For just the second time in postseason play, the Rangers would meet up with the Wild Boars. This time with a chance to advance to the championship series for the 10th time in franchise history. Playing at Middletown Madison, the Rangers came away with a sweep of the Boars 8-4 and 13-2.

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The Rangers sent 2022 Playoff MVP Eric Becker to the mound in hopes of continuing his playoff magic. He ran into early trouble in the top of the first allowing a one-out walk and back-to-back two-out singles from Jacob Greve and Mookie Holmes to fall behind 1-0. Holmes stole second which allowed Greve to score making it 2-0.

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Boars pitcher Dylan Bower helped his own cause in the 2nd with a sac fly to increase the Boars' lead to 3-0. The Rangers mounted a comeback in the bottom of the inning with Rob Pederson leading off with a double. After a Nick Gilmore single put runners on the corner, Brandon Ward plated Pederson with a groundball and reached on an error. After a double play occurred, Jaret Quinn singled home Gilmore to make it 3-2.

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Gilmore smacked a two-out single in the 3rd, and a subsequent error allowed Eric Becker to score the tying run. Both sides went out quietly in the 4th inning.

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In the bottom of the 5th, Jesse Jones kicked things off with a single to center. Pederson singled again with one out. Gilmore flew out and Jones tagged up to go to third. Then stepped up Ward, who is getting his first taste of postseason action after not being able to do so as a member of the collegiate Beavercreek Sox program. Ward came through with a single to right to score Jones to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead. Ward then stole second base, and the errant throw allowed Pederson to score the 5th run of the day. Moyer then took advantage of the 5th Boars' error and reached on a grounder, but the error allowed Ward to scamper home to double up the lead to 6-3.

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Becker settled in on the mound and put together a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the 5th and 6th. The Rangers continued to add some insurance runs in the bottom of the 6th. Mark Carpenter singled, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Becker walked and Jones courtesy ran for him. Rob Pederson then stepped up and delivered the knockout blow with his 4th hit of the game, a 2-run double to center to make the score 8-3.

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But the final 7th inning wasn't easy. The Boars put a runner on with an error, a single and a walk to load the bases with two outs. A wild pitch gave the Boars a run back, and subsequent walk re-loaded the bases. But Eric got Boars captain Markus Hall to ground out to end the game. Becker earned his first ever complete game victory and is now 4-0 in playoff games. He allowed 4 hits, 3 earned runs, 4 walks and 3 strike outs.

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Kenny Owens toed the rubber in game 2 for the Rangers against last year's MVABL Cy Young winner Brent Cox. After a scoreless first inning, the Boars got on the board in the bottom of the second. Mookie Holmes reached on a dropped third strike. Kyle J. Evans singled and Ryan Earley followed with a run-scoring single to give the Boars 1-0 lead. Drew Scarberry then singled up the middle, but Rangers CF Kyle Moyer threw the runner out at the plate, preserving the one-run deficit.

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The Boars added on in the 3rd as Dylan Bower reached on an error, stole 2nd and 3rd, and score on a throwing error. And after a single and a walk, Owens was able to strike out a pair to lessen the damage.

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The top of the 4th came around and Eric Becker singled to start the inning, and Jones courtesy ran for him. After getting Pederson out for the first time today, Jones stole second and third. Gilmore was hit by a pitch. Ward then hit a groundball to short, and Jones beat the throw home for the Rangers' first run of the game. Kyle Moyer then laid down a sacrifice bunt to put both runners in scoring position. Jaret Quinn came through with an RBI single, but Ward was cut down at the plate trying to score the go-ahead run.

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The Rangers poured it on in the 5th inning. Mike Seebock led off the top of the 5th with a walk. Carpenter laid down a sac bunt and reached on an error. Jones followed with a bunt single to load the bases. After a strikeout, Joe Becker pinch hit for Pederson and singled home Seebock with a base hit. Gilmore was hit by a pitch to force in another run. Ward hit a sac fly to give the Rangers a 5-2 lead. Moyer walked to load the bases again. A bases-loaded walk to Quinn made it 6-2. An infield single from Seebock and subsequent error allowed two more runs to come plateward. Carpenter singled to left to score Quinn, and Jones singled to right to score Seebock as the Rangers built a 10-2 advantage. The inning continued as Eric reached on an error, allowing Carp to score. Joe Becker rounded out the 11-run inning with a 2-run single. The Rangers now led 13-2.

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Joe Becker relieved Owens in the bottom of the 5th and blanked the Boars the rest of the way. Third baseman Seebock helped keep the goose egg by throwing a runner out at the plate in the fifth. Joe struck out one and allowed 3 hits and 2 walks in his 3 innings of relief to record the save. Owens earned his second win of the postseason, striking out 5 over the first 4 innings of the game.

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The Rangers advance to their 10th championship appearance next Saturday, Oct 7th.

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