2006 Schedule, Rosters, & Stats
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National League Championship Recap
The National League Athletics swept through the playoffs to win their 1st N.L. Championship. They had to go through the defending champion Firebirds, the powerhouse Pirates and the regular season winner, Black Sox. The A's won the American League Championship in 1998 and 1999. The pitching staff, consisting of Bob Bowman, Scooter Graziano and John Hansen, carried the A's to the post-season and proved to be the deciding factor when it counted.
Miguel Lopez (2B) was the Championship Series MVP. As the leadoff hitter, Miguel was 4 for 9, reached base 6 times, scored 5 runs and had 4 RBI's.
Byron Bravo led the A's with 6 runs scored and reached base 9 times. Joe Nichelini led the A's with 5 RBI's. Tim Ott went 5 for 9 with 3 doubles and fired in two spectacular OF assists.
American League Championship Recap
The 2005 season came to a dramatic end with a championship series between the Cardinals and the first-year Titans.
The series started out on Saturday with a 10-6 win by the Titans in game one of the three game series. The Titans started the series with their same aggressive play. The Cardinals unfortunately helped make it easier for them by making 8 errors in the game.
The Cardinals battled back in Game two with better over all team play and rallied behind a great pitching performance by Greg Fabela for a 9-8 win.
On Sunday each team showed up to give it their all for the deciding game three, even though everyone was hurting in one way or another. Both sides were relying on some pressure-packed performances by their respective pitchers. The Titans were relying on their ace Seth Caillat to do the job, even though he had pitched all 9 innings in game two the day before. Due to the game two ejection and subsequent one game suspension of the Cardinals game three starter Manny Delao, the Cardinals were forced to put the ball in Bill Moss's hand.. Moss had missed a good portion of the season due to an injury. Neither pitcher caved to the pressure and provided 7 quality innings before giving way to their respective relief pitchers with the score 7-5 Titans.
The Cardinals brought in their game one starter Ray Rico to try and keep the game close. Again the Cardinals made it harder on themselves by committing some costly mistakes that allowed the Titans to take a 12-5 lead with a 5 run outburst. This looked to have dashed any championship hopes the Cardinals had and sealed the victory for the Titans. The Cardinals, faced with the daunting task of facing Tony Bulleri, did what they have done all year during the regular season and playoffs and battled every at bat. With some clutch hitting, they managed to cut the score to 12-10 heading into the 9th inning.
With some crafty pitching, Ray Rico held the Titans scoreless in the top of the 9th inning and kept the Cardinals within striking distance. Jack Walls started the Cardinals 9th inning rally with a one out double. Next up was the dangerous Nick Vercelli. With 1st base empty and Nick having proven to be a tough out all series, the Titans decided to intentionally walk him to set up the double-play. This brought Ben Sturtevant to the plate, who promptly hit a line drive to left field and scored Jack Walls from second to make the score 12-11 and put runners at first and third. Ben, who was nursing a torn calf muscle, was replaced by Jerrod Elwell as the courtesy runner at first base with John Mendibles coming to the plate and one out. John lined the second pitch of the at bat into the right centerfield gap. Vercelli scored the tying run and Elwell, representing the winning run, read the ball in the gap and took off from first. The relay was late as Elwell crossed the plate a few feet ahead of the throw and the Cardinals had their first American League title in a dramatic comeback win.
Federal League Championship Recap
The Greenwood Ridge Dragons North squad successfully defended their 48+ title with convincing 17-3 and 21-3 victories over the second-seeded Crushers in the REBL Federal League championship series. Leading the offensive barrage were Allan Green (4 for 4, 5 RBI), Series M.V.P. Rick Torkelson (7 for 9, 4 RBI), Tom Rodrigues (7 for 9, 3 RBI), John Thomas (5 for 8, 3 RBI), and Craig Sheffer (4 for 8, 5 RBI). Winning pitchers Dennis McCroskey and Jesus Renteria, with relief help from Tom Rodrigues and great defensive plays by Jim Hurt, Mark Fess, Jerry DeLorenzo, Tim Walker and Gary Lungwitz, limited the Crushers to just 5 earned runs in the series.