TRAVERSE CITY -- The job Midwest's P.J. Zocchi was called to do Tuesday was something he's become quite familiar with.
The Sliders turned to Zocchi in the seventh inning to get them out of a jam -- and to do it against a former teammate.
He did both, and carried Midwest to a 3-1 Frontier League win over Traverse City at Wuerfel Park.
The Sliders (40-52) led 2-1 in the seventh inning when starter Scott Van Es put runners on first and second with one out. Zocchi was brought in to face Beach Bums catcher Robby Alcombrack, who was Zocchi's teammate last year with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in the Cleveland Indians organization.
"Every time this year I've pitched against Traverse, he's been the first guy I see walk up there," Zocchi said. "He's my boy, and he knows I'm going to challenge him with a first-pitch fastball."
Zocchi got Alcombrack to pop up in foul territory, where third baseman Robbie Knapp made a falling catch for the out.
"When you see your friends out there, obviously you want to do even better," Zocchi said. "You put a little more effort into it, and sometimes it backfires. But being in that situation a couple of times, I'm kind of used to seeing the familiar face. It just makes you more conscious of who's in there and (you) try to hit your spots."
Zocchi then got Brad Miller to fly out to left to get out of the inning.
Midwest added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning when Knapp doubled to right field and came home on Jeremy Jones' RBI hit.
Traverse City (41-50) tried to rally in the ninth when Brian Lapin hit a stand-up triple to right, but Zocchi -- who also pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning -- stranded him there with a strikeout and a groundout.
Zocchi earned his first save of the season and helped Van Es get his first win of the year. Van Es pitched 6&1/3 innings with five hits, two walks and six strikeouts.
"He came late in the season and we needed another starter who fit right into the rotation," Zocchi said. "He's done a great job with us. He's kept us in the game every time he's pitched. Tonight, we just had more bats and we scored more runs."
Traverse City's lone run came in the sixth when Brad Miller singled, moved to second on Mike Epping's sacrifice bunt, stole third and came home on a passed ball.
The Beach Bums opened the seventh inning with back-to-back singles from Lapin and Mike Victor, but could not score.
Kevin Reese pitched his final game of the season for Traverse City, going seven innings with six hits and five strikeouts. He gave up two runs to Midwest in the fourth that spelled the difference.
"He threw fine," Langbehn said. "His velocity's been down a little bit because he's been dealing with some issues -- nothing major. He gutted it out and threw great. He unfortunately left a couple of pitches up in that two-run inning and it proved to be the difference."
Both teams have been eliminated from the playoffs and will be looking to use the final four games as a positive heading into the off-season. They will conclude their series today with Brett Bostelman (7-7, 3.98) getting the start for TC against Jeff Fischer (4-5, 5.17).
"We're trying to win them all and set an example," Zocchi said. "It's been a rough year, but you want to finish on a strong note for the organization, and for yourself."
"Guys have got to keep playing hard, it doesn't matter how many games are left," Langbehn said. "We've been doing that, we've just had problems scoring runs all year. That's been our biggest problem.
"They're still playing hard. And they're being evaluated every day."
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