On paper, this 2009 Spring Wood Bat title game had all the makings of a legendary championship. Two teams with championship experience who know how to win ballgames, especially the big ones. Both teams come into this contest with identical 9-1 records; both having won their last 5 straight regular season games coming into this contest. The last post-season meeting between these two powerhouse ballclubs was in the '08 Fall Championship; in which the undefeated Tigers claimed the title with a narrow 5-3 victory. Although the Tigers hold the latest of the Wood Bat titles; it cannot be ignored that the Muckdogs are making their 4th straight Wood Bat title appearance and their 9th overall. They defeated the Giants twice in '08 to claim both the Spring and Summer Titles. So enough of the history .... lets turn our attention towards the present as we enter this 2009 Spring title game for Wood Bat Supremacy! Let the game begin!
The Muckdogs send up leadoff hitter Brandon Loomis to start off the top of the 1st inning. He draws a walk to bring up center fielder Lenny Beckerman who reaches safely due to a fielding error. The next batter, Adam Geery, grounds back to the pitcher for the 1st out of the inning. However, the 1st baseman makes a throwing error to 3rd and Loomis scores in the process; with Beckerman moving to 3rd on the play. The next batter is Anthony Evangelista; who hits a sacrifice fly to right field to score Beckerman. The Muckdogs get a pair of unearned runs in the inning to take the early 2-0 lead.
The game would remain 2-0 Muckdogs as we entered the top of the 4th inning. The Muckdogs would start things off in the inning with Adam Geery who reaches base safely due to a throwing error on the shortstop.He would steal 2nd base shortly thereafter. The next two batters would be retired; sending Mike Lindberg to the plate with 2 out and Geery on 2nd. He responds with a hard single to left center, scoring Geery. The Muckdogs settle for a single run in the inning to extend their lead; now up 3-0 through 3 1/2 innings of play.
The score remained 3-0 Muckdogs as the Tigers came up to bat in the bottom of the 6th inning. With the leadoff hitter Will Morrow grounding out to 3rd; the next batter was Garret Behnke. He hits a hard line drive to the right of the 2nd baseman and into right center field. The next batter is starting pitcher and League MVP Justin "J.C." Collins, who was having a brilliant game on the mound in this championship. He helps his cause with a hard liner of his own between 1st and 2nd base and into right field; advancing Behnke to 3rd. With runners at the corners and 1 out in the inning, the next batter is Brian Decker. He hits a hard shot which goes off the 3rd baseman and into left field for an error, scoring Behnke. They settle for the lone run in the inning and now trail the Muckdogs by a score of 3-1 through 6 complete.
This is where the real story behind this championship game begins. Due to the outcome of this game, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about the MVP of this championship before continuing on with the game's final results. The MVP of this championship contest was a choice that was largely unanimous in both dugouts; and for good reason. J.C. Collins of the SFV Tigers has put up numbers this regular season which had earned him the honor of being the league's MVP. But his performance in this game as the Tigers' starting pitcher could not have been any more impressive. He pitched a complete game; allowing 0 runs (3 runs were unearned) on only 3 hits, walked 2 and struck out 2. And if that wasn't enough, he also managed to go 2 for 3 at the plate with a walk, a single and a double. Congratulations to J.C. for such a dominant season and for such a solid showing in this Wood Bat Championship!
And now for the rest of the story ...... Unfortunately, J.C.'s big time performance turned out to be in a losing cause; since the Muckdogs had some pretty solid piching of their own to hold the Tigers to 1 run in the ballgame. Muckdog starting pitcher Eddie Mercado went 6 complete innings in this championship; allowing 1 run on 6 hits in a solid, consistent performance. the Muckdogs pitchers were even more impressive out of the bullpen. Dallas Lucero came in to relieve Mercado in the 7th inning and in 2 innings of work allowed only one single; all but shutting the Tigers down at the plate. Then to cap things off in the 9th inning, Adam Geery came in to relieve Lucero and he proceeded to strike out the side to end the ballgame. Pitching was indeed the stronghold in this contest and each of 4 pitchers on the day should be applauded for their efforts.
Nonetheless, we had to produce a winner this evening; and it would prove to be the Muckdogs who were fortunate enough to capitalize on a few early Tiger mistakes to take the early lead and hold onto it for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Congratulations to both teams for having such fine seasons; and to the 2009 Spring Wood Bat Champion Muckdogs for claiming yet another PCBL Title!
Game Time:
7:05pm - 9:20pm (2 hours, 15 minutes)
Box Score: R H E
Muckdogs 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 2
SFV Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 7 4
Game MVP:
J.C. Collins (SFV Tigers) Pitched complete game; Allowing 0 earned
runs on 3 hits ...... went 2 for 3 at the plate with a single & a double.
Pitching:
(WP) Eddie Mercado (Muckdogs) 6 IP; Allowed 1 run on 6 hits; 1 walk & 1 K
(LP) J.C. Collins (SFV Tigers) 9 IP; Allowed 0 earned runs on 3 hits; 2 walks & 2 K's
(RP) Dallas Lucero (Muckdogs) 2 IP; Allowed 0 runs on 1 hit; 0 walks & 2 K's
(Save) Adam Geery (Muckdogs) 1 IP; Allowed 0 runs on 0 hits' 0 walks & 3 K's
Umpires:
Jeff Sill (1st Base)
Carlos Trujillo (3rd Base)
Kevin Mackelberg (Plate)
Today's Championship "Keene-ism"; courtesy of announcer Scott Keene:
"Today's game is brought to you by Red Man Tobacco & Red Bull Energy drinks.
McDonalds cannot compare to this snackin' combo. That's right folks ... the team
of Red Man and Red Bull ......... Bon Appetite!!!"
