2009 O.C. PCBL Fall A Division Championship
Rangers


2009 PCBL OC Fall A Division Champions

Rangers (7-3) -vs- Athletics (9-1)
Sunday, December 6th @ 9:30am / USC Dedeaux Field

 

Rangers Rally Late in Championship Standoff
By Scot Sweet / PCBL Staff Writer

Watch Final out and Celebration on

 

 

With no score in the top of the 2nd inning, the Rangers lead things off with Tyler Gottstein who doubles to left. The next batter grounds out; sending up Scott Stanton who reaches base safely due to a fielding error, with Gottstein scoring on the play. Devin Hands and Darren O'Hara follow with singles, but they would be left on base. The Raqngers settle for the single run in the inning to take the early 1-0 lead.

The Athletics come up to bat in the bottom of the 3rd inning with the score still 1-0 Rangers. With 1 out in the inning, Daniel Cortez singles, followed by Matt Deitz who draws a walk. With 1 out and 2 runners on base, the next batter is Mark Deitz. He doubles to score Cortez and his brother, Matt. The Athletics end up with 2 runs in the inning; now leading the Rangers by a score of 2-1 though 3 complete innings of play.
But the Rangers get those runs back in a hurry. With 2 out in the inning, Clint Williamson singles to left center to keep the inning alive for Scott Stanton. He delivers with a double to put 2 runners on base with 2 out for Devin Hands. Hands grounds to 3rd, but the 3rd baseman's throw is wild to 1st base; scoring 2 runs as a result. The Rangers settle for 2 runs in the inning on the costly throwing error; and now lead 3-2.
The Rangers came up in the top of the 9th inning; still leading by a narrow 3-2 margin. Jonny Hylton singles; but is forced out when Rey Marques grounds into a fielder's choice. Tyler Gottstein follows with a single; as does Clint Williamson. The next batter is Scott Stanton; and he singles home a run. The Rangers settle for the lone run in the inning to take a 4-2 lead as we entered the bottom of the 9th inning.
Up come the Athletics in the bottom of the 9th; with one last chance in this championship contest. They start things off with Danny Benedetti who draws a walk; then steals second moments later. He is followed by Justin Smith who also walks. The next batter strikes out; sending up Jason Martin who walks to load the bases for Matt Parker who is batting for Andrew Garrison. He runs the count full before hitting a ball down the left field line for a 2-run, game tying single! The next 2 batters are retired, but the damage is done .... as Matt Parker saves elimination for the Athletics with the clutch 2-run single; tying this game at 4 apiece as we go into extra innings at Dedeaux Field.
The Rangers would come up in the top of the 12th inning; still locked in a 4-4 tie. The first batter would ground out; sending up Devin Hands who is hit by a pitch. Soon after, he advances to 2nd on a pass ball. Then ... Darren O'Hara moves Hands over to 3rd on a sac bunt. There are 2 out with the go-ahead run 90 feet away and the batter .... none other than Matt Ahrens; who can help his own cause with a base hit here. And in grand style ... he does ... with a fly ball to shallow center field which drops in for a base hit .. scoring Darren Hands from 3rd! The Rangers end up with the single run; the huge RBI by Ahrens .... to take the 5-4 lead as we enter the bottom of the 12th inning.
The Athletics .. once again .. find themselves 3 outs away from defeat in this contest. They made up 2 runs late in the 9th ... lets see if they can duplicate that effort with a run in the 12th. The first batter flies out to right. the next batter is Matt Parker who tied this game up in the 9th with his clutch 2-run single. He singles to left to put the tying run on base for Daniel Cortez. He singles, putting runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out and Victor Rivas coming to the plate. He hits a ground ball hard; but right to the 2nd baseman who flips to the shortstop at 2nd for 1 .... then to 1st for a 4-6-3 double play; ending the hopes for the Athletics and giving the Rangers the dramatic 5-4 victory!
Congratulations to the 2009 O.C. PCBL Fall A-Division Champion Rangers for coming out on top in this hard-fought contest! And hats off to the Athletics on a great season and for putting on such a great performance in this championship! This turned out to be a great championship matchup ... and we would like to thank both teams for putting on such a great show for all of us who were present!  

 

 

GAME STATS
Game Time:
9:40am - 1:20pm (3 hours, 40 minutes)

Box Score: R H E
Rangers 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 5 15 2
Athletics 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 8 4

Game MVP:
SP Matt Ahrens (Rangers) 8IP; Allowed 2 runs on 5 hits; 3 walks & 8 K's
At bat ... 3 for 3; 3 singles, walk, game-winning RBI

Rangers Offensive Stars:
David King 3 for 4; 3 singles, walk
Matt Ahrens 3 for 3; 3 singles, walk, 1 RBI
Scott Stanton 2 for 4; single, double, 1 RBI, 1 run
Tyler Gottstein 3 for 5; 2 singles, double, 1 run
Clint Williamson 2 for 5; 2 singles, 1 run
Darren O'hara 3 for 4; 3 singles

Pitching:
(WP) Matt Ahrens (Rangers) 8IP; Allowed 2 runs on 8 hits; 3 walks & 8 K's
(LP) Ryan Gobrogge (Athletics) 6 IP; Allowed 3 runs on 7 hits; 2 walks & 2 K's

Umpires:
Dave Gimbi (Base)
Warren Sifre (Plate)