Ozar Mow's em Down & Moses Parts the Sharks
By Scot Sweet / PCBL Staff Writer

We return back to historical Casey Stengel field for this years' 2007 Fall Season Championship where the 2nd seeded Santa Monica Sharks (8-1-1) take on the top-seeded Conejo Red Sox (9-1).
  
The Sharks fail to score in the top half of the 1st inning, bringing up the Red Sox to try and draw first blood in this contest. The first 2 batters would be retired; sending up Loyd Wood with 2 outs to try and keep the inning alive. He reaches second base due to a pair of throwing errors and later scores when Cory O'Brien gets an RBI single. Sox take the early 1-0 lead.
  
The game would go scoreless as we entered the bottom of the 4th inning with the score remaining 1-0 and the Red Sox coming up to attempt to add to their slim lead. The first batter is retired, sending up Moses Matthews who walks and then advances to second on a throwing error by the pitcher. The next batter is Evan Tuchman, who promptly singles home Matthews from 2nd base. The Sox would get 1 more run in the inning, thanks to a Pete Burns single and a pair of pass balls. They get 2 runs in the inning; increasing their lead to a tally of 3-0 through 4 complete innings.
    
With the Sharks failing to score in the top of the 5th and still shut out to this point in the ballgame, the Sox come up in the bottom of the 5th inning to try and put this game out of reach for good. The first 2 batters go down in order, bringing up Cory O'Brien who draws a walk to keep the inning alive. The next batter is Danny LaFleur, who singles to put 2 on and 2 out for Moses Matthews. He drives a double in the gap for a pair of RBI's. The Red Sox would settle for 2 runs, thanks to the 2-run double by Matthews; and now lead the Sharks by a score of 5-0 through 5 complete innings.
  
However, the Sharks would show signs of life in the top of the 6th. Leadoff hitter Larry Hansen walks; with the next 2 batters being retired. Jason King steps to the plate with 2 out and Hansen standing over at 2nd base. He doubles home Hansen to get the Sharks on the board. They settle for the single run and trail 5-1 through 5 1/2.
    
The game would stall offensively as we entered the top of the 9th inning with the Sharks coming up to bat; down by a score of 5-1. They lead off with Zac Reeder who singles to set the stage for Rich Armindariz. He crushes one deep to left-center for a 2-run homer, closing the gap as the Sharks now trail by 2, down 5-3.
    
The Red Sox replace their starter, Collin Ozar, with Cory O'Brien; to try and close out the inning and the championship for the Sox. And five batters later, O'Brien does just that as the last 2 batters would fly out; giving the Conejo Red Sox the title as 2007 PCBL Fall League Champions!
  
Congratulations to the Conejo Red Sox for grinding out this championship victory against a very worthy Shark squad who almost pulled off some late-game heroics, but it was wasn't to be. Co-MVP honors in this contest went to Red Sox starting pitcher Collin Ozar and Moses Matthews. Ozar was brilliant in 8 complete innings of work, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits and striking out 5. He was solid throughout the game as he held the Sharks scoreless through the first 5 innings of play. When asked about his performance, When I spoke with him after the game, Ozar was indeed excited about having had the chance to contribute to his team's success. “Oh man ... I was just battling. I'm not the biggest guy in the world, but I have a big heart, so I knew I could get the job done. It was so much fun and my team is a great bunch of guys. The Sharks were a worthy opponent today and I congratulate them for getting here”.
  
Sharing the MVP honors is Moses Matthews who provided the 2-run double in the 5th inning to extend the lead to 5-1. He was 2 for 3 on the day with a walk, a single, and the 2-run double. Here were Moses' post-game comments: “ Well ... I knew I had backup from my team offensively because we have some good hitters on our team. I'm glad that I was able to contribute when it mattered today. We came in to this game hot and I'm glad I was able to do what I do.”  Congratulations to both of our Championship MVP's for stepping up when it mattered the most!
  
 
  
BOX SCORES                                                                                  R      H       E
 
Sharks       0       0      0       0       0       1       0       0       2               3        8      0
  
Red Sox    1       0       0       2       2        0       0       0       -               5        8      5
  
  
Game Time:     1:35pm  -  4:10pm   (2 hours, 35 mins.)
  
 
  
Umpires:    (Plate)   Dax Villalta
                  (Bases)  Kevin Mackelburg
  
 
  
Pitching:
 
Red Sox:     Collin Ozar   (8 Innings, 3 runs on 8 hits, 5 K's)
                 Cory O'Brien (1 inning, 0 runs on 0 hits, 0 K's)
  
 
  
Sharks:       Rich Armendariz   (6 innings, 5 runs on 7 hits, 3 K's)
                 Kris Hernandez  (2 innings, 0 runs on 1 hit, 3 K's)