2013 PCBL Spring Wood Bat Championship

Thurs. 5/30 @ 7pm / El Cariso Park

Dragons -vs- Centurions

Dragons Prevail in Championship Marathon

By Scot Sweet / PCBL Staff Writer

This year's spring wood bat championship game between the Centurions and the Dragons was one for the PCBL record books, to be sure.  It took the better part of 4 hours to see who would claim the spring wood bat title; and it was a wild one. Here's how it played out ...

The Centurions come up in the top of the 2nd inning with the game still scoreless.Vincent Ortiz hits a 1-out single. Luis Motta follows with a single.  The next batter strikes out; sending up Danny Rios with 2 on and 2 out. He singles, scoring Ortiz. Jaime Chacon responds with a single; scoring Mota. The Centurions end up with 2 runs in the inning to take the early 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning; Brian Harbord gets a 1-out single. He later scores on a Blue Chavira single. The Dragons get 1 run in the inning to cut the lead in half; down 2-1 through 2 complete innings of play. The Centurions get a run back in the top of the 3rd; thanks to singles by Jesus Rico, Javier Salazar and Noel Maypot. It's 3-1 Centurions through 2 1/2.

The Centurions come to bat in the top of the 6th inning; still maintaining the 3-1 lead. Rene Avila draws a leadoff walk; followed by Javier Salazar who gets his 2nd single of the game. Jeremy Hunt reaches on a fielder's choice with a run scoring on the play. Two batters later, Noel Maypot hits an RBI triple; giving him 2 hits and 2 RBI on the day (so far). The Centurions settle for a pair of runs and now lead 5-1 through 5 1/2 innings of play.

We move to the top of the 7th inning where the Centurions still lead by a 5-1 margin. Luis Motta gets a 1-out single and he later scores on a fielder's choice. They increase their lead; now up 6-1 through 6 1/2 innings of play.

But here come the Dragons in the bottom of the 7th. Blue Chavira slaps a 2-out single. Joel Iniguez follows with a single. Bobbo Marcial answers with an RBI single. The Dragons get 1 run in the inning; now trailing 6-2 through 7 complete. The Dragons come to bat in the bottom of the 8th; still trailing 6-2. Robert Cortini draws a 1-out walk. Eric Melara also walks; putting 2 on for Derek Neely who singles home a run. Bryan Harbord grounds to short; but gets the RBI as a run scores on the play. The Dragons end up with 2 runs in the inning; now pulling to within 2 as we head to the top half of the 9th inning. 6-4 Centurions through 8 complete.

The Centurion's Jesus Sepnin leads off with a single and he soon advances to 2nd on a wild pitch. 3 batters later, Noel Maypot doubles him home. Centurions get 1 run in the inning; now leading the Dragons by a 7-4 margin as we head to the bottom of the 9th ...

The Dragons have one more chance as they come to bat in the bottom of the 9th; down 3. Joel Iniguez draws a 1-out walk. Bobbo Marcial doubles.  Stan Spancer draws a walk; loading the bases for Paul DeBellis. He walks; forcing home a run. Dragons down by 2. The next batter pops out; sending Eric Melara to bat with runners at the corners, 2 out, and down by a pair. He slaps a single into the gap; scoring both runners and tying this game at 7!

We would be deadlocked at 7 as we entered the bottom-half of the 14th inning. The Dragon's Stan Spancer and Ric Guera both reach base with back-to-back bunts which resulted in fielding errors by the pitcher. Robert Cortini walks to load the bases for Eric Melara who has 3 hits and 2 RBI's on the night. He draws a game-winning walk; forcing Spancer home from 3rd. Congratulations to the 2013 Spring Wood Bat Champion Dragons! They weather the early 6-1 deficit and they chip away; pulling out the come from behind victory in a 14 inning thriller!  

Game Stats
                    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14     R    H   E

Centurions 0   2   1   0   0   2   1   0   1    0     0     0     0     0       7   14   4
    Dragons 0   1   0   0   0   0   1   2   3    0     0     0     0     1       8   13   2

Winning Pitcher - Joel Iniguez (Dragons) 9 innings pitched; allowed 4 runs on 6 hits with 1 walk & 13 K's

Dragons Offensive Stars:
Bobbo Marcial 4 for 7; 3 singles, double, RBI 1 run
Eric Melara 3 for 7; 3 singles, 3 RBI's, 1 run
Derek Neely 2 for 6; single, double, RBI
Blue Chavira 2 for 6; 2 singles, RBI, 1 run