The TinselTown Terror won the 2003 Las Vegas Open over Memorial Day weekend. Despite finishing the round robin games at 1-1-1, the Terror responded by going 3-0 in the playoffs and won their first ever Las Vegas Open. "I kept wandering when our bats were going to get hot and thankfully they caught fire as playoffs began," says manager/player Justin Urbas. "I would rather we hit in the end then in the beginning."
The Terror clobbered Huntington Park in the first round of the playoffs, 12-3, leading them to meet the Tri-Valley Reign, who were the favorites to win the whole thing. Terror jumped out to a 5-2 lead only to have Tri-Valley battle back and tie the game at 5 in the fourth inning. The game didn't stay deadlocked long as Elvis Nelson stepped up to the plate and delivered a two-run homer over the right center field fence to grab the lead back for TinselTown. "Elvis has been coming up big for us in the clutch all year long, that's what he's here for," says Urbas. "He loves being in situations like that." The Terror then added another run to make the score 8-5. Tri-Valley then got within two runs, and that's when Terror manager called on Stewart Smothers to come in and shut the door. "Talk about a performance, wow. Stew was freezing guys up there. He's always had his good fastball, but I couldn't believe his curveball. They had no chance at the plate," says Urbas. Smothers retired the side in order in the fifth, but had some trouble in the sixth with his control by walking the first two batters. "He lost it for a couple of batters, but I think he was thinking out there too much. I knew the only way they would score was if he kept walking guys. I knew they wouldn't hit him," says Urbas. Smothers quickly settled down and retired the side by picking off a runner and striking out two guys. He finished off Tri-Vally in order in the seventh, and that was all the Terror needed to win the semi-final game 8-6.
The championship game didn't start out as well. Brooklyn took the early lead of 4-1, taking advantage of four Tinseltown errors in the first inning. Doug Lata then hit a base clearing double in the sixth to even the score at 4. Elvis Nelson singled in the go ahead run in the seventh which ended up being enough to hang on and win. Brooklyn threatened in the ninth, putting runners on second and third with one out. Starting pitcher, Chris Zakosek, finished off the final two batters by getting a line out and a groundout to end the game. "That kid's a stud. You look at the kid off the field and he doesn't look like much. But as soon as he gets on the diamond, he turns into an animal., " shouts Urbas.
TinselTown's hitting attack was lead by second baseman, Jeff Bowne, who went 10 for 21. Elvis Nelson had both game winning RBI's in the semi-final and championship game. Leading the pitching staff was Chris Zakosek, who hurled two complete games for the Terror, including the championship. Even though these players had stellar performances, everyone contributed claims Justin Urbas. "There isn't one guy on this team that didn't make a major contribution in winning this thing," states Urbas. "It was the best overall team effort I've ever witnessed before. Tri-Valley and Brooklyn both had 25 players, we had 12. Unbelievable. Pretty funny too." The Terror will head to the Bay Area over 4th of July weekend to try to defend their title from last year.