The Gulf Coast League playoffs began today with a one game Wild Card round. The GCL Pirates captured the Wild Card spot, and took on the GCL Cardinals in round one. The Pirates beat the Cardinals 1-0 to advance to the GCL Finals, where they will take on the GCL Red Sox.
2011 4th round pick Colten Brewer led the way with four shutout innings. Brewer gave up one walks and one hit, while striking out four. During the season, Brewer had a 3.24 ERA in 25 innings, with an 18:9 K/BB ratio. He went down with an injury in early July, then returned in August with a 2.25 ERA in eight innings, along with a 5:3 K/BB ratio.
Jackson Lodge and Bryton Trepagnier each followed up with two shutout innings, while Roberto Espinosa closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning.
Offensively, the Pirates scored one run on seven hits. The run came in the fifth inning when Luis Urena singled in Harold Ramirez. Ramirez started the inning with a single to right field. He was bunted to second by Edwin Espinal, then scored on a single to center by Urena. Seven different players had a hit, with all of the hits being singles.
The Pirates will go on to play the Red Sox in the GCL Finals. The finals are a best of three series which start Tuesday. Games one and three (if necessary) will be road games for the Pirates, while game two will be at Pirate City.
