September 7, 2011
Minor league notebook: PawSox snag playoff berth
by Roger Brown/
It wasn't worst to first, but it was close.
The Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox, a team that finished 12th in the 14-team International League last season, earned a spot in the IL playoffs by winning the league's North Division title.
Pawtucket (81-61) will play a best-of-five series against Lehigh Valley (80-64) beginning Wednesday night. Lehigh Valley, which earned the league's wild-card berth, will be at home for the first two games. Game 3 will be played at Pawtucket, as will Game 4 and Game 5 if those contests are necessary.
Pawtucket won its first division title since 2003, and will be making its first playoff appearance since 2008. Pawtucket finished 61-82 in 2009, and 66-78 last season.
Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg is Lehigh Valley's manager. The IronPigs had never had a winning record until this season.
Both teams will enter the postseason with a four-game winning streak.
"We know them very well,” Sandberg told MiLB.com. “They're in our division so we play them a lot, so we're looking forward to going head to head with a very good team. It's been a challenge all year, and we'll be challenged once again, but we're looking forward to it."
Columbus (88-54) and Durham (79-61) won the West and South division titles, respectively, and will face each other in the league's other best-of-five series. The winners will meet in the International League finals.
Top 'Cat
Drew Hutchison, a right-handed starting pitcher for the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for the period of Aug. 29 through Sept. 5.
Hutchison, 21, posted a 2-0 record with a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings during the week. He allowed two runs and struck out six in five innings during a 3-2 victory over Trenton, and then tossed five shutout innings in a 7-0 triumph over Portland. He struck out eight, surrendered one hit and didn't walk a batter against Portland.
Hutchison has started three games for the Fisher Cats since being promoted from the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Class-A Florida State League on Aug. 20. He has a 3-0 record with 21 strikeouts and a 1.20 ERA in 15 innings of work.
Hutchison has a combined record of 14-5 with 171 strikeouts and a 2.53 ERA between New Hampshire, Dunedin and Lansing this season. He was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 15th round of the 2009 draft out of Lakeland (Fla.) High School.
Painting a playoff picture
New Hampshire (77-65), which won the Eastern League's Eastern Division title, will open the playoffs Wednesday night against the Reading Phillies (74-68). Reading is the Eastern League wildcard team.
The Fisher Cats and Phillies will play the first two games of the best-of-five series in Manchester, N.H. Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday. Both games will begin at 7:05 p.m.
The series will shift to Reading for Game 3 and Game 4 (if necessary). If a fifth game is needed it will be played in Manchester on Sunday 5:05 p.m.
The New Hampshire/Reading winner will play the Western Division champion in the Eastern League finals. Harrisburg and Richmond will play a best-of-five series to determine the Western Division representative. That series is also scheduled to begin Wednesday night.
Star struck
The following players are among those who were named to the Can-Am League's Postseason All-Star team, which was voted on by media representatives and the league's eight field managers:
►Chris Colabello (first base/Worcester Tornadoes): Hit .348 with 20 home runs, 79 RBIs and scored 75 runs.
►Danny Bomback (second base/Pittsfield Colonials): Hit .355, scored 62 runs and stole 26 bases.
►Mark Minicozzi (third base/Worcester Tornadoes): Hit .328 with 15 home runs, 77 RBIs and scored 60 runs.
►Dom Ramos (shortstop/Brockton Rox): Hit .284 with 23 doubles, scored 52 runs and stole 17 bases.
►Keith Brachold (outfield/Brockton Rox): Hit .344 with 18 home runs, 80 RBIs and scored 69 runs.
►Nick Salotti (designated hitter/Worcester Tornadoes): Hit .298 with 23 home runs, 74 RBIs and scored 61 runs.
Made in Vermont
Vermont opened a best-of-three series against the Auburn Doubledays (Washington Nationals) on Tuesday night at Centennial Field in Burlington, Vt.
Vermont earned its first New York-Penn League playoff berth since 1996 by winning a tiebreaker against Connecticut (head-to-head results). Vermont led the league with 110 stolen bases during the regular season.
Game 2 will be played Wednesday at Auburn. If a third game is necessary, it will also be played at Auburn.
