Canes
2003 Fall Season
National Division Champions


Game Summary

With one good, solid game under our belts already on this Championship Sunday at CSUN; we knew before it even started that the second game of this twin bill would not disappoint, and we were right. The Breakers and the Canes are two teams that are not strangers to success in our league. Both teams know and show the importance of teamwork and aggressive play whenever they step onto the field. This day would be no exception.

The visiting Breakers come up in the top of the first inning. Justin Urbas starts the day off with a lead-off double and later scores on a fielding error. Breakers get on the board first, up 1-0. The game would not see another run score until the top of the 3rd. Matty Shoe leads off the inning and he reaches base on a fielding error. The next batter is Greg Adams, who draws the walk. With 2 on and no outs, pitcher Tighe Curran steps up and slams a 3-run homer to extend the Breaker's lead to 4-0.

The Canes are feeling some early urgency as they come up in the bottom of the 3rd, down by 4. Second baseman Gibby Munoz starts off the inning by reaching base on a fielding error. Next up is Bobby Womack who singles. Britten Pond is the next batter. He lines out to 1st base and in the process Womack is doubled up at 1st. With 2 out, Kevin Nykoluk reaches second base on an error by the third baseman, Munoz scoring. Philip Derryman singles, but the Canes come up with the single run by way of a pair of fielding errors. Canes trailing 4-1.

The Breakers fail to score in the top half of the 4th inning, giving the Canes another opportunity to close the gap. Pitcher Keith Loitz leads off for the Canes, but is struck out. With 1 down, Pete Hernandez singles and advances on a throwing error. Shortstop Stu Sells comes up next and he gets on by way of an error. Next, Jeff Hewitt comes up and he singles to load the bases. Second baseman Gibby Munoz takes advantage of the fielding miscues by doubling home Sells and Hernandez. Canes now trail by a single run, down 4-3. With 2 out and 2 on, Britten Pond comes up looking to make amends for his last at bat. He does just that, doubling home Hewitt and Munoz to take the lead over the Breakers, Canes now lead 5-4.

The Breakers come up in the top of the 5th inning, down by one. The Canes have replaced their starting pitcher Keith Loitz with Phil Derryman. Greg Adams leads off the inning for the Breakers. He flies out to left field. With 1 out, the batter is Tighe Curran, who hit a 3-run homer in his last at bat. He triples in the gap and Nick Gothmeyer comes up to try get Curran home. He draws a walk. With 2 on and 1 out, Eric Magair steps to the plate. He doubles in Tighe Curran to tie the game at 5. The next 2 batters would go down swinging, but once again the face of the game had changed with the one big run to bring things even.

The Canes send up Kevin Nykoluk to start off the bottom of the 5th inning. He doubles for his 1st hit of the game. Next, Phil Derryman steps up to the plate and he singles home Nykoluk to gain the 1-run advantage. Then, with 1 out, Keith Loitz comes to bat looking for his 1st hit. He finds it, doubling home Derryman to extend their lead to 7-5. The next 2 batters would strike out, but the Canes score 2 big runs in the inning to take the 7-5 advantage.

The Breakers leadoff the 6th with a single from Brian Swinndell. Next, Rob Stevenson reaches base on an error with Swinndell caught in a rundown for the 1st out. Next batter is Justin Urbas who singles home Rob Stevenson. Matty Shoe also singles in the inning, but the Breakers end up with only 1 run on 3 hits and now trail the Canes by 1, down 7-6.

True mark of a champion, the Canes answer right back in the bottom of the 6th. With 1 out, Bobby Womack doubles. Next, Britten Pond singles and then advances on a throwing error, scoring Womack. Next batter is Kevin Nykoluk, who doubled his last at bat. He repeats the effort by doubling home Britten Pond. Next, Phil Derryman get on base by way of an error; with Nykoluk scoring in the process. 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 costly errors helps extend the Cane’s lead once again, now up 10-6.

The Breakers started the top of the 7th with leadoff hits by Eric Magair and Brian Miller. However, Phil Derryman would proceed to strike out the side following the pair of hits; leaving them stranded on base. The Canes came up in the bottom of the 7th with the apparent feeling that they had broken the Breakers at that point. They came up in the 7th inning with a leadoff single by Pete Hernandez. Stu Sells comes up next and he grounds to the infield, reaching base on a fielders choice with Hernandez forced out at second. Jeff Hewitt is up next and he draws a walk, while at the same time Sells steals 2nd and advances to 3rd on a passed ball. Gibby Munoz comes up with Sells on 3rd. He strikes out, but in the process a balk is called against relief pitcher Robert Verstaten and Sells scores as a result. Canes get 1 run out of the inning, increasing their lead to an 11-6 score.

The Breakers would go down in order in the 8th, bringing the Canes up in the bottom half of the inning with the chance to further extend their lead. Britten Pond leads off the inning for the Canes. He hits an 0-2 pitch out of the park for a solo homerun and his third hit of the day. Kevin Nykoluk would go down swinging for the 1st out of the inning. Phil Derryman comes up to bat with 1 out and he singles; then advances to 2nd on a passed ball. Chris Tahon would fly out for the 2nd out, bringing up Keith Loitz with 2 down and 1 on. He doubles home Derryman to extend the Canes advantage to a score of 13-6.

The Breakers appeared to see the writing on the wall at this point, going down in order in the ninth to concede victory to this year's National Division Champion Canes. The Canes continuously picked away in this contest, scoring in every inning after the 1st 2 scoreless innings of the game. Tighe Curran worked 4 1/3 innings for the Breakers, allowing 7 runs (5 earned) on 10 hits and walking only one. Robert Verstaten came in to relieve Curran in the 5th inning, allowing 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits and walked one as well.

Canes pither Keith Loitz pitched 4 complete innings, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits and walked 3. Phil Derryman came in to relieve Liotz to start the 5th inning. He allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and struck out 8, retiring the last 9 batters he faced; an impressive relief appearance.

Congratulations to the Canes for a great season and a gutsy performance to become not only the 2003 Summer Champions but now also the 2003 Fall Season National Division Champions! A well deserved honor for a team that now has shown us their greatness time and time again!