Fisher Cats cruise to Eastern League title
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats completed a perfect postseason run by winning the Double-A Eastern League title on Friday as they topped Akron, 8-5, to sweep the best-of-five championship series. u1:p
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The Fisher Cats scored in five of the first six innings in the victory en route to the franchise's third Eastern League title and first since 2011. u1:p
u1:p • Box Score
Starting the scoring for the first time in the series, New Hampshire pushed across two runs in the second inning on Patrick Cantwell's RBI double and a Josh Palacios sacrifice fly.
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The RubberDucks would tie the game in the third, with Indians No. 29 prospect Tyler Kreiger's two-run double marking the key hit in the frame, only to see New Hampshire parlay a walk, single, error and sacrifice fly into two more runs in the bottom half.u1:p
Jon Berti hit a two-run single in the fourth inning to extend New Hampshire's lead, and after an Akron sacrifice fly in the fifth, Blue Jays No. 9 prospect Cavan Biggio unloaded on his first postseason homer. The Fisher Cats continued to pad their lead in the sixth, tacking on a run on a Harold Ramirez double.u1:p
Akron would score twice more before the end of the game, tallying runs in the seventh and ninth innings, but ultimately came up short in staving off elimination. u1:p
Berti collected a team-high three hits for New Hampshire, going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs out of the leadoff spot, and all but two Fisher Cats starters tallied at least one hit. Biggio went 1-for-3 with a walk in the victory to finish the postseason with nine RBIs in six games. u1:p
Blue Jays No. 2 prospect Bo Bichette (No. 9 overall) finished 1-for-4 with a stolen base and also made an impressive sliding, backhanded play at shortstop in the eighth inning. u1:p
Fisher Cats starter and Blue Jays No. 25 prospect Jordan Romano allowed three earned run on six hits over 4 1/3 innings, striking out five. u1:p