Rockhounds Ride Big Hits to Championship

After Elk Grove Babe Ruth’s 50th season featured exciting playoff races with eleven of the league’s sixteen teams in contention during the final week, it was the 2011 season’s highest scoring squads that squared off in the championship game. As expected, the match-up between the Valley Farm Transport River Cats and Phenix Print & Image Rockhounds did not disappoint, but it was the Rockhounds that rode some early clutch hitting en route to winning the 2011 championship 8-3 over the River Cats.

In the top of the first, the River Cats missed an opportunity to draw first blood. After Austin Magdaleno and Christian Scott reached to start the game, the Rockhounds’ young ace, Kyle Ducay, responded with a strikeout, but the River Cats would load the bases. Benjamin Pigg then crushed a deep line-drive shot to centerfield for an apparent sacrifice fly, but the River Cats’ runner failed to tag up, leaving the bases loaded and paving the way for Ducay to slip away unscathed.

Flores' three-run triple in the first provided momentum.

The Rockhounds took advantage immediately in their half of the first. Kyle Jacovetta beat out a ground ball to second base before his twin brother, James, was plunked to bring up the fearsome middle of the lineup. River Cats’ ace Kyle Dixon struck out Travis Lang for an out, but cleanup man Yancey Portis got the first run home with an infield single to make it 1-0. Dixon then recorded another strikeout and looked poised to limit the damage when he got ahead 1-2 against lefty-swinging Matt Flores, but the Rockhounds’ first basemen had other ideas, pulling an inside fastball deep down the line in right for a stand-up triple that made it 3-0 in resounding fashion.

“That was huge; that gave us momentum,” said Rockhounds’ Coach Rodney Portis of Flores’ shot. “It really got us started. Matt’s been huge, totally clutch all year, but it was big for us right there. ”

The home team would rally again in the second when the bottom half of the order put the pressure on. Ducay and Kevin Brase got things started with one down when they reached on consecutive infield hits in front of a walk to Tanner Morrison. Dixon then struck out Joshua Richmond with the bases loaded to again reach the brink of an escape, but with two outs, the Jacovetta brothers again provided a spark as Kyle was hit-by-pitch to force in one run and James provided the big hit, pulling a two-run single on the first pitch to make the score 6-0.

Flores drove in the Rockhounds’ seventh run with an opposite-field RBI single in the third that plated Portis and made it 7-0.

Ducay was brilliant on the mound and at shortstop.

The River Cats, though, did not quit and fought hard trying to claw back into the game. After three fruitless frames against Ducay, they managed to push across a run in the fourth when Jake Pfau, Thomas Marini, and Jared Lugo all singled, with Lugo’s plating Pfau to close the game to 7-1. But Ducay refused to let them back in the game any further, inducing a fielders’ choice by Justin Blanton and striking out Jared Unmacht to end the threat. Across four strong innings of work, Ducay pitched around six hits and three walks, striking out four.

When Ducay exited, James Jacovetta entered on the mound and, after a quick first out, saw the River Cats go on the offensive. Scott singled, Dylan Stewart cracked a long double to left, and then Dixon exacted some revenge on Jacovetta with a sharp two-run single of his own that made it 7-3 and energized the River Cats’ bench. Pigg then reached on an error and Nate Haley was hit-by-pitch to load the bases, the Rockhounds’ 7-3 lead looking suddenly much less commanding. But, after a visit from Coach Portis, Jacovetta settled down, reared back, and slammed the door shut, striking out Pfau and Marini—who had been 2 for 2—to short-circuit the comeback try.

The Rockhounds scratched across a final run of their own against reliever Magdaleno when Lang hit a long sacrifice fly in the fifth that scored Jacovetta and made the score 8-3.

After the major threat in the fifth, Jacovetta cruised in the sixth, striking out the side. In the seventh, though, needing three outs to clinch the championship, he had to contend with the potent top of the River Cats’ order. And, although their offense had been the biggest story early on, it was the defense that stood tall, as Ducay, playing shortstop in the final frame after pitching the first four, flashed impressive leather on back-to-back plays. First, it was an impressive back hand, sliding stop, and throw across the diamond to nail the speedy leadoff man Magdaleno, and then it was a high chopper that Ducay charged for, handled, and threw beautifully on the run to retire Scott, turning two likely hits into outs that secured his team’s grip on the game.

“Ducay’s been lights out at shortstop,” noted Portis. “If he’s not pitching, he’s playing there.”

And, after Stewart kept hopes alive by notching his third hit on a shallow pop-up single just beyond the reach of a diving Portis, Jacovetta sealed the deal with a called strike three to end the game, clinch the championship, and provide Coach Portis with a very sweet Gatorade bath.

“It felt great. It was big relief after a long season,” said Portis. “Everything came at the right time. The kids worked hard during the season. This was just a great finish.”

Phenix Print & Image Rockhounds - 2011 Babe Ruth Champions

Game 8 Preview - Thunder vs. Iron Pigs, 6/14/2011

 

Although a torrent of June rain, flooded diamonds, and a perilous late-season rescheduling have conspired to prevent the match-up from coming to fruition, the eighth and final installment of the Game of the Week series will finally be played on Tuesday, June 14th at a special 6:30pm time as Elk Grove Babe Ruth celebrates its 50th season one last time when the Thunder take on the Iron Pigs at Bartholomew Sports Park.

The Thunder, sponsored by the Law Offices of Norma Samra, come into the game sporting a 6-14-1 record that might suggest a squad that struggled frequently during the season. And, although there have been bumps and blowouts along the way, the Thunder have been a feisty, competitive team that have stayed positive and relished the role of spoiler as the season progressed. 

"I have a great bunch of guys, always cheering each other on all year," said Coach Don Logsdon, a rookie coach with Babe Ruth but experienced baseball man. "We've been an up and down team this year: we had our moments, and we lost lots of close games at the end." 

The Thunder discuss strategy before coming to hit.

Truly, Coach Logsdon's words could not be more accurate, as no team earned the label of "snake-bit" more than the Thunder, who suffered no fewer than three losses in the final inning of games this season including one game in which they lead by one, only to fall on a walk-off two-run home run. Still, despite these potentially disheartening setbacks, the Thunder kept working and showed great improvement in the second half of the season, coming back in a few games themselves while over and over again proving that they were not to be overlooked.

Leading the charge all season for the Thunder have been two players on the opposite ends of the experience spectrum, 15-year-old Alec Coyne and 13-year-old Shane Kaminsky, who have nevertheless proven to be a capable partnership. Coyne, a veteran right-handed pitcher and infield of multiple seasons with EGBR, had to shoulder the burden of being the young team's top draft choice, and he was more than up to the task. Pitching in almost nearly every game of the first half, Coyne kept his team in games including a fantastic start against the Hot Rods, a four inning, five strikeout start against the Beavers, and a hitless two inning save in a victory over the playoff-bound River Bandits. Kaminsky, although a rookie, has taken on a similar load, pitching key innings over and over again for the team. Kaminsky has started many of the Thunder's biggest games including an early season win over the a dangerous Ironbirds' team and a late comeback win over the Redwings en route to a much-deserved spot on the all-star team.

Kaminsky (left) and Coyne helped carry the Thunder early on.

In the second half, the Thunder were helped by the arrivals of two players from Sheldon High's JV team, Peter Sprague and J.D. Davidson. Sprague, who started his Babe Ruth season with 10 scoreless, hitless innings pitched, and Davidson helped turn the Thunder from a team that struggled to keep up offensively and close out wins to a squad that was a legitimate threat, pitching their team to a win over the playoff-bound Volcanoes in their first appearances and never looking back.

"Our team had even more fun after we picked [them] up. Both guys helped out a lot, keeping us in the game with their good pitching," noted Coach Logsdon. "It was kind of tough until they got there, but both of them were a big help for us."

Beyond that strong quarter, the Thunder were known for frequently changing up their batting order and defensive rotations to give all of their players opportunities and experience, and nearly every member of their team saw action on the mound over the course of the year.

Freitas anchored a potent Iron Pigs offense all year.

Taking on the Thunder are the Iron Pigs, sponsored by Lyon Real Estate, and coached by another new face in the EGBR coaching ranks, Terry O'Neil. Despite being new to the league, the Iron Pigs were in playoff contention until the final weekend on the strength of an offense that has scored 203 runs, second in all of Elk Grove Babe Ruth, this season. As part of their devastating attack, the Iron Pigs have scored 30 runs once, 20+ runs three times, and averaged nearly 10 runs per game.

Providing the offensive fireworks has been a devastating lineup of skilled, experienced sluggers that have provided hits in bunches for the Iron Pigs. 15-year-olds David Hollen, Kyle Freitas, and Forrest Northart have all been major factors for the team, with Hollen and Freitas slugging home runs during the course of the year. 14-year-olds Michael Irish, Ryan Pressey, and Yoseph Tadesse have all been strong as well, with Pressey representing the team in the Len Willeford Homerun Derby and demonstrating a penchant for the extra-base hit himself. And, not to be out-done, the thirteen-year-olds have also made pitching strenuous for their opponents, as Jaystid Davis, Trevor Reinwald, and Parker O'Neil have also been strong contributors.

Hollen was the Pigs' ace in his 3rd year with EGBR.

On the mound, the Iron Pigs have not shown the same consistent success, but have nevertheless featured an impressive cast of arms. Filling the role of ace all season long has been Hollen, an experienced right-hander who uses a unique delivery and arm slot to keep batters, particularly those batting right-handed, off-balance. Hollen was on the mound for nearly every big game early on, and his work on the hill left opposing coaches shaking their heads.

"He was unbelievable all game," said Coach Larry Stone of the Ironbirds after his team fell 20-2  to the Iron Pigs behind Hollen on opening weekend. "I felt like [Hollen] was hittable, yet we never really squared the ball."

In addition to Hollen's impressive work, the Iron Pigs also got valuable innings from the youngster Davis, imposing righty Irish, and, in the second half of the season, two-time all-star southpaw Northart who proved capable, as he has throughout his previous two years in EGBR, of shutting down an opponent anytime and anywhere.

Although, due to conflicts, the final Game of the Week will likely feature less fan fare and out-dated music, that should not take away from the excellent seasons by both teams in what should be considered another successful, competitive, and memorable season of Elk Grove Babe Ruth.

Knights' Offense Explodes, Crushes Storm

( Preview / Box Score )

Fox allowed 6 runs, but set down his last 6 hitters.

It did not take long to see that Saturday night's seventh Game of the Week between the Elk Grove Transmissions Knights and the Mobile DJ Services Storm would be a match-up of offenses. The score after two full innings was already 6-6, there had been twelve hits, and both teams had already called to the bullpen. Visions of a back-and-forth slugfest between hot teams contrasted sharply with the icy, gushing wind, and the game had the look of a memorable one.

Unfortunately, after two full innings, the game was all Knights as they rode a sixteen-run top of the third inning to a victory by a football-esque final score of 24-7.

Despite the lopsided end result, the fireworks of the first two innings cannot be understated. The Knights started the game by plating their first six batters on five hits and one error to take a foreboding 6-0 lead against Storm starting pitcher Grayson Fox. Joel Barragan, Chase Isbell, Mike Lucas, and Jeremy Caldwell all hit singles to left field before Thomas Colton reached on an error and Nick Pruitt went to right for a single en route to four runs, and then Christian Janini and Zach Aguila had RBI groundouts to finish the flurry. Despite the early onslaught, Fox found a groove and, starting with Janini, ended up retiring the final six batters he faced, striking out a pair, using an array of pitches and a sidearm release point to hold the line for his team.

Caldwell hits a 1st inning single, one of 5 to start the game.

In the bottom of the first, already down six, the Storm answered back by flexing their own offensive muscles against hard-throwing hurler Nick Pruitt. Fox blooped an infield single, moved to second on a textbook sacrifice bunt by Nick Cooling, and moved to third on a grounder by Anders Davies. At this point, the Storm might have folded into a scoreless inning, but instead they started a rally of their own. Matt Kuhl singled to plate Fox, Miguel Saragoza drove a sharp double the other way, just out of the reach of a diving Anthony Gentile in rightfield, and David Miller capped it with a deep two-run triple to center that made things a respectable 6-3. 

But the Storm weren't done. Following Fox's 1-2-3 top of the second, Denis Vajraca lead off with an infield single and then moved on a fielders' choice by Taylor Simmons that wasn't handled by Lucas at second. Stan Dettner then worked a work and Marc Gerdin then hit a hard ground ball that bounced high off the lip of the grass for a single and two RBI. Dettner then stole home on the back end of a double steal and Brendan Turner turned an epic eight pitch at-bat into a long double that left the score knotted at six apiece. 

Barragan's 2-run home run capped the scoring.

But that would not be true for long. In the third inning, the Knights had a rally of epic proportions against Storm ace right-hander Anders Davies as all thirteen hitters reached base to start the inning as wildness, offensive strength, and bad fortune with the infield in turned a tie game into a 22-6 deficit. During the charge, Isbell, Lucas, Colton, Janini, Nick Bernett, Gentile, and Pruitt all had RBI singles, J.C. Ebrado had a hard two-run single up the middle. But, despite all of those hits, the biggest play of the inning came with the bases loaded on a high chopping ground ball over third base off the bat of Lucas. What looked like another two-run single took a wild hop in left to get by the outfielder, allowing Lucas to leg out an inside-the-park grand slam, giving him six RBI on the day and providing an exclamation mark on a superlative offensive inning.

Making the lead hold up for the Knights were Colton and Caldwell, who combined to throw only nine balls in four innings of relief. Colton allowed the Storm's final run in the fourth when Miller singled, stole second and third, and came home on Vajraca's RBI groundout, but that was the only baserunner in the final four frames. Colton struck out three in three innings of work, and Caldwell K'd a pair in a perfect sixth inning.

Kuhl struck out 6 in 3 superb innings of relief.

The Knights capped their scoring in the fifth inning on a more traditional big hit. After J.D. Salazar walked with one down, Barragan drove the first pitch deep to dead center field. Armed with some of the league's best wheels, Barragan had to slow down twice to allow the lead runner to score ahead of him but still came across the plate easily for a two-run homerun for the final scoring of the evening.

Despite an otherwise rough pitching day in which they allowed 24 runs on 17 hits, the Storm did settle down behind the strong relief work on Matt Kuhl, a pitcher that played JV baseball at Sheldon High School this past spring. Working with a nasty curveball and a tough moving fastball, Kuhl struck out six hitters in three innings of work, allowing only Barragan's home run while otherwise remaining unscathed.

The pre-game festivities were punctuated by a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner performed by Storm manager Andrew Davies. Davies planned to perform it as a duet with his daughter, but she was unable to attend because of a birthday party, so he went solo and performed fantastically.

Game #7 Postponed by Rain

 

More details to come.