This was the winner's bracket final. However, we apparently decided to take the game off in the field. In what was easily our worst defensive game of the year, we got blasted 11-4 by a team of all-stars from California. I think only four of their runs were earned. We hit fairly well in this game, but were unable to get the timely hits to get us back into the game. Losing this game meant to win it all we would have to now win 3 more games all in a row with no breaks.
Nationals - Game #6
This was a rematch of the previous night's game (the team we blasted 13-1). They started a different pitcher this time, but the result was the same. We scored 6 in the second. They brought in the previous night's pitcher (I'm sure he was happy about that) in the 3rd. The shelling continued with 2 more in both the 3rd and 4th innings, and we cruised to a 10-2 five inning victory. This got us to the championship game, but we would have to win twice because the California team had yet to lose in the double elimination format.
Nationals - Game#7
First an aside - For those who don't know much about fastpitch, most teams from California have try-outs. As a result, they usualy are loaded with guys that are pretty built. I'm not going to say our team isn't built, but I will say our "big" guys aren't big because of their muscles :) Furthermore, this team's two main pitchers were picked up solely for this tourney and had never played with them prior to this tourney. Pickup pitchers are fairly common at higher levels of fastpitch, but it is something our team has never done. We play on the philosophy of "win with what brought us here."
Nationals - Game #8
As I stated, momentum was a key. We batted first for the 7th time in the 8 games, and promptly put 3 on the board. However, they responded with 2 of their own. In the second, we scored 4 more, but they only countered with 1. The third had us adding 3 more, and after three innings we had a nice 10-4 lead. Unfortunately, these were the last runs we would score. The California team added 3 runs in the 5th inning to cut the lead to 10-7. In the last two innings, they were unable to mount any legitimate threat, and after a 1-2-3 7th, we had done it!
Notes:
Most importantly, this was a complete team effort.
Everyone in our lineup was locked in offensively. I'm not sure what we batted as a team, but my guess is something in the .400 to .420 range. This just shouldn't be possible at a national tourney.
Defensively, we played outstanding except for the one loss. Of note was Mark Beatty. He rarely gets to bat due to our potent offense, but when our number 1 pitcher is pitching he is our defensive specialist. I don't think he had an error all tourney long, and made numerous difficult in-between hop scoops. DJ (our SS/2B) also did fabulous. The last mention defensively is for Wes. He is normally our 3rd catcher, but due to an injury and a guy that couldn't make it, he had to catch all 4 games on Sunday. This was 24 straight innings behind the plate.
On the pitching side, Mike Godar had a great overall tourney. He pitched in 7 of the 8 games with 4 complete games. I believe he led the tourney in ERA out of all the pitchers who pitched enough innings. He is our rock on the mound and a complete bulldog. Our other pitcher up there was Al Ohms. This guy has seen it all (as he is in his early 50s). I can't speak for him, but I think his win in our first championship game might have been his biggest win ever. It also may have been his best game ever given the competition and the enormity of the game. Against a loaded lineup, he pitched 7 shutout innings. He had them off-balance all game long, and got out of a few very tough jams. This game was the most important of the whole tourney. It completely switched momentum for both teams.
We put 6 guys on the all-tourney team:
Mike Godar P/SS
Mike Klein C/1B
Wes Strowmatt OF/C
Eric Schultz OF/C
Isaac May OF (MVP of tourney)
Me OF
I plan on posting our stats for the tourney hopefully when I get them.
2 comments:
congrats
Freakin awesome Pi!
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