Cub's Edge Marlins in Classic Pitcher's Duel at The Diamond
By Scot Sweet / PCBL Staff Writer
It is common knowledge in the sport of baseball that solid pitching and defense wins ballgames. Never was this so apparant as it was Saturday at the Diamond in Lake Elsinore. Our PCBL OC AA-Division Championship was a classic matchup between two pitchers who were clearly ready to take the mound on this 
championship day. To make the scene even more appealing was the fact that it was simply a beautiful day to play baseball; and to add to it, you couldn't find a more stunning venue to play in than the confines of this state of the art minor league stadium in the sleepy town of Lake Elsinore.
The first batter of the day would be the Cubs' starting pitcher, Cole Harris; who triples down the 3rd base line. He scores 2 pitches later on a pass ball to Garrett Wilson; who also reaches base as he is hit by a pitch. He later scores after stealing a base and scoring on a pass ball. The Cubs get a pair of uneaned runs and take the early 2-0 lead.
This game would remain 2-0 Cubs as we entered the top of the 5th inning. The Cubs' Ryan Williams would get a 1 out single and would soon after steal a base and score on a pass ball. The Cubs add yet another unearned run and now lead 3-0 after 4 1/2 innings of play.
With the Cubs' Cole Harris carrying a 4-hit shutout into the top of the 8th inning; the Cubs came up in the inning with a chance to add to their 3-0 lead. First to bat is Jon Yoshizaki who is hit by a pitch to start things off. With 2 out in the inning, Garrett Wilson singles to score Yoshizaki from 3rd. The Cubs add a run and now lead by a score of 4-0 through 7 1/2 innings.
The Marlins can only come up with a single in the 8th, courtesy of Eric Cardella; but they fail to come up with their 1st run of the ballgame. The Cubs' come up in the top of the 9th inning with a 4-0 lead and a championship in sight.
Luke Aumiller gets a 2 out single, followed by Ryan Schilling who walks. With runners at the corners and 2 out, Ryan Williams gets an RBI double. The Cubs add a run in the top of the 9th and are now 3 outs away from the fall title, leading the Marlins by a score of 5-0.
The Marlins came up in the bottom of the 9th inning and made a valient attempt to steal this championship in a single at bat. The leadoff batter, Dillon Schultz, drew a walk to get things started. Luke Garner followed with an RBI double to put the Marlins on the board for the first time in this contest. The next batter would walk, followed by Omar Rose who hits a sacrifice fly to score Luke Garner from 3rd.
The Marlins would get 2 runs in the inning and even see the tying run come to the plate; but that would be as close as they would get as Pitcher, Cole Harris was able to shut things down with a pair of strikeouts to put the Marlins down for good.
Congratulations to the 2008 PBCL OC AA Division Fall Champion Cubs for pulling out the victory in this tight championship contest! And hats off to the Marlins who kept this game close enough to get a shot late, though it was not to be.
Also to the Marlins' pitcher Omar Rose; who had a solid performance and only allowed 1 earned run on 8 hits while striking out 13! What a great performance by Omar Rose; pitching such a solid game despite the loss.
But the game MVP on this day would be Cub's starting pitcher Cole Harris. What more can be said for his performance? He gets the 1st hit of the ballgame ... a triple down the line; he's the first player of the day to cross home plate, scoring the day's first run for the Cubs. His numbers were staggering ... a complete game, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and striking out an incredible 16 batters! Congratulations, Cole, on a solid championship performance!
Game Stats
CUBS 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 5 8 2
MARLINS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 5 2
Game Time: 9:10am - 12:30pm (3 hours, 20 mins)
Umpires: Bases: Frank Pflugradt
Plate: Warren Sifre
Pitching
WP: Cole Harris (Cubs) 9 IP / Allowed 2 runs on 5 hits / 16 K's / 5 walks
LP: Omar Rose (Marlins) 9 IP / Allowed 5 runs (1 earned) on 8 hits / 13 K's / 5 walks
