Courier-Post Staff
BRIDGEPORT, Conn.

In a week that started with such hope, the Riversharks came crashing back down to earth and their season was over.

Bridgeport used the deadly playoff combination of good pitching and power hitting to beat the Sharks 3-1 at Harbour Yard Thursday night. With the win, Bridgeport wins the series 2-1 and advances to the Atlantic League Finals against the winner of Thursday night's game between Atlantic City and Newark in Newark.

``When you come into somebody's yard and you can only create one run in each game it's going to be tough to squeeze one out,'' Sharks manager Wayne Krenchicki said. `` You have to give that ballclub over there a lot of credit with the pitching job that they did. Not that we were too bad, but scoring one run is not going to win a lot of ballgames. Their staff rose to the occasion. They did the job.''

Former Bluefish pitcher, Gavin Osteen, started and suffered the loss for the Riversharks. After taking the opener 5-0 at Campbell's Field on Tuesday, the Sharks failed to hit for the second game in a row.

Truth be told, the Sharks, who finished the season with the most wins in the league, were eliminated due to their offense, an offense that struggled to hit .254 during the regular season.

On this night, the Sharks managed only three hits and after Osteen allowed a pair of home runs, a two-run home run in the fifth by Brendan Kingman and a solo shot by Cesar Devarez in the sixth, the Sharks just couldn't recover.