In a well-matched contest on Wednesday, the HG Christie Rockies won the Minor League Division Pennant by beating the Insurance Management Marlins 12-7.


The Rockies scored three runs in the top of the first, only to have the Marlins score 4 in the bottom of the same inning. Rockies starting pitcher, Ian Mayers, struggled and allowed the Marlins to score 3 more runs in the bottom of the second to go ahead 7-3. Mayers was replaced on the mound by Romero Cartwright in the second.


Rockies managed another run in the top of the third to make the score, 7-4. Rockies coach Victor Cartwright made what would prove to be a game-changing pitching move, by bringing in Zachary Thurman in the third. Thurman had not thrown a single pitch all season.


Both pitchers--Michael Sands for the Marlins and Thurman for the Rockies--settled down, and the game remained 7-4 until the bottom of the fifth, when the Marlins loaded the bases with none out. But the Marlins failed to score and the inning ended 7-4.


In the sixth, the Rockies scored three runs and kept the Marlins from scoring in the bottom of the inning, forcing extra innings with the game tied at 7.


With darkness approaching in the top of the seventh inning, Marlins pitcher Sands had control problems, and Rockies soon loaded the bases after two walks and a hit. A walk-in run and an error scored two more Rockie runs. But the highlight of the game was a Grand Slam blast in the seventh by the Rockies’ Blair Seymour to make the score 12-7.


In a last gasp effort, the Marlins loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but failed to capitalize and the game ended, 12-7.