Rattlers drop Game One of Midwest League Playoffs

GRAND CHUTE, Wis.–

The most exciting part of the baseball season is the postseason, and the 2014 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers found that out very well on Wednesday night. Clinching the final Midwest League wild card spot last week, the Timber Rattlers hosted the first-half winners in the Kane County Cougars, the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. Speaking of the Cubs, they placed third baseman Mike Olt on the disabled list early Wednesday morning, while assigning him for assignment with the Cougars immediately. That means Mike Olt, yes, the same Mike Olt that played 72 games with the major league Chicago Cubs, also the same Mike Olt that hit 12 home runs in the MLB, was playing for the Cougars in the Midwest League Playoffs.

And let me tell you, he was productive in the five-and-a-half innings he played.

The Timber Rattlers had left handed pitcher Clint Terry on the mound, who had an even 5-5 record entering the night. On the flip-side, the Cougars had ace Jen-Ho Tseng on the hill, who only saw one loss all season. That loss came against the Timber Rattlers.

The Timber Rattlers went top-heavy in their line-up, starting with the biggest member of their team, first baseman David Denson. Denson was followed by franchise leader in home runs in one season, Clint Coulter, who was followed by third baseman Taylor Brennan, who has three grand slams on the year.

The first inning was nice and short, one hit all together, that coming from the man, Mr. Mike Olt. That would the first of his two hits on the night.

“[Mike Olt] had two pretty good swings, and obviously the three-run homer was sort of a dagger there, but each organization is going to do what they think is best and what they think is right,” Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson said after the game.

The second inning is where things began to get interesting. The first batter Terry faced was first baseman Jacob Rogers. Rogers would begin a bit of a roll for the Cougars, hitting a single to left field. The following batter, catcher Cael Brockman, hit a relatively high ball to shallow left field, where left fielder Rafael Neda, center fielder Johnny Davis, and shortstop Angel Ortega all tried to make the play. Due to miscommunication, the Rattlers had two runners on, one in scoring position, without an out. What followed could have been a lot worse, but Terry kept it under control, but striking out the following batter in second baseman Danny Lockhart, one of his four strikeouts in the game. Due to a wild pitch early in the count to Lockhart, the runners were both in scoring position with shortstop Carlos Penalver at the plate. Penalver flew out deep to centerfield, which allowed Rogers to score, but Johnny Davis’ precise arm was in full-display as he lasered a throw to the second baseman in Chris McFarland, and that did not allow Cael Brockman to advance, which became a crucial play of the inning. Terry would get out of the inning down 1-0.

It was a rough night offensively for the Timber Rattlers, as they only recorded five overally hit. The first two which were both scores, but not both being home runs. Johnny Davis is an incredibly fast baseball player, and he basically made the most of his opportunity in the bottom of the third inning. Davis got on base by bunting. Following the successful bunt, Davis stole second, and the pick-off attempt was.. well Davis already reached second base by the time Tseng threw the ball to first. Davis then reached third on a David Denson groundout. Finally, Davis made it home with two outs on a wild pitch that got past the catcher, and it was not even close to a race.

At this point it was 2-1, before the big leaguer in Mike Olt knocked a three-run homer out of the ballpark, giving the Cougars an extremely demanding 5-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning.

The Rattlers would continue to try to make runs roll in, but success was not on their side. First baseman David Denson, who led off, hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, but that wouldn’t be enough for the Rattlers to make a comeback. The Cougars were able to take the game 7-3, after both teams same a few runs in the eighth and the ninth inning.

“The mindset I bring on road games is the same mindset I bring to any game,” Denson told me after the game. “No matter whether you play at home or on the road, you just have to be ready to play a game.”

The Rattlers will now go on the road to Kane County and try to win two in a row to stay in the Playoffs, as two wins takes the series. The second game of this series is Thursday night. If Wisconsin takes the W on Thursday, the two teams will match-up again on Friday to decide the series.

~Alex Strouf (@LetsGoAlex)