By Steve Goldberg
Box Score
FALMOUTH, Mass. ? Walker Buehler (Vanderbilt) pitched eight shutout innings to propel the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox to a Game 1 victory over the Falmouth Commodores.
Buehler only allowed three hits and struck out eight batters in the win. He finished the playoffs with a 2-0 record and did not allow a run in 15 1/3 postseason innings pitched. Buehler?s other win came in Game 2 of the first round series against the Orleans Firebirds.
Marcus Mastrobuoni (Cal State Stanislaus) carried the Y-D offense with three RBIs on a double in the 5th inning, a single in Y-D?s 3-run 7th inning, and a solo home run in the 9th inning. Mastrobuoni finished the game 3-for-4 and scored twice.
Y-D and Falmouth were scoreless for the first four innings before the Red Sox took a 1-0 lead in the 5th on a Mastrobuoni RBI double.
The score remained 1-0 until the top of the 7th inning. With two outs, Joey Armstrong (UNLV) hit a ground rule double, scoring Josh Lester (Missouri) who doubled earlier in the inning. Then Mastrobuoni drove Armstrong home with a single and A.J. Simcox (Tennessee) singled as well, driving in Mastrobuoni for the third run of the inning.
Y-D added to their 4-0 lead in the top of the 9th with Mastrobuoni?s solo home run. Billy Strode (Florida State) pitched a scoreless 9th inning to seal the Game 1 victory for the Red Sox.
Matt Hall (Missouri State) had an impressive start for Falmouth, pitching 6 2/3 innings and striking out 12 Y-D batters. But he allowed three earned runs and ended up on the losing side of the matchup with Buehler picking up the win.
The two teams square off again at Red Wilson Field at 4 p.m. Friday. Kevin Duchene (Illinois) is the probable starter for Y-D and he is scheduled to match up against Kevin McCanna (Rice) for Falmouth. Y-D leads the best-of-three series 1-0.
