2011 PCBL AA Division Summer Championship
Sunday, August 21st @ 11:30am / USC Dedeaux Field
Bums -vs- Mudhens

 

Bums Edge Mudhens in Championship Shootout

By Scot Sweet / PCBL Staff Writer

 

 

This was the first game of our Championship triple-header at the picturesque home of USC baseball … Dedeaux Field. This was the first trip to the championship for both teams; so we were more than eager to find out  how this contest would develop between two teams that fought all year for the chance to play today. With that being said, let’s get right to the action!

The Bums waste no time getting on the board in the top of the 1st inning. Leadoff hitter Wes Solomon starts things off with a triple. Third baseman Daniel Gomez follows with a walk. Starting pitcher Brian D’Anna reaches due to a fielding error with a run scoring on the play. David Merrill draws a walk. Left fielder Marcus D’Anna singles home a pair. In the end, the Bums get 5 runs on 3 hits to take the early 5-0 lead.
 
The Bums come up in the top of the 2nd inning; still up 5-0. Nick Manning leads off with a double. Later, with 2 outs in the inning, David Merrill singles him home. The Bums add a run to go up 6-0 through an inning and a half of play.
 
The Mudhens leadoff the bottom of the 2nd inning with Brent Schneider who singles. Two batters later, Daniel Chavez singles to put runners at the corners for pitcher Keith Rhoades. He hits a sac fly to center; scoring Schneider from 3rd. The Mudhens settle for the single run in the inning; 
now trailing 6-1.
 
The Bums come up in the top of the 4th inning; still leading 6-1. D.J. Chomyk leads off with a single. He’s followed by Wes Solomon who draws a walk. Daniel Gomez reaches base due to an error on the pitcher. Brian D’Anna reaches by way of a fielder’s choice with a run scoring on the play. David Merrill follows with an RBI single. Marcus D’Anna is hit by a pitch to load the bases for Marcos Gutierrez. He walks to force in a run. Craig Zvorak follows with a single; his 3rd consecutive hit, to score a run. Shortstop Chad Kuffgen follows with a sac fly to right. The Bums get 5 runs in the inning to take a commanding 11-1 lead.
 
But the Mudhens show signs of life in the bottom of the 4th. Harold Papineaux singles and reaches 2nd on an error by the right fielder. Two batters later, Shane Ampe walks. Soon after, Papineaux scores from 3rd on a pass ball. Catcher Bobby Musgrove reaches base due to an error on the right fielder; with Ampe scoring. Brent Schneider grounds out; but gets an RBI as a run scores on the play. Manager Jeremy Basis follows with an RBI single. The Mudhens end up with 3 runs in the inning; now trailing by a score of 11-4 through 4 complete.
 
Nick Manning leads off the top of the 5th inning for the Bums. He singles and steals 2nd shortly thereafter. Two batters later, Daniel Gomez walks. He is followed by Brian D’Anna who also walks; loading the bases for David Merrill. Merrill walks to score a run. The Bums settle for 1 run in the inning; now leading the Mudhens by a score of 12-4 through 4 ½ innings of play.
 
The Bums come to bat in the top of the 6th inning; still holding the 12-4 lead. Marcos Gutierrez leads off with a double. Craig Dvorak is hit by a pitch. Two batters later, Jeremy Moore gets an RBI single. The Bums get 1 run in the inning to extend their lead to 13-4 through 5 ½ innings of play.
 
But the Mudhens find a way to get that run back in the bottom of the inning. Phillip Palmer singles and then reaches 3rd on a pair of pass balls. He later scores when Shane Ampe grounds into a fielder’s choice. The Mudhens get a run inning; now trailing 13-5 through 6 complete.
 
The Mudhens come up in the bottom of the 8th inning; still trailing 13-5. They lead off with starting pitcher Keith Rhoades who singles. Center fielder Dave Lewis follows with a single of his own; putting 2 on and nobody out for 2nd baseman Robert Valenziano. He singles; scoring Rhoades. The next batter is Jason Brown. He singles to give the Mudhens 4 consecutive hits in the inning. Two batters later; Harold Papineaux grounds out, but gets an RBI as a run scores. The next batter is leadoff hitter Anthony Jones. He triples to center to score 2. It’s at this point that Bums starting pitcher D’Anna comes out and is relieved by Nick Gomez. He faces Shane Ampe who gets an RBI single to left. He’s followed by Bobby Musgrove who also gets an RBI single. The Mudhens explode for 6 runs on 7 hits in the inning to pull within 2 runs; down 13-11 as we entered the 9th inning.
 
The Bums go down quietly in the top of the 9th inning; giving the Mudhens one more shot to steal this championship in dramatic fashion. The first batter pops out to short for the 1st out. The next batter is Daniel Chavez. He reaches base safely due to an error on the right fielder, but is forced out at 2nd shortly thereafter. With 2 out in the inning, Keith Rhoades singles to keep the inning and the championship alive. He’s followed by Dave Lewis who draws a 2 out walk. This puts the tying run on 1st base with the potential winning run; Robert Valenziano, coming to the plate. He goes down swinging to end the rally and the hopes of a championship for the Mudhens.
 
Congratulations to the Mudhens for making it to the big game this year and for making this contest interesting as they nearly came back from a huge deficit to score the upset in the contest. And a big congratulations to the 2011 Summer AA-Division Champion Bums for holding off the Mudhens in the late stages of this game to claim their 1st PCBL title!        

 

 
GAME STATS 
Bums        5 1 0 5 1 1 0 0 0   13 13 2 
Mudhens   0 1 0 3 0 1 0 6 0   11 16 2
 

Bums Offensive Stars:
Craig Dvorak         4 for 4;   3 singles, double, RBI
Nick Manning         2 for 3;   single, double, 2 runs
David Merrill          2 for 3;   2 singles, 2 walks, RBI, 2 runs
Brian D'Anna         2 for 4;   single, walk, RBI, 2 runs
Marcus D'Anna     1 for 4;   single, HBP, 2 RBI's, 2 runs
Wes Solomon       1 for 4;   triple, walk, 2 runs
Marcos Gutierrez  1 for 4;   double, walk, run 
     
Pitching Stats:
(WP) B. D’Anna (Bums)  7.2 IP;  Allowed 10 runs on 13 hits; 2 BB & 2 K's
(Save) N. Gomez (Bums) 1.1 IP; Allowed 1 run on 3 hits; 1 BB & 1 K  
(LP) K. Rhoades (Mudhens) 4.1 IP; Allowed 12 runs on 10 hits; 7 BB & 1 K

Game Time:   11:48am  -  2:40pm   (2 hours 52 minutes)

Umpires:     1st Base  (Pat Smith)
                  2nd Base  (Sidney Williamson)
                  3rd Base  (Brian Combs)
                    Plate  (Tom Fitzpatrick)