In Game 1 the Panthers scored in the first when Mr. Clutch Keith Hernandez led off with a double and scored on a single by Carney Lansford. Hernandez later hits a solo homer in the 5th to give Ft. Worth a 2-0 lead. The Grays get a run back in the top of the 7th when Darrell Porter doubles home Jose Cruz, who singled, stole 2nd, and went to third on a wild pitch, cutting the lead in half 2-1. An error by Porter in the 8th gave the Panthers an insurance run. Mario Soto was nails through 8 and Rod Scurry came on to close the door in the 9th as Ft. Worth wins game 1. Final score: Panthers 3, Grays 1

The Panthers scored early again in Game 2 when Hernandez delivered his 4th hit and 2nd double of the series to drive in Joe Morgan in the first. Two batters later Oscar Gamble smashed a 2 run homer as Ft. Worth leaped ahead 3-0. Germantown gets a run back in the third when Tom Veryzer singles home Amos Otis, who had doubled with two outs. Hernandez comes through again for Ft. Worth when he singles home a run in the 5th. Willie McGee delivers a pinch hit ribbie single in the 6th as pinch runner Fred Stanley scored and the Panthers were up 5 to 1. Andre Dawson hits a solo blast in the 7th for the Grays cutting the Panther lead to 5-2. Rudy May left after 7 strong innings, but the Panther’s pen got a little careless in the 8th allowing 2 Germantown runs score. But it just made things more interesting as Scurry strikes out the side in the 9th to preserve the victory. Final score: Panthers 5, Grays 4

Keith Hernandez is making an early run at series MVP by hitting .714 through the first two games.

Ft. Worth is ready for games in Germantown where hopefully the starting pitchers, Christenson, Stuper, and Soto don't look too silly hitting as the best hitter of the bunch was Soto at .167

Hello from Germantown, where the Grays host the Panthers from Fort Worth for the middle three of a seven-game set for the MWWL championship. The Grays dropped the first two in Fort Worth and need to take at least two of three here to have an opportunity to return to Fort Worth. Sit back and enjoy, it’s a drizzly day and a chilly 43 degrees. Let’s see if we can get these games in.

Game 3. The Grays send lefty Geoff Zahn to the mound to face right hander Larry Christenson. Goose eggs until the bottom of the 4th when DeCinces and Cooper singled and Porter brought them home with a triple, Grays 2-0. Ray then lays don’t a bunt that refuses to go foul and its 3-0. Smalley gets one back with a solo shot in the Panthers next at bat, Grays 3-1. In the 7th Landreaux doubled off the wall and advanced to third on a Cruz fly to right. Panthers intentionally walk Yount and also lose DeCinces to fill the bases for Cooper. Cooper drives it over the right field wall to virtually seal the game, Grays 7-1.

Panthers Bonnell was 3-4 and Morgan 2-4.
Grays Landreaux went 2-5 R 2b; DeCinces 1-2 2R 2W; Cooper 2-4 4RBI R HR and Porter 1-3 2RBI R 3b. Zahn went 6IP allowing 1R on 3H 1W w/ 4K. Jackson, Armstrong, DeLeon and Caudill pitched 2 innings of scoreless relief.

Fort Worth 2 7 0
Germantown 7 9 2

Game 4. The Grays pitch Jim Clancy against Panthers John Stupor. In the 2nd Cooper drew a walk and Dawson followed with a 2-run shot. Porter then doubled and Landreaux drove him, Grays 3-0. After an intentional walk to Yount again, this time in the 8th, DeCinces was passed and Cooper…drew a walk, 4-0.

Panthers Bahnsen and Scurry pitched 2 innings of relief and didn’t allow an earned run.
Grays Otis was 1-1 2RBI, Cruz 2-5 R 2b, Cooper 0-2 RBI R 2W and Dawson 1-3 3BI R HR SF. Clancy went 5.1IP allowing 0R on 4H 2W w/ 5K. DeLeon, Burgmeier, Jackson and Armstrong pitched 3.2 innings of scoreless relief.

Fort Worth 0 6 1
Germantown 8 9 1

Game 5. The Grays will send Dan Petry to the mound in a rematch with Panthers Mario Soto. Bonnell reaches first in the 1st and advances to second on a ground out. X-Gray Gamble drove him home with a double, Panthers 1-0. In the bottom half Cruz drew a walk and came all the way around on a 2-out double to left center by DeCinces, 1-1. The Panthers fill the bases and Bonnell delivered a 2-run single. Lansford then supplies a bases clearing double, Panthers 5-1 in the 2nd. After the Panthers scored a couple of more in the 3rd to break the game open, Cooper banged a 3-run shot in the bottom half to make it a game again, Panthers 7-4. Dawson found his way to second in the 6th and PH Thompson stroked a 2-out RBI single, Panthers 7-5. In the 7th PH Smith singled and Yount reached on a 2-out infield roller. DeCinces followed with a gapper to the wall and yount came all the way around, tie game 7-7. Rack’em up we’re startin’ all over. Hassey and Ray singled to lead off the 8th. PH Petralli delivered a run scoring double, Grays 8-7 0-outs second and third top of the order. Nichols delivers two batters later with a 2-run PH single, Grays 10-7. Panthers put two on in the 9th, but that would be it.

Panthers Bonnell went 2-5 2RBI 2R, Lansford 1-4 2RBI 2b and Richards 2-4 R 2b.
Grays Nichols was 1-1 2RBI, Yount 2-5 2R, DeCinces 3-5 3RBI 3-2b, Cooper 1-3 3RBI HR and Ray 2-4 R 2b. Flanagan pitched 5.2 allowing 2R on 4H 2W w/ 3K. Caudill, Armstrong and Jackson pitched 2 innings of scoreless relief.

Fort Worth 7 10 0
Germantown 10 15 0

The last two games in Germantown left a sour taste in the Panthers’ mouth. First they were blown out and then they lost a 7 to 1 lead in game 5. Ft. Worth was more than ready to start game 6. The Panthers went on the attack early against the Grays. Oscar Gamble came to the plate with runners on the corners and 1 out in the bottom of the first, “LEA brings it home ... uh-oh! ... that brings the crowd to it's feet way over the wall in right ... it left the park in a big hurry … the PANTHERS go ahead by three runs 3-0” Ft. Worth had the exact same scenario in the 2nd when Hernandez came to the plate, “RICHARDS well off first ... RICHARDS is off with the pitch ... hit deep to left field over OTIS's head ... BONILLA will score ... it's off the wall ... OTIS plays the carom RICHARDS digging ... he rounds third they're waving him in ... and he scores ... HERNANDEZ's in standing with a double” Grays starter Lea was pulled after that hit and Ft. Worth was quickly in control of game 6 leading 5-0. The Panthers had 6 hits off Lea, but would only manage 1 more hit the rest of the way. Panther starter May was equally as tough. The Grays first hit did not come until 1 out in the 4th. It looked like Germantown was going to begin battling back in the 5th when they had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs but the Panthers came up with a big defensive play, with Johnny Ray hitting, “Infield deep ... the runners take their lead ... he cranks and fires ... roped to second ... caught! over to SMALLEY ... bang! bang! ... double play! ... and COOPER gets back safely” The Grays still manage a run when Porter singles home Cooper, who later hits a solo homer in the 7th, but May was dominant striking out 11 in eight innings as the Panthers even the series at 3 games a piece. Final Score: Panthers 5, Grays 2

In deciding game 7 Germantown scored first in the top of the 2nd when Jose Cruz batted with two outs and a runner on 2nd, “Now he comes home with it ... lined hard over second ... RICHARDS's racing over he cuts it off deep in the gap ... DECINCES's well around third ... they're waving DECINCES in here comes the throw home ... here's the play at the plate ... and he's safe...ahead of the throw ... CRUZ holds at first with a single GRAYS 1, PANTHERS 0” Ft. Worth wasted no time in coming back as they tied it in the bottom of the 2nd with back to back doubles by Parrish and Morgan. Then with 1 out Panther rookie McGee, who was starting for Cedeno at DH came to the plate, “MORGAN stretching his lead ... the pitch ... looped to right ... toward the gap DAWSON's after it ... spears it on one hop ... MORGAN rounds third they're waving MORGAN in ... here comes the throw home here's the play at the plate ... and he's ... in standing ... MCGEE holds at first with a single … and the PANTHERS go ahead by a run 2-1” For McGee it was his 3rd hit in 4 attempts while Cedeno was 0 for 15. Ft. Worth used their speed to get another run in the 4th when Richards drives home Morgan from 2nd base with an infield single. The Grays started trying to make a come back in the 8th when Veryzer delivers a pinch hit double to start the 8th. He would later score on a fielders choice to make it a one run game. Ft. Worth gets an insurance run in the home half of the 8th when Morgan walks, steals 2nd, and then goes to third on a dropped flyball by Otis. Morgan would later score on a sac fly. For the series Germantown had 6 miscues to Ft. Worth’s 3. The Panther’s bullpen struggled in the series, but their best reliever just happened to be their closer, Scurry who puts the icing on the cake getting his 3rd save as Ft. Worth celebrates its first world championship. Final Score: Panthers 4, Grays 2

The stars of the series were:

Player                   W  L  ERA   IP  SO
Rudy May (FWP) 2  0  2.40  15  16

Player                                  AVG  OBP   SLG  2B  3B HR  RBI  R  BB  SB
Keith Hernandez (FWP)  .308  .357  .654   3    0    2       6   5    2   0
Cecil Cooper (GER)          .250  .333  .625   0    0    3     10   6    3   0
Joe Morgan (FWP)           .364  .500  .409   1    0    0       1   6    6   1
Oscar Gamble (FWP)       .211  .375  .579   1    0    2      6    2    5   0
Doug Decinces (GER)       .320  .414  .560   6    0    0      3    4    4   0

The MVP goes to Hernandez who hit .428 in the four Panther wins.


MVP:   Keith Hernandez  - who hit .428 in the four Panther wins.