2010 PCBL AAA Division Summer Championship
Sunday, August 22nd @ 6:45pm / Quake Stadium
Barracudas (12-8) -vs- Blue Jays (18-2)

'Cudas Complete their "Drive for 5" With Win Over Top-Seeded Blue Jays

By Scot Sweet / PCBL Staff Writer

This was the final game of our Championship triple-header at the beautiful confines of the Epicenter in Rancho Cucamonga; home of the Quakes .... the single A Angels affiliate. This is one of the more picturesque baseball venues around. With the beautiful mountain range over the wall in left field, it's the perfect backdrop to the pristine conditions between the lines. With the field in mint condition and the night air cooling down the stadium, the time was definitely right for some twilight championship baseball ..... so let's get right to the action!
 
The 'Cudas lead off the game with Jarrod Schwartz who singles and steals 2nd base shortly thereafter. Two batters later, Adam Geery singles home Schwartz. The 'Cudas settle for the single run in the inning to take the early 1-0 lead.
 
But the Blue Jays even things up in a hurry. The first two batters for the Blue Jays are retired; sending up Eric Melara who draws a 2-out walk. He then reaches 2nd on a pass ball and then steals 3rd soon after. With 2 out; Eddie Baeza singles to drive home Melara. the Blue Jays get 1 run in the inning and are now tied 1-1 through an inning of play.
 
The Blue Jays come up in the bottom of the 3rd inning; still locked in a 1-1 tie. The leadoff batter is Eder Banuelos who is hit by a pitch. Two batters later; Anthony Evangelista triples home Banuelos. Shortly thereafter, Evangelista scores on a pass ball. The Blue Jays settle for two runs in the inning to take a 3-1 lead in this championship contest.
 
But here come the 'Cudas in the top of the 4th inning. Leadoff hitter Jarrod Schwartz doubles to start things off. Alain Mora responds with a single; putting 2 on and no out for Adam Geery. He singles home a run; his 2nd hit and 2nd RBI of the game. Two batters later, Justin Collins doubles in the gap to score a pair. Ethan Slimak follows with a single to keep the rally going. The next batter is Dave Decker. He grounds to 2nd, but a fielding error allows him to reach base safely as another run comes across. The Barracudas get 4 runs in the inning to retake the lead; up by a score of 5-3 through 3 1/2 innings of play.
 

The Blue Jays fail to score in the bottom of the 4th inning; allowing the 'Cudas the opportunity to extend their lead. With 1 out in the top of the 'Cuda 5th inning; leadoff hitter Jarrod Schwartz singles for his 3rd consecutive hit of the ballgame. Alain Mora follows with a walk; followed by Adam Geery who is hit by a pitch to load the bases for Justin Keeny. He reaches due to a fielding error; with 2 runs scoring on the play. Two batters later; Ethan slimak doubles home a pair. The 'Cudas get 4 runs in the inning and now have commanding 9-3 lead through 4 1/2.
 
But the Blue Jays aren't ready to fold up just yet. They lead off the bottom of the 5th inning with Eder Banuelos who singles. He soon advances to 2nd on a pass ball. Leadoff hitter Chad Gordon follows with a base on balls; followed by Anthony Evangelista who gets an RBI single. Erick Melara follows with an RBI single of his own. Eddie Baeza hits into a double play with a run scoring on the play. The Blue Jays get 3 runs in the inning; cutting the lead to 3 .... down 9-6 through 5 innings of play.
 
The score would remain 9-6 'Cudas as we entered the top half of the 7th inning. The 'Cudas start things off with Alain Mora who singles to left. Adam Geery follows with his 3rd hit of the ballgame; a single to left. The next batter is Justin Keeny. He doubles to left; scoring a run. The 'Cudas settle for the lone run in the inning; now leading by a score of 10-6 through 6 1/2 innings of play.
 
The 'Cudas come up in the top of the 8th inning; still leading 10-6. The 1st batter grounds out to short; sending up Yoankis Torino who is hitless on the day. He changes that in a big way; hitting a solo homer to left center field. The 'Cudas get 1 run in the inning and now lead 11-6 as time is quickly running out for the top-seeded Blue Jays in this Championship game.
 
The Blue Jays send up relief pitcher Eddie Baeza with 1 out in the bottom of the 8th inning. He singles to left and later scores on an RBI single by David Lopez. They would only come up with the 1 run in the inning; still trailing by a score of 11-7 as we entered the top of the 9th inning. The 'Cudas would fail to score in their last at bat in this contest; giving the Blue Jays one last chance to rally in this Championship.
 
Eder Banuelos would lead off the inning with a single; reaching 2nd on a pass ball soon after. The next batter would strike out for the 1st out of the inning. Anthony Evangelista would draw a walk; followed by Eric Melara who flied out to center; sacrificing Banuelos over to 3rd. The next batter is Eddie Baeza who has 2 RBI's on the day. He comes up to bat with 2 out and runners on the corners. He singles to drive in a run; keeping the inning and the championship alive.
 
They cut the score to an 11-8 deficit; bringing the tying run to the plate. However, the last batter went down swinging to end the hopes for the Blue Jays in this 2010 Championship. Congratulations to the 2010 AAA Division Champion Barracudas for holding on to win this well-fought contest; thus claiming their 5th consecutive PCBL Title! And congratulations to the top-seeded Blue Jays for a great season; earning them a trip to the big game!
 
GAME STATS
                                               R  H  E
Barracudas   1 0 0 4 4 0 1 1 0   11 15 1
   Blue Jays   1 0 2 0 3 0 0 1 1    8  9  2
 
Pitching Stats
Seth Schornick ('Cudas) 4 IP; Allowed 6 runs on 5 hits; with 7 walks and 6 K's
Mike Kestin ('Cudas) 4 IP; Allowed 1 run on 3 hits; with 3 walks and 3 K's
Yoankis Turino ('Cudas) 1 IP; Allowed 1 run on 2 hits; with 1 walk and 2 K's
Eric Anderson (Blue Jays) 5 IP; Allowed 9 runs on 10 hits; with 2 walks and 4 K's
Eddie Baeza (Blue Jays) 4 IP; Allowed 2 runs on 5 hits; with 0 walks and 3 K's

'Cudas Offensive Stars
Adam Geery        3 for 4; 3 singles, 2 RBI's, 2 runs
Jarrod Schwartz  3 for 5; 2 singles, double, 3 runs
Alain Mora           3 for 5; 2 singles, double, 3 runs
Ethan Slimak        2 for 3; single, double, 2 RBI's

Game time
6:45pm - 9:55pm (3 hours, 10 min)
 
Umpires
Dax Villalta (Plate)
Dale Gardner (1st Base)
Phil Detro (2nd Base)
Ralph Peck (3rd Base)