Beautiful Conejo Creek Park was the setting for this year's A Fall Championship between the Mudhens and the San Marino Titans.The Titans had won their last 3 straight regular season games to get here ... and were looking to take it to the Mudhens on this championship Sunday. That being said, let's get into some PCBL Championship baseball!

The Titans come up to bat in a scoreless ballgame as we enter the bottom of the 2nd inning. Kris Jones leads off the inning with a single. The next batter flies out; sending up Johnie Winkler who gets an RBI double. The Titans settle for the single run in the inning and get on the board first in this championship contest; up 1-0.

But then the Mudhens light up the board in the top of the 3rd inning. With 1 out, Harold Papineau doubles. Luke Stern is hit by a pitch; followed by Josh Crosgrove who draws a walk . Leadoff hitter Anthony Jones then reaches base due to a fielding error; with 2 runs scoring as a result. 2 batters later, Jeremy Basis doubles home a pair of runs. When all is said and done, the Mudhen get 5 big runs in the inning; now leading the Titans by a score of 5-1.

The Titans come up to bat in the bottom of the 5th inning; still trailing 5-1. Jack Chang gets a leadoff walk to start things off. Kevin Gute follows with a single to put 2 runners on base for R.J. Brown. He walks; loading the bases for John Gulick who hits a 2-run double. The next batter, Kris Jones, hits a sacrifice fly to left; scoring a run. The Titans end up with 3 runs in the inning and now trail the Mudhens by a score of 5-4 through 5 complete innings of play. But the Mudhens send up Steve Race in the top of the 6th inning with 2 out and 1 on. He gets an RBI double; his first hit of the contest. The Mudhens settle for the single run in the inning; now leading the Titans by a score of 6-4.

But the Titans aren’t laying down just yet. They leadoff with R.J. Brown who singles. John Gulick follows with a single of his own. Three batters later, Johnnie Winkler hits a 2-out RBI single. The Titans get one back and trail the Mudhens by a score of 7-5 through 7 complete innings of play.

But the Mudhens get that run back in a hurry in the top of the 8th. Jeremy Basis doubles; his second double of the game. The next batter reaches by error; sending up Kurt Larson who gets an RBI single. They settle for the single run in the inning; now leading 8-5 through 7 ½ innings of play.
 

The Titans come up to bat in the bottom of the 9th inning; still trailing by a score of 8-5. They lead off with John Gulick who doubled and singled in his last 2 at bats. He responds in a big way … with a solo homer to pull the Titans within 2 of the Mudhens; now down 8-6. The next batter is hit by a pitch and a wild pitch sends him to second. Wylie Bryant follows with a single; and two batters later, Eddie Baker doubles. He later scores on a wild pitch; with the score now 8-7 Mudhens. The next batter reaches base due to a fielding error; with another run scoring in the process. In a wild 9th inning; the Titans get 3 runs to tie this game up at 8 apiece. On to extra innings we go …..

The game is still locked in an 8-8 tie as the Titans came to bat in the bottom of the 11th inning. They lead off with Wylie Bryant who singles to put the winning run on base. The next batter walks; putting 2 on and nobody out for Eddie Baker. He lays down a sacrifice bunt; moving the runners over to 2nd and 3rd. With 1 out and the winning run 90 feet away; up comes leadoff hitter Jack Chang. Hitless for the game thus far; he makes up for it with a game-winning single!

Congratulations to the 2009 PCBL A Division Champion San Marino Titans! They scrambled back from the early 4 run deficit to tie this game up in the 9th inning and then put it away in the 11th. What an exciting PCBL Championship contest! Congratulations go out to the Mudhens for a great season and for making this game so competitive all the way around. No doubt you’ll be back in the playoff mix again soon!