at their place, yet doable. If we lost two at home, we had the advantage of coming off a 3 game comeback, but it would be really hard winning three in a row on the road.
In game one we jumped out to an early 1-0 lead off after I had an RBI groundout in the first. Regensburg responded with a run in the top of the 3rd but the game was stagnate until the 9th. Augie (Eugen) pitched amazing for us! In a 1-1 tie, Augie gave up a 2 run double to Regensburg's American shortstop who drove in 2 runs. I can't say that it cost us the game because we didn't score anything before that. We had a lot of opportunities to make adjustments at the plate and produce some offense. However, Regensburg's starter did an unbelievable job of keeping us off balance and not allowing any offense to produce. When the last part of the 9th came up we scored a run, but it was too little too late as we ended up losing 3-2.
That was not an easy lose to swallow! I felt that we definitely should have won that game, and it hurt a little bit because we knew the next game was vital to win. We should have made an adjustment to their starter, who did a good job of mixing speeds and throwing off-speed pitches in odd counts. This is something we did not adjust to as a team all year, and it caught up to us in the first game of the semi's.
The second game was a bit different, we came out strong and ended up finishing the game with a 10-3 win. It was a good win, and much needed for a chance to move to the finals. It would be really hard to go down to Bavaria and win 3 in a row. Although we had done it before, we didn't want put ourselves in that position again.
With the series tied 1-1, it was going to be another crap shoot the next weekend in Regensburg. We were scheduled to play a double header on Saturday and one on Sunday if necessary.
The one thing that stuck in my mind was the thought that whoever won the first game on Saturday was likely to win the second, just as we had done to Mannheim earlier in the playoffs. Game one on Saturday was vital to win. Especially if we were playing at their place. We had all week to work on the little things that would be big and one thing was for sure, we were going down to Regensburg with the confidence that we could beat them again at their place.
Danny and I had noticed that they did not carry the same swagger and definitive confidence that they had when we handed them their first loss of the season back in May. They came into our ballpark with a little bit of respect and we let them off the hook a little bit because we lost the first game. However, winning game two was big and with the series tied 1-1, anything could happen next weekend.
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