2007 Summer Season
Orange County League Champions


2007 PCBL Orange County League Champions

51's (3) -vs- Flyers (1)
September 29th, 2007 @ Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa

 

 

"Big Jimmy" Provides the punch as pitcher Ryan comes through in the clutch
By Scot Sweet / PCBL Staff Writer

Everything I've ever heard about the OC has turned out to be true. Clear skies, cool breeze, sparkling clean everywhere......and this was never more evident than it was on the pristine baseball diamond; surrounded by the sheer beauty of Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. This would mark the day of our inaugural PCBL OC Championship, an event which I'm sure will continue on for years to come.
  
Well ... with a great day of baseball ahead with just perfect conditions, it was time to set this game into action  -  PLAY BALL!
   
Two solid pitchers would take the mound in this contest - Ryan Joslyn of the 51's against Jeff olson of the Flyers. Their abilities would become apparant soon into this championship contest, as we would go scoreless for the first 3 complete innings of play, bringing the 51's up in the top of the 4th inning to try and get something going here.
   
The 51's send up the top of their order, Jimmy Fernandez, who had grounded out in his first at bat. He quickly makes up for his previous effort with a solo homerun to log the first run of the ballgame. The next three batters would go down in order, but the 51's would settle for the one run off the solo shot by Jimmy Fernandez as they take the early 1-0 lead.
    
Again, great pitching and defense would prevail in this contest as the score would remain
  
1-0 going into the bottom of the 6th inning, where the Flyer's have only produced a pair of hits so far in the ballgame. They lead off the bottom of the 6th inning with the top of their order; leadoff hitter Morgan Boutinghouse. He singles to get things started for the 51's. The next batter is left fielder Mike Stokes, who responds with a single of his own, putting runners at the corners and nobody out for shortstop Rolando "Rollie" Ramirez. Rollie completes the trifecta, slapping an RBI single to score Boutinghouse from third. They settle for a run in the inning with three straight singles, bringing the game even at 1.
    
The game remained a 1-1 tie as we headed into the top of the 9th inning. The 51's leadoff with Brian Tokarse who singles to put the go-ahead run on for Cale Sheppard. He hits a ground ball to the infield, but a fielding error advances Tokarse to third safely, with Sheppard out at first. With one out and the go-ahead run 90 feet away, the batter is none other than Jimmy Fernandez who homered in the 4th inning. He provides in the clutch again with a line drive down the left field line for a double, scoring Tokarse from third to give them a 2-1 lead. The next batter is pitcher Ryan Joslyn, who helps his own cause with an RBI single, scoring Jimmy Fernandez from second. The 51's come up with 2 big runs on 3 hits at a most opportune time; taking a 3-1 lead as we head into the bottom of the 9th inning.
  
The Flyers take one more shot in the ninth, hoping for some last minute heroics, but to know avail. They come up empty in the inning as the last 3 batters would fly out consecutively; officially naming the Canyon Inn 51's as PCBL Orange County Summer League Champions! Congratulations to the 51's for a solid performance and to the 2 co-MVP's of this championship contest  -  pitcher Ryan Joslyn and centerfielder Jimmy Hernandez!
    
51's starting pitcher Ryan Joslyn was simply dominating from start to finish. The numbers say it all: complete game, allowing 1 run on 6 hits, 0 walks (2 hit batters) and 7 strikeouts. A great performance! And if that wasn't enough, he went 2 for 4 at the plate with the RBI single in the 9th that put the game away for the 51's! When asked about his solid pitching performance, here's what he had to say: ” I felt good today, so I'm glad I was able to give it my all. I was able to keep some gas in the tank for the later innings, which helped me alot. Also,  I owe a lot to my catcher Marcus Zamudio. He caught one of the best games of any catcher I've ever pitched to.”   
  
Our other co-MVP, Jimmy Fernandez, was the spark that started the 51's flame early in the contest. He hit the solo homer in the 4th inning to put the 51's on the board; then provided the RBI double in the 9th inning to recapture the lead and seal the victory. I spoke with Jimmy after the game and this is what he had to say: “ I know I've had a real hard time in the past facing Jeff Olson. He's a real good pitcher and today he was coming in a little bit on everybody, so I was just trying to put the bat on the ball. He gave me a good pitch in the 4th inning and I just hit it out. The last game we had against him he was very tough on us and I'm happy to have come out on top today.”
  
The performance of the Flyers' starting pitcher, Jeff Olson, should not be overlooked. It should be noted that he pitched 8 1/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits with no walks and 6 strikeouts. He had only allowed 1 run on 4 hits through 8 complete innings of play until giving up the pair of runs in the ninth. A very good performance by #20. He was relieved with 1 out in the ninth by Brian Hunt who retired the only 2 batters he faced.
  
 
  

Box Score:
51's        0     0     0     1     0     0     0     0     2             3    7    1
Flyers     0     0     0     0     0     1     0     0     0             1    6    3
   
Game time:      1:20pm  -  3:38pm   ( 2 hrs, 18 mins.)
  
  
Umpires:          1st Base: Kwong Kim
                        Base:  Warren Sifre
                        Home:  Lovell Bowen