After taking two games from the Manatees on their home turf, the Threshers came back to Clearwater on Monday looking to close out the championship series with a sweep. Unfortunately the Manatees were determined not to go down easily and they created an intense playoff atmosphere all night.

According to the law of averages, sweeps in a series are not easy to come by. The Threshers fought that law tonight, but in the end, the law won.

The Manatees jumped on the Threshers early, tagging Threshers starter Zac Stott for three runs in the first inning forcing Stott from the game after managing just two outs in the first inning.

Alex Concepcion was forced into some early relief work, and made the best effort that could be expected. Concepcion gave up two runs in the second inning, and went all the way into the ninth inning before finally being relived by RJ Swindle with one out to go in the game.

Meanwhile the Threshers had closed the gap to 3-5 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. The Threshers would load the bases in the ninth after one out on three walks, and score a run when Jason Donald grounded into a force out bringing Jeremy Slayden to bat with two outs. Slayden had been the star of the night so far plating two of the Threshers runs on a double and a home run, but he could not pull out a miracle as the team went down 5-4 in the end.

The good news is that we get one more home game this year to cheer our boys on.

Nothing this year has come easy for this team. They battled from behind in the waning moments of the regular season to make their way into the playoffs, and then lost their only home game in the divisional series. They rallied from behind in two road games to capture the division crown and headed on the road for the finals.

In the first finals series game the team explode for five in the fifth and held off a late rally by the Manatees for a win. In the second game they went down early and battled through eleven innings to get a second win. It is only fitting that this team of destiny battle once again to win the series at home after dropping at least one game to create some drama and give the home crowd a reason to rally behind them one last time.