Sports
Potomac Nationals Crush Frederick, Advance to the Mills Cup Finals
P-Nats swept the Keys 3-1 in the playoff series.
The Potomac Nationals are headed to the Mills Cup Finals for the second time in three years following their 10-3 win over the Frederick Keys on Saturday night to clinch the series three games to one. It will be the franchise's fourth trip to the finals.
Marcos Frias started the game for the Nationals and pitched around some early trouble spots before the scoring started. He finished with five innings pitched, giving up three earned runs and six hits.
The scoring started in the bottom of the second inning when Jamar Walton and Robert Jacobsen reached base to start the inning. The P-Nats eventually scored on an RBI groundout by Nicholas Moresi and an RBI triple by Chris Curran. One inning later, the Nationals added two more runs off the bats of Bill Rhinehart and Tyler Moore.
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The fourth inning saw three more runs cross the plate including two more RBI hits by Rhinehart and Moore to give Potomac a commanding six run lead after four innings. Bill Rhinehart led the team with two hits, three RBIs and a run. Moore, Curran, and Moresi each finished with two RBIs. The P-Nats won, 10-3.
For the team, this means they will advance to the Mills Cup Finals and face the Winston-Salem Dash starting Monday night. The Potomac franchise has been to the finals only three times before this but they won each series they appeared in. Their first appearance was in 1982, as the Alexandria Dukes, where they swept the Durham Bulls.
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The franchise's second appearance was in 1989, this time as the Prince William Cannons, where they again defeated the Bulls. Most recently, in 2008, the Nationals defeated the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in four games to win the championship.
The Mills Cup championship series is another best of five and will start Monday in Winston-Salem. The Nationals will have to work hard to win their second championship in three years as they only posted an 8-12 record against Winstom-Salem this season.
Potomac fans will be able to catch their hometown squad starting next Thursday when the series returns to Woodbridge for the third game of the series. If necessary, the fourth and fifth games would be played in Woodbridge as well meaning the championship will be decided at Pfitzner Stadium.
