Cudas' Prevail Over Jays in Championship Slugfest
By Scot Sweet / PCBL Staff Writer
It was back to Rancho Cucamonga and The Epicenter; home of the minor league Quake's; for this year's PCBL Summer Season Championships. It was the twilight of a clear, hot day at this stunning baseball stadium for the final game of our championship triple-header.
We anchor our Championship Day with the AAA Division Championship between the #2 seeded Blue Jays (13-6-1) versus the top-seeded Barracudas (18-1-1), who are looking to win their 3rd straight AAA Summer title.
The Blue Jays' David Lopez becomes the 1st base runner of the day as he draws a 1 out walk. He is followed by Anthony Chevrier who singles; as does Erick Melara who gets the game's 1st RBI. Brother Carlos Melara earns an RBI single as well; and a pair of fielding errors add to the run count. The Jays get 4 runs in the top of the 1st inning to draw first blood in this championship contest.
Here come the Champion Cudas' in the bottom half of the inning. With 1 out, Jarrod Schwartz triples to become the 1st Cuda to reach base. The next batter would pop out, bringing up Kjavik Mahon who reaches by way of a fielding error with a run scoring in the process. Next up is Adam Geery who doubles home Mahon. The Cudas settle for a pair of runs in the inning and trail 4-2 through a single inning of play.
But back come the Blue Jays in the top of the 2nd. Jay Wasserman leads off the inning with a single. The next batter would strike out; bringing up leadoff hitter Brandon Loomis who reaches due to an error; with a run scoring as a result. With 2 out, Anthony chevrier would walk, followed by an RBI single by Erick Melara - his second in as many at bats. The Jays add 2 runs in the inning to re-capture their 4-run lead; up 6-2.
Once again, here come the Cudas'. They start the inning with singles from Devin Ellis and Eli Reichline. Scott Strickland follows with an RBI double. Leadoff hitter Chad Gordon follows by reaching base safely due to an error. Jarrod Schwartz followed with an RBI single of his own. Justin "JC" Collins follows with a single. Kjavik Mahon reached by error and he is followed by a 2-run homer, courtesy of Adam Geery. The Cudas get half a dozen in the inning to take an 8-6 lead through 2 complete innings of play.
But the Blue Jays weren't even close to lying down. With one out in the top of the 3rd, Ron Mendez walks, followed by a Jay Wasserman single. Brian Ward is next and he gets an RBI single. The next batter would go down swinging, bringing up David Lopez with 2 out and bags full. He doubles home a pair of runs; paving the way for Anthony Chevrier who gets an RBI double. The Blue Jays get 4 runs in the top of the 3rd inning to re-take the lead; now up by a score of 10-8 through 2 1/2 innings of play.
Here come the Cudas' again, looking to re-take the lead. Eli Reichline gets a leadoff walk, followed by Scott Strickland who singles. Chad gordon would reach base by way of fielders choice; followed by Jarrod Schwartz who gets an RBI single. JC Collins grounds into a double play, but gets the RBI as a run scores on the play. The Cudas' add 3 more runs in the inning to re-capture the lead; now up by a narrow 11-10 margin.
With the 4th inning being the first scoreless inning of this contest, the Blue Jays would come up in the top of the 5th still down by a run. With 1 out, Brian Ward singles. The next batter is Brandon Loomis who draws a walk. The next batter goes down swinging, followed by Anthony Chevrier who hits an RBI single. Another run would score on a fielding error, giving the Jays 2 runs in the inning; now leading the Cudas by a 12-11 tally.
We would go scoreless through the bottom of the 6th inning as the Cudas come up to bat, down by a single run. They send up Kjavik Mahon who doubles to start things off. The next batter would strike out, bringing up Zach Dominguez with 1 on and 1 out. He doubles to bring home Mahon to tie the game at 12. The next batter grounds out, bringing up Eli Reichline with 2 outs and a runner on. He gets an RBI single. The Cudas' settle for 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning and now lead the Blue Jays by the smallest of margins; up 13-12.
With Blue Jays fail to score in the top half of the 7th inning, sending the Cudas' up in the bottom of the 7th to try and add to their slim lead. The first batter goes down swinging, sending up Kjavik Mahon who reached base safely in his last 4 at bats. He does so again, but this time in grand fashion; with a blast to left center for a solo homer. He is followed by Adam Geery who duplicates the effort with a solo shot of his own. Back to back homeruns by the Cudas give them 2 runs in the inning - now leading the Jays by a score of 15-12 through 7 complete innings of play.
The 8th inning for the Blue Jays is also a quiet one as they fail to score for the third inning in a row thanks to the effective pitching of Justin Collins. Now up come the Cudas again to try and put this one away and claim their 3rd straight PCBL title. Scott Strickland leads off the inning for the Cudas by drawing a walk. The next batter strikes out, sending up Jarod Schwartz who doubles to put runners at 2nd and 3rd for Justin Collins. JC answers the call with a 2-run single helping the Cudas' add 2 runs in the inning and now pad their lead over the Blue Jays by a score of 17-12 through 8 innings of play and time all but running out on the Blue Jays in this championship.
Such was the case, as Adam Geery comes in to close and the Blue Jays would go down in order in the 9th; giving the Cudas' their 3rd straight PCBL AAA Title; winning by a final score of 17-12. Congratulations to the Champion Barracudas on a fine season and a thrilling three-peat performance in this years championship!
Game Stats: R H E
Blue Jays 4 2 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 12 15 4
Cudas' 2 6 3 0 0 2 2 2 - 17 21 5
Game MVP:
The collective bats of the Cudas' .... here were some of the shining stars from that night:
Adam Geery (3 for 5, 2 homers, 1 double, 4 RBI's)
Jarrod Schwartz (4 for 6, 2 singles, 1 double, 1 triple, 2 RBI's)
Kjavik Mahon (3 for 6, 1 single, 1 double, 1 homer, 1 RBI)
Pitching Stats:
(SP) Seth Schornick (Cudas') - 5 innings (allowed 12 runs on 13 hits, walked 6, 9 K's)
(WP) Justin Collins (Cudas') - 3 innings (allowed 0 runs on 2 hits, walked 0, 2 K's)
(Save) Adam Geery (Cudas') - 1 inning (allowed 0 runs on 0 hits, walked 0, 2 K's)
(LP) Eric Anderson (Blue Jays) -5 2/3 innings (allowed 13 runs on 16 hits, walked 2, 3 K's)
Game Time: 7:05PM - 10:25PM (3 Hours, 20 Minutes)
Umpires:
(1st Base) Carlos Trujillo
(2nd Base) Dax Villalta
(3rd Base) Dale Gardner
(Home Plate) Phil Detro (way to hang in there after taking a hard shot off the arm!)
A special thanks to the crew:
PA Announcer: Mike Gulato
Scorekeeper: Scot Sweet
National Anthem performed by American Idol contestant Sherman Pore
