Tribune-Herald
Star light, star bright, no offense for the Hawaii Stars on Wednesday night, when their bats suddenly stopped working once the competition in the Pacific Association playoffs jumped up a level.
After pelting the last-place Bay Cal Lumberjacks in their first postseason appearance a day earlier, the Stars managed only six hits in a 7-1 loss to the Vallejo Admirals at Wilson Park in Vallejo, Calif.
According to the league’s playoff schedule, the No. 4 seed Stars (27-39) will play the No. 3 Admirals (25-31) at 4 p.m. today in a best-of-three series. The two will play again at 10 a.m. Saturday. If the series is tied, the two would play for a fourth straight time at 2 p.m. at Wilson Park.
Bo Hennings pitched five innings of one-run ball, and Joshua Nervis and Manuel Ruiz combined for three shutout innings to put the Stars to bed.
Ted Lemasters provided all the offense the Admirals would need with a two-run homer in the second inning. He finished 2 for 4 with three RBIs.
Ronnie Loeffer pitched 4 1/3 innings in the loss. He allowed four runs on five hits and two walks, and struck out one. Devon Ramirez recorded two outs and gave up two runs.
Bryan Escanio and Mike Jackson Jr. each fired a scoreless inning, providing a relief for a short while. However, Tony York surrendered a run in the ninth.
Devonte Odums and Matt Hibbert, Hawaii’s first two hitters, each batted 2 for 3 to set the table. The other Stars didn’t shine at the plate; the rest of the lineup went 2 for 26 (.078 batting average).