Galpin Ford HAMMERS -VS- Golden State DODGERS
Sunday 11/20 @ 9AM / Cal State Northridge

It's a "Dunn" Deal as Hammers Nail the Dodgers
By Scot Sweet / PCBL Staff Writer
 
This was a championship game that would definitely fall under the heading of "pitching dominance". Merrill Dunn of the Hammers turned in the pitching performance of the year by all but shutting down a short-handed Dodger offense in this first game of a championship doubleheader at Cal State Northridge.

To the Dodgers' credit, they were the #1 seed with an 8-2 record coming into this championship. Unfortunately, they suffered some major loses prior to game day which they knew would make this championship a  difficult one to win. Their ace pitcher, Phil Cohen, took a comebacker in the face the week before which required surgery, putting him on the bench for the big game. Additionally, 3 other starters were unable to attend the championship due to the wedding of a team member that same day. With those players out of the starting lineup, it presented a huge handicap for the Dodgers on a day that they would need all cylinders running to be competative.
 
Nonetheless, the Hammers still had a job to do and they sent out an ace of their own, Merrill Dunn, to handle the pitching duties. Dunn could do no wrong and his numbers told the whole story - 6 innings of work, allowing just 3 runs (1 earned), 1 hit and striking out 13 in a jem of a performance which mercifully ended this championship game in a short 6 innings of play. His only sign of weakness was in the 6th and last inning when a hit batter and an error scored the game's only runs for the Dodgers. Outside of  that, he was flawless.
  
What's even more amazing is that the Hammers could have put 4 or 5 runs on the board and they could have called it a day. However, such was not the case as they would humiliate the Dodgers further by tallying 23 runs in the contest! True .... it wasn't a pretty 23 runs since they all came on only 12 hits combined with 5 Dodger errors and a whopping 16 walks, but they scored 23 nonetheless. To summarize the bloodshed, the Hammers came out of the blocks in the top of the 1st with 10 runs, followed by 6 runs in the 3rd inning and finally hammering the nail in the 4th with 7 more runs just to add insult to injury.
  
Here are some of the offensive performances which contributed to the slaughter ...
  
Henry Broadley    2 singles, 2 walks, hit by pitch, 2 RBI's
Adrian Cotton      1 single, 1 monster 3-run homer, hit by pitch, 4 RBI's
Doug Latta          2 singles, 2 walks, 1 RBI
Merrill Dunn        Helping his own cause with 2 singles & 1 RBI
Cezar Rojas        A walk and a 2-run double

The Dodgers come up with 3 gift runs in the bottom of the 6th and last inning, and it was refreshing to see them get on the board after the beating they had indured throughout this game. The Hammers roll to an easy 23-3 victory to eliminate all doubt that they deserve to be crowned the 2005 PCBL Single A Division Champions!
  
MVP of the game: 
Merrill Dunn: 6 inning complete game / 13 strikeouts / 1 hit / 1 walk / allowing 1 earned run
    
Congratulations to the champion Hammers for a huge and decisive victory!
  
Game Time: 9:15am - 11:50am (2'35")
 
Umpires: John Laughlin (Plate), Julio Marcial (Bases)
 

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