Sunday Night at Rutgers-Newark epitomized what makes playoff baseball so captivating, as the Legends and CGI Monsoons met to decide who would advance to the North Division Final. All-star pitchers Orin Winslow (Legends) and Nick Durso (Monsoons) battled it out on the mound, as two of the league’s best faced each other when the stakes were at their highest. Both of these pitchers have been dominant all season, pitching to sub 2.2 ERAs and overwhelming hitters with their velocity and incredible deception. Winslow had been nearly untouchable as he led the league in strikeouts with a whopping 64 heading into the playoffs. Both pitchers came out and dominated as you’d expect, as the game was scoreless through three innings. However, the Monsoons would soon get their bats going.

In the top of the 4th inning, the Monsoons would break the scoreless deadlock. After singles from Andy Seretti and Jeffrey Policarpio, they would both advance on a wild pitch from Winslow to put both runners in scoring position. Winslow looked to stop the bleeding and would strike out Will Fritch but the ball got by catcher Vincent Mele, and Seretti would score to make it 1-0. Next up was Sean McCullough who ripped an RBI single that scored Policarpio to make it 2-0. With one out and Will Fritch at third, all-star and batting title holder Tyler Ruban looked to extend the lead to three by sending a sac fly to right field. It looked as if Fritch would score, but an incredible catch and throw from right fielder Kyle Miller led to a double play and kept the score at 2-0.

The Monsoons would stay hot and tack on two more runs in the fifth inning, as all-star CJ Tomalavage would show off his wheels and score on a wild pitch to make it 3-0. Next at-bat,

Christopher Giacalone would score on an error to extend the lead to 4-0. This would be the end of the night and season for ace Orin Winslow. In his five innings of work, he allowed four runs on five hits and had eight strikeouts, bringing his outstanding total up to 72 in only 41.2 innings this season. Despite the loss, Winslow had an incredible season and has a bright future ahead of him, but the CGI Monsoons on this day would not be denied.

Christopher Brown would come in to pitch the sixth for the Legends, as the dominant reliever (2nd in the league in strikeouts, only behind Winslow) looked to reverse the momentum of this game. However, he did not fare much better as the Monsoons scored two more runs in the sixth inning. After Sean MucCullough led off the inning with a single, Tyler Ruban sent a deep drive over the left fielder’s head for an RBI double. Later in the inning, Giacalone would rip a line drive down the left field line for another RBI double that scored Ruban.

The Legends offense would finally get going and get on the board in the bottom of the sixth, but it was too little too late. Durso’s dominant outing made it nearly impossible for the Legends to get back in this game. In 6.2 innings, Durso allowed only one run on six hits as he attacked hitters consistently, surrendering only one walk.

The Monsoons and Legends would trade runs in the eighth and ninth innings, but the Legends were unable to mount a comeback.

Looking forward to Tuesday night, the Monsoons will face CPBA in an exciting matchup for the elusive North Division crown, as well as a spot in this weekend’s championship series.