2nd Inning Implosion Leads to Expos' Demise; Hometown Chuckers Earn Place In Semifinal With 8-2 Victory

The Expos came into this contest as huge underdogs against the heavy favourite and hometown Richmond Chuckers. In the end, a 2nd inning implosion which accounted for 6 of the 8 Chuckers' runs led to the Expos being outsed from any shot at the championship final.

EXPOS 2 Richmond 8

As the Chucker's veteran skipper put it after the game, "Vancouver, you are a scrappy team", that very much was true for most of the game. The Expos despite losing by 6 runs held a strong Richmond lineup to 2 runs over 5 innings, Horino was strong in relief as he stopped the bleeding when Vancouver was down 0-7. Other than a solid relief outing, there wasn't much of to talk about in this one as Expos pitchers fell behind in counts all game forcing them to groove fastballs for Klenman's Chuckers, Richmond recorded 5 extra base hits including 3 triples and everyone 1-9 in their lineup had quality at-bats en route to a 8-2 victory. Dawson for Richmond was excellent in the start going 5 1/3 innings only allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and picking up 5 Ks along the way. The Expos pitched by committee and now have all hurlers available (with the exception of Inomata who is absent for the remainder of the tournament) for a potential two games tomorrow as "B" playoff action commences. In tomorrow's "B" semifianl, the Vancouver Minor Expos will be up against Kyle Williams and his Burnaby Braves; action gets underway at 11:30am down at the beach South Diamond.

MVP: #21 Kantaro Horino

2 innings pitched, 0 runs; 1/2 at the plate