Huntsville Stars even playoff series with Chattanooga Lookouts

photo Chattanooga Lookouts logo

So it all comes down to this.

Tyler Wagner was dominant in his Double-A debut, allowing two hits in six scoreless innings to pace the Huntsville Stars to a 4-0 victory Sunday afternoon over Chattanooga at AT&T Field. The Stars squared the Southern League's best-of-five North Division series at two games apiece, setting up a winner-take-all finale tonight at 7:15.

"When the season started, if they would have said this club would have been playing one game to determine who goes to the Southern League championship series and if I would take that?" Lookouts manager Razor Shines said. "I would have signed on the dotted line, so I'm all right with it.

"There will be nothing different about this fifth game. It will be business as usual. We will come to the park and get our work in, and we will prepare for a baseball game."

What has been different -- and it's a battle the Southern League faces annually after Labor Day -- are the AT&T crowds. Chattanooga's 2-1 victory Saturday night took place before 1,248 fans, and Sunday's audience of 633 was the smallest in the 14-year history of the 6,340-seat facility.

"We were all expecting a little more people in the stands, but we understand," Lookouts first baseman O'Koyea Dickson said. "College football is big around here, and it's the opening Sunday of the NFL."

Said second baseman Darnell Sweeney: "We do it for the fans, but we're just trying to win ball games right now. Honestly, if there was just one guy in the stands, we would still try to play our hardest."

Chattanooga's smallest home crowd during the regular season was 1,500, which occurred May 11.

Corey Seager and Scott Schebler got the only hits off Wagner, with Dickson singling in the eighth off Stars reliever David Goforth. Wagner allowed one walk, and the Stars erased three Lookouts runners via double plays.

Huntsville broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning when Hector Gimenez singled to left field, stole second and scored on Erik Komatsu's double to center. The Stars added three more in the eighth, taking a 2-0 lead when Orlando Arcia drew a walk and scored on Nick Ramirez's double to left.

Nick Struck is scheduled to start tonight's game for the Lookouts, with Brent Suter scheduled for the Stars.

"All season has been kind of like this," Dickson said. "We've just got to come out and have fun. Nothing has changed. It's the same game, so go have fun."

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

Upcoming Events