The Basics Score: Quincy Gems 6, Clinton LumberKings 5 Records: Quincy Gems (32-26, 1-0), Clinton LumberKings (33-26, 0-1) Location: NelsonCorp Field - Clinton, Iowa
CLINTON, IA – The Quincy Gems are headed to the Western Conference Championship game with a 6-5 victory over the Clinton LumberKings Sunday at NelsonCorp Field in Clinton.
The Great River Division Champion Quincy Gems will play travel to play the winner of the Prairie Land Division Championship between the Cape Catfish and the Thrillville Thrillbillies on Tuesday.
The Gems struck first with a 2-run home run by Lucas Loos with two outs in the top of the first inning off LumberKings' starter Jimmy Burke start 2-0 after the 1st.
Burke settled in for the next 3 innings allowing the LumberKings to answer back with a 4-run bottom of the 3rd inning led by a Jeremy Figueroa 3-run home run to take a 4-2 lead heading into the 4th.
After a quiet 4th inning, the Gems took their lead back in the 5th with a 4-spot of their own as Joe Siervo doubled home 3 runs and Otto Jones singled 1 more home to give the Gems a 6-4 lead after 5 innings.
That was all the Gems would need as the LumberKings stretched one more across with a Matt Scherrman double to score Trevor Burkhart in the 8th giving the game its 6-5 final score.
Turning Point Each starter went 4 innings of work, but it was the first reliever for the LumberKings that opened the floodgates for the Gems as Quincy scored 4 runs, all unearned, off Sam Lavin to push the game out of the LumberKings' reach.
Inside The Box Score
Davin Meier picked up the win for the Gems going two shutout innings through the 5th and 6th.
The two teams combined for 6 extra-base hits led by the Gems with 3 doubles and the Loos' home run.
The LumberKings went 4-5 in stolen bases during the game adding to the regular season Prospect League lead.
The LumberKings were charged with 3 errors in the game, uncharacteristic after ending the playoffs with the 2nd fewest errors in the league.
Notes
This is the Gems' 8th Division Championship and their second straight year winning the Great River Division Championship.
The Gems are looking to advance to a record 6th Prospect League Championship Series with a win on Tuesday.
The LumberKings are now 1-1 in the first round of the playoffs, making the playoffs twice in their three seasons in the Prospect League.
Up Next Quincy advances to Tuesday's Conference Championship round and will face the winner of tonight's Prairie Land Division Championship between Cape and Thrillville. Game time Tuesday is TBD but will be hosted by the winner of the Prairie Land Division Championship.
The Clinton LumberKings finished with the largest attendance numbers in the Prospect League for the 3rd straight year in a row with 81,908. The LumberKings staff and front office thank all of the LumberKings faithful for showing out at the ballpark this season!
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