RAIDERS RIP THE ROYALS TO CAPTURE CHAMPIONSHIP AND THE RAIDER’S MVP NEWITT!
By Scot Sweet / PCBL Staff Writer
Only in Los Angeles can you have a championship baseball game in 80+ degree temperatures in the month of November! Such was the case on this beautiful Sunday at Casey Stengel field in Glendale for this year’s Fall PCBL Federal Division Championship between the visiting Royals (9-1) and the Santa Clarita Valley Raiders (9-1). With both teams ending tied for first in the Single A West Division, we knew before it started that this matchup between these two solid teams would indeed be a good one!
The Royals would draw first blood in the top of the 1st inning. With 2 outs, Robert Reeves gets on base by way of a fielding error; then scores on a single by Steve Apperson for the first run of the game.
However, the Raiders only allow the Royals a few brief minutes to enjoy their early lead. Leadoff hitter Teddy Atler starts things off by taking the count full and drawing a walk. Second baseman Mike Luketic follows with a base on balls of his own. The next two batters would be retired, bringing up catcher Ryan Hawkins, who draws a walk to load the bases for Jeff Newitt. He wastes no time as he sends the first pitch to deep left field for a grand slam homerun! The Raiders get a quick 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning and lead the stunned Royals 4-1 through one complete inning of play.
The Raiders would add to their lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning. With 1 out, Mike Luketic is hit by a pitch, bringing up the shortstop Mike Pierson who promptly hits a high fly ball deep to left center field; clearing the fence for a 2-run homer. Raiders extend to an early 6-1 lead.
The Royals come up in the top of the 4th inning staring at a 5 run deficit. They lead off with Steve Apperson who singles, his second hit of the contest. Aaron Parker follows by reaching base on a fielding error. The next batter flies out to right; bringing up the DH and team manager, Mike Miller. Miller singles to right to score Steve Apperson and cut into the Raider lead, now trailing 6-2.
The Raiders lead off the bottom of the 4th inning with the man who made it all happen early on in the game; Jeff Newitt who provided the 4-run blast in the 1st inning. He draws a leadoff walk to make way for Greg McBeth; who reaches second on an infield throwing error, with Newitt advancing to third. The next batter was DH Bob Arispe, who flies out deep to center, scoring Newit from third. The Raiders get 1 run in the inning and lead 7-2 through 4 complete innings.
The next four innings would go scoreless, bringing up the Royals in the top half of the 9th inning with one more chance for recovery in this championship matchup. Ben Fiandaca leads off for the Royals; and he strikes out but still reaches first when the 3rd strike gets past the catcher and goes to the backstop. Royals manager Mike Miller follows by getting on base due to a dropped infield popup. However, the next batter grounds into a double play; bringing up 3rd baseman and league umpire Peter Sakajian with two out, one on and one last chance for redemption. Sakajian promptly singles home Mike Miller to make the score 7-3; advantage Raiders. However, the next batter would pop out to short; sealing the victory and the championship for the SCV Raiders.
Congratulations to the 2006 Federal Division Champion SCV Raiders on a fine season as well as for their ability to hold off a very worthy Royals squad to claim this PCBL Fall League Championship!
The Championship MVP? You need only refer back to the headline at the top of this page. Jeff Newitt (who knew it?) ends the day going 3 for 3; with his opening grand slam in the 1st inning, draws a walk in the 4th, and singles in the 6th and the 8th. Four big RBI’s all in one swing were definitely enough to award Mr. Newit the honor of the game’s Most Valuable Player!
Kudos have to be given to both starting pitchers in this game. Winning pitcher Mike Ferrara went the distance; allowing 3 runs on 7 hits and no walks, while striking out 6 – a truly solid effort. Interesting to note that an equally sound effort was provided by losing pitcher Vinny Cimmino. Considering the numbers, Cimmino pitched 6 innings, allowing 7 runs on only 3 hits and struck out 6. The difference was in the walk category, in which he gave up six – with the critical three walks given up in the 1st inning to load the bases for Jeff Newitt who cleared them with one swing of the bat. You throw out those walks to start the game and you have a very solid effort by Vinny Cimmino, so credit is definitely due him for his fine outing.
ROYALS 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 7 5
RAIDERS 4 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 — 7 4 2
TIME OF GAME: 2 HOURS, 15 MINUTES (10:05AM – 12:20 PM)
UMPIRES: Carlos Trujillo (Plate)
Julio Marcial (Bases)