It was another beautiful 
evening in the Sylmar foothills for this years PCBL Spring Season Wood Bat Championship between the Giants (9-1-1) and the undefeated Muckdogs (11-0). With clear skies, warm temeratures and a full harvest moon rising off in right center field, the stage was set for some Championship PCBL baseball! So let's get to it ....
The Giants' Kody Kimbrell and Brian Decker both singled in the top of the 1st inning, but the Giants came up scoreless in the inning; allowing the Muckdogs the chance to come up in the bottom of the 1st to try and score first blood. The 1st batter for the Muckdogs pops out, sending up Lenny Beckerman who hits a 1-out double. A pair of fielding errors does the rest as Beckerman scores the sole run for the Muckdogs in the inning. 1-0 Muckdogs through 1 complete.
The Giants come up empty in the top of the 2nd; so here come the Muckdog to try to extend the early lead. Their 1st two batters ground out, sending up Robert Julian who reaches 2nd base safely due to a pair of fielding errors. He soon scores on a Brandon Loomis RBI single. The Dogs would settle for 1 and now own a 2-0 advantage through 2 innings.
The Gia
nts still are unable to get on the board in the 3rd, so here come the Muckdogs again to try to once again chip away offensively. With 1 out, Eric Melara draws a walk. Scott Bailey follows with a single to put 2 on for Carlos Melara who hits an RBI single. Dave Lopez is next and he reaches base by way of yet another Giant error. Muckdogs manager James Dupree and Robert Julian would follow with singles of their own; and when all was said and done, they would add 4 runs on 4 hits to take a commanding 6-0 lead through 3 innings of play.
With the Giants failing to score in the top of the 4th, the Muckdogs would add yet another run in the bottom of the 4th, courtesy of a solo homer by Eric Melara. Muckdogs now lead 7-0 through 4 complete.
But the Giants finally find a pulse in their offense in the top of the 5th inning. Dave Odud leads off the inning off with a single. Two batters later, Chew Diaz draws a 1-out walk. the next batter strikes out, sending up Kody Kimbrell with 2 on and 2 out, having 2 hits to his credit today. He doubles home a pair, putting the Giants on the board. Brian Decker follows with an RBI single of his own. The Giants end up with 3 runs in the inning and now trail the Muckdogs by a tally of 7-3 through 4 1/2 innings.
But just when we thought the Giants might be making a run at the undefeated Muckdogs, the Dogs once again start to howl on offense. Dave Lopez starts the bottom of the 5th with a single. Dusty Michael follows with a double. Two batters later, Brandon Loomis gets his 2nd hit on the evening with an RBI single. Lenny Beckerman follows with an RBI single and a stolen base. Zack Dominguez joins the pack with an RBI single. this would end the evening for Bob Diaz after 4 1/3 innings of work. He is replaced by his son, Chew Diaz, who retires the last 2 batters of the inning. The Muckdogs, under a glowing full moon, are well on their way to a championship victory with a 4-run inning; now leading 11-3 through 5 complete innings of play.
The Giants come up in the top of the 6th inning realizing that time is running out on their championship hopes. They send up Kasey Fink to start things off and he singles to left center. The next 2 batters would be retired, sending Dave Odud to the plate with 1 on and 2 outs. He singles to keep the inning alive for Landen Bress who gets the RBI as he singles home Fink. The Giants end up getting 1 run in the inning for good measure, but are still falling well short in this game, down 11-4 through 5 1/2 innings of play.
This is where things got tough for the Giants and their offense. From the very moment that Landon Bress hit that RBI single in the top of the 6th, Muckdogs starting pitcher Eddie Mercado went to work; fanning the next 7 batters in succession. The Giants would not see another hit after Bress' RBI in the 6th; and that would be it.
The Muckdogs added 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning, courtesy of 2 wild pitches and an RBI triple by Dusty Michael; which all but put the exclamation point on this championship contest. Congratulations to the 2008 PCBL Wood Bat Champion Muckdogs for the perfect 12-0 season; winning this one decisively by a final score of 14-4!
Game Notes:
The Championship MVP goes to Muckdogs starting pitcher Eddie Mercado who goes the distance in a solid performance. He registered a whopping 11 strikeouts; which included the 7 straight batters he struck out in innings 6 through 8 to seal the deal for the Dogs. Congratulations on a solid pitching performance!
Also, our best wishes go out to Muckdogs right fielder Brandon Loomis who was injured in the bottom of the 7th inning after falling hard past 1st base while running out a ground ball to second. Loomis, a fierce competitor who always give 100%, was running hard up the line and past 1st base when suffering what appeared to be a potentially serious knee injury.
Let's all hope Brandon recovers fully and can resume playing the game he loves real soon.
Offensive kudos for the Muckdogs have to go to the following:
Eric Melara 1 for 3 / Solo Homer, walked, hit by pitch, 3 runs
Dusty Michael: 2 for 3 / double, RBI triple, 1 run
Scott Bailey 2 for 4 / 2 singles, walk, 2 runs
Lenny Beckerman 2 for 5 / RBI single, double, 2 runs
Brandon Loomis 2 for 5 / 2 RBI singles, 1 run
Game Stats:
Giants 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 4 11 8
Muckdogs 1 1 4 1 4 0 0 3 - 14 14 3
Game Time: 7:10pm - 10:15pm
Umpires: (bases) Jeff Sill
(plate) Robert James
Pitching Stats:
Winning pitcher: Eddie Mercado (Muckdogs)
9 Complete innings / allowed 4 runs on 11 hits / 1 BB / 11 K's
Losing pitcher: Bob Diaz (Giants)
4 1/3 innings / allowed 11 runs (5 earned) on 12 hits / 2 BB / 1 K
Chew Diaz (Giants)
3 2/3 innings / allowed 3 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits / 3 BB / 6 K's
