Tinseltown Terror
PCBL National Division Championship Sunday, 8/29/04 - 7:30PM @ Jethawk Stadium Tinseltown Terror -vs- Giants Game Summary With the nightcap of this Championship Game Day scheduled for a 7:30pm start and temperatures finally starting to subside after a day of simmering heat, it was apparent that this National Division Championship between the visiting Tinseltown Terror (12-7-1) and the home team Giants (14-5-1) would not disappoint when it came down to the heat of competition. This would be the Giants‚ second trip in a row to the big game and the Terrors‚ 1st ever, which is amazing in itself considering the illustrious history of the Terror in other regional and national tournaments for which the've had much success. The Terror's lead off hitter started the game by flying to left for the 1st out. Next up was Terror manager Justin Urbas, who drew a walk. He was followed by T.J. Runnells, who hit a 2-run homer to put the Terror up early, 2-0. That would complete the scoring in the inning for the Terror, bringing the Giants up in the bottom half of the 1st inning to try and get the game back even (at the very least). The Giants would come up with 2 hits and a walk in the inning, but unfortunately 2 strikeouts and a fly out to right would negate the effort - with the score remaining 2-0 Terror at the end of an inning. The Terror started off the top of the 2nd inning as they did in the 1st - with a fly out to the outfield. And just as they did in the previous inning with 1 out; the bats began to come alive. Erich Magiar was the next batter and with 1 out he doubled to start the Terror rally. Marlon McKinney steps to the plate next, and he singles to put 2 on with 1 out for Milton Adolph. Adolph walks to load the bases for the top of the order, Jeff Bowne. Bowne flys out to center as the runners hold, bringing up Justin Urbas with 2 out and the bases full. He singles home a pair of runs to extend the Terror lead to 4-0. Next batter would be T.J. Runnells who hit a 2-run homer in his 1st at bat. He promptly singles home another run to add to the Terror lead - now up 5-0. Elvis Nelson (cool name) is the next candidate to join the RBI club and he does just that - he hit‚s a single to claim an RBI and further add to the Terror Attack - now leading 6-0. Mike McNeely would line to short for the final out of the inning, but the damage would be done as the Terror send 9 men to the plate in the 2nd inning and score 4 runs in the process to hold a commanding 6 run lead in this championship. The Giants led off the bottom of the 2nd inning with shortstop Steve Nelson, who opened the inning with a base on balls. He would later advance to 2nd on a past ball and shortly thereafter would steal 3rd. Nonetheless, the 4 batters following him would combine for a walk and 3 strikeouts; leaving Nelson stranded at 3rd base. 6-0 Terror through 2 complete. To start off the 3rd inning, the Giants pull Josh Goldberg after 2 long innings of work. He's relieved by Ty Curran who comes in to face the Terror's DH, Vince Kolbe. Kolbe homers to add to the already huge Terror lead, now up 7-0. Worthy of mention, however, is that Ty Curran went on to walk 1 and strike out 3 in the inning to delay any further Terror offense; at least for the time being. The Giants would remain scoreless through 3 complete innings, bringing the Terror up in the top of the 4th with the chance to really put themselves out of reach; assuming more runs were even necessary to secure the victory. But the Terror weren't even close to being finished on offense. The Terror started with the top of their lineup, Jeff Bowne, who doubled to start the familiar Terror rally. Justin Urbas followed with a base hit of his own - a double - to put 2 on with no outs for T.J. Runnells. During Runnells at bat, a pitch gets away from the catcher, scoring Jeff Bowne from 3rd - Terror up 8-0. Runnells then doubles home Justin Urbas to put the Terror up 9-0. Elvis Nelson grounds to short for the 1st out of the inning, but another run scores in the process due to a wild pitch. That brings up Mike McNeely with 1 out and 1 on. He doubles home T.J. Runnells to put the Terror ahead a whopping 11-0. The next batter is Vince Kolbe who takes 1st base after being hit by a pitch; bringing up Jason Cly with 1 out and 2 on. He doubles home a run to put the Terror way out of reach - up 12-0. The final run of the inning scores from 3rd on a sacrifice fly by Eric Magiar; bringing the final tally at the end of 3 1/2 innings to a huge 13-0 Terror lead. The Giants come up in the bottom of the 4th inning undoubtedly wondering what happened that put them in this position so quickly. They lead off the inning with shortstop Steve Nelson, who starts the inning on a positive note with a solo homer to get the Giants on the board. The next batter is Pat Rizotti who singles, bringing up Steve Klein who draws a walk. Eli Reichline comes up next with no outs and 2 on. He singles home Rizotti to slightly close the huge gap - now trailing 13-2. They go in order from that point and close out the inning still down 11 big runs. The Terror add 1 run in the top of the 5th inning by way of a Justin Urbas single, followed by an Elvis Nelson single to score the RBI. The Giants get 3 runs back in the bottom half of the 5th inning with contributing base hits by Javik Mahon, Steve Nelson, Pat Rizzotti and Steve Klein; cutting the gap to 9 runs - now down 14-5. The Terror add yet another run in the top of the 6th with singles from Vince Kolbe and Eric Magiar; followed by an RBI-scoring double courtesy of Marlon McKinney - Terror up 15-5. The Giants come up empty in the bottom of the 6th, bringing up the Terror who have yet to have a scoreless inning in the contest. The scoring streak continues as they combine for 3 more runs in the top of the 7th, with base hits in the inning credited to T.J. Runnells, Elvis Nelson and Mike McNeely; as well as a RBI sacrifice fly by Jason Cly - Terror up 18-5. The Giants get 1 run in the bottom of the 7th with the help of singles from Ty Curran and Steve Nelson, as well as a base on balls by Jerod Gold. 18-6 Terror through 7 complete. As if they needed to, The Terror continue their scoring streak in the top of the 8th inning by adding 2 more runs, due to the combination of a single, a hit batter, 2 wild pitches and a fielding error on the 2nd baseman. Terror cruising - up 20-6. The Giants fail to score in the bottom half of the 8th; and to nobody‚s surprise, were playing as if the game were already in the books (which it basically was from this umpire‚s perspective standing behind 3rd base). The only goal left to achieve for the Terror in this, the 9th and last inning (thankfully) was that they had a chance to do what few teams (if any) have done in championship play - score in every inning of the game. And to nobody‚s amazement, they did just that. Mike McNelly started off the inning with a single, followed by Vince Kolbe who did the same. Jason Cly came up with 2 on and nobody out and hit a 2-run double to put the Terror up, way up, to a crushing 22-6 lead. The Giants add 1 for good measure in the 9th, but it was of little use as the Tinseltown Terror breeze to their 1st PCBL National Division Championship! And what a way to do it - by completely overwhelming a solid Giants team and by scoring in every inning of the contest! Congratulations to the Terror for a great season and for their incredible offensive performance in the big game! Game Length: 7:30pm - 11:45pm (4 hrs 15 min) Umpires: (HP) Brian Goldstein (1B) Lou Carrillo (2B) Doug Belsheim (3B) Scot Sweet Honorable Mention: To our announcer, Scott "Harry Carey" Keene and scoring by Paul Zuniga.
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