The Sports Revolution Starts Here! |
|
|
|
Sunsets
Sweep Series, Trounce Tritons In Game 3
March 17, 2018 (Federal League Wire Service)
What
seemed impossible only a week a go has come to pass as the Sunrise
Sunsets routed the Tri-Cities Tritons, 11-3, in Game 3 of the
Championship Final Series, completing the sweep and delivering the
Twilighters the third title in their history.
The loss snapped the Tritons' stranglehold on the league's crown,
ending their three season run of dominance. Zach
Margules, the rookie left hander who went 4-1 during the regular
season, started for the 'Sets against the previously invincible
Calvin Rayburn for the Tritons. The
Tritons were playing without outfielder Zac Miller, who was
nursing a strained groin, and all-star catcher and reigning MVP
Julian Faria. The
Twilighters pierced Rayburn's armor in the top of the first. Chris
Price lined a two out single to left and galloped all the way to
third as the ball was mishandled in the outfield. A wild pitch by
Rayburn gave the 'Sets a 1-0 lead. The
Tritons quickly countered in the bottom of the first. Chris
Marrero drew a leadoff walk, but Chris Craig gunned the speedy
Marrero down as he attempted to steal second. Rayburn also
walk and moved to third on a two single by Mike LaManna. The Water
Dwellers executed a delayed double steal that resulted in Rayburn
scoring the equalizing run.
In the fourth, Craig got aboard with a one out single and then
scored on a base hit by Ted Maceda. After a stolen base and a
errant throw put him on third, Maceda loped home after a wild
pitch, putting the Twilighters in front, 3-1. The
Sunsets extended the lead to 4-1 in the fifth. Justin Dages
singled, stole second and third, and, following the established
pattern, scored on a passed ball. While
Margules was adding zeroes to the scoreboard, Rayburn was holding
the Sunsets in check, until the top of the eighth. Price led off
with a single and promptly swiped second. Anthony Garcilazo
followed with an RBI single. Another wild pitch, a Chris Craig
single, and a throwing error gave the Sunsets a 7-1 advantage. Adrian
Roznowski connected for a two out solo home run in the bottom of
the eighth, but the Sunsets pushed across four big runs in the top
of the ninth, building an 11-2 lead. Demetrio Green and Jimmy
Schariest had singles in the frame, and Gracilazo drilled a two
run, opposite field, home run as an exclamation point. Eric
Silverberg doubled and scored in the bottom of the ninth, but
Margules got Roznowski to bounce into a force play with two
runners aboard to nail down the victory and secure the
championship for the Sunsets. Craig
led the 'Sets with four hits. Price had three, and Garcilazo drove
in three runs. LaManna's two hits paced the Tritons.
Margules went the distance for the win, allowing three runs on
eight hits. The lefty walked seven and struck out three. Rayburn
was charged with four earned runs on 12 his in eight and a third
innings and took the loss. Rayburn walked one and struck out 18
Sunsets. Chris
Craig, who went 12-22 with a home run and five RBI, in addition to
being a brilliant defensive backstop, was unanimously chosen the
the Playoff MVP by the editors of South Florida Baseball
Report. While
the Tritons left the ballpark pondering what might have been, the
Cinderella Sunsets celebrated an improbable dream that came true,
in, what might be, the greatest upset in Championship Final Series
history.
Game 2 Recap-Sunsets Stagger Tritons, 7-4: After
performing a veritable Houdini act to preserve the lead in the 9th
inning of the Sunrise Sunsets' Game 1 victory over the Tri-Cities
Tritons, Brant Spring pitched out of another precarious ninth
inning jam as the Twilighters beat the Water Dwellers, 7-4, in
Game 2 of the Championship Final Series.
Jason Van Tol started for the 'Sets and pitched brilliantly before
faltering in the top of the ninth. Van Tol picked up the win,
permitting two earned runs on six hits in eight and two thirds
innings. Spring recorded the final out, with the tying run on
base, to earn his second save of the series. John
Hardardt started for the Water Dwellers and was not his usual
sharp self. Hardardt was lifted in the fourth, having surrendered
six runs on seven hits in three and two thirds innings. In
the bottom of the second, Chris Craig connected for a one out
double to left and then scored on a double by Brandon Hull. In
the fourth, the Twilighters exploded for five runs, all coming
with two out. Demetrio Green started the rally with a single and
went to second when Jimmy Schariest drew a walk. Justin Dages was
hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Chris Price delivered a two
run single. Anthony Garcilazo followed with a long two run double
to left center, and Javier Aguilar's single up the middle score
Garcilazo and forced Hardardt from the mound. The
Tritons got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth. Adrian
Roznowski drew a leadoff walk and Chris Marrero reached on a two
out error. Jay Warman doubled in Roznowski, but Marrero was called
out trying to score on the play on a controversial call by home
plate umpire Anthony Brown to end the rally and the inning.
In the sixth, a pair of Sunset errors allowed the Tritons to crawl
to within, 6-2, but in the home half of the frame, the Sunsets
pushed across a run against reliever Jose Marcano. Dages drew a
leadoff walk, stole second, went to third on a fly out to right,
and scored on a wild pitch. Trailing
7-2, the Sons of Poseidon attempted to stage another ninth inning
rally. Yosier Tejera led off the final frame with a triple and
scored on a single by Roznowski. Marcano singled to right, but Van
Tol retired the next two batters without incident. Warman
kept the Tritons alive with a bloop single to center that loaded
the bases, bringing the tying run to the plate. At
this point, Van Tol was lifted for Spring, but Mike LaManna
delivered an RBI single to cut the gap to 7-4. Zac
Miller stepped to the plate, representing the winning run, but
Spring induced Miller to hit a grounder to third. Aguilar fielded
the chopper and raced Warman to the bag. Warman beat the force,
but overslid the bag, and Aguilar applied the tag to end the
contest. The
Sunsets won, despite not getting a hit after the fourth inning and
committing three errors. The Tritons left eight runners on base.
The Sunsets lead the best of five series, two games to none and
will attempt to complete the upset with a sweep in Game 3,
scheduled for Saturday.
Game 1 Highlights-Sunsets Stun Tritons, 4-3: In
what could comfortably be described as the best game of the
season, the Sunrise Sunsets survived a late scare and defeated the
previously unvanquished Tri-Cities Tritons, 4-3 in the first game
of the best of five Championship Final Series.
After the Water Dwellers scored twice in the bottom of the ninth
to pull to within a run, Brant Spring relieved starter Tommy Tritz
with none out and the tying run on third and pitched out of the
jam to preserve the win. Tritz
squared off against Tritons' starter Matt Arlick and both produced
nothing but zeroes through three innings, although both teams had
opportunities to score. In
the top of the first, Jimmy Schariest led off for the Sunsets and
drew a walk and stole second. With none out, Justin Dages lifted a
long fly to right center that Agner "Management"
Martinez hauled in for the first out. chariest, however, neglected
to tag up and advance on the play, so he was unable to score on,
what would have been, a sacrifice fly to left off of the bat of
Chris Price. In
the bottom of the first, Chris Marrero led off with a singled and
swiped second, and Jay Warman walked. Warman took second on Julian
Faia's ground out to short, but Marrero stayed put. One batter
later, Mike "Man Of" LaManna hit a little roller up the
third baseline that Tritz fielded. As Marrero sped toward the
plate, Tritz flipped a throw to catcher Chris Craig, who applied
the tag to a sliding Marrero for the second out. In
the top of the fourth, Craig broke the scoreless deadlock when he
led off with a home run to left. With two out and a man on first,
Demetrio Green homered to almost the exact same spot, giving the
Twilighters a 3-0 lead.
The score remained unchanged until the bottom of the sixth. Warman
led off with a double and then scored on a two out single by Zac
Miller to cut the deficit to 3-1. The
Sunsets added an all important insurance run in the top of the
ninth when Schariest drilled a two out single, advanced to second
on a passed ball, and scored when the normally sure handed Marrero
could not handle Dages' hot smash to second. Trailing
by three in the bottom of the ninth, with their win streak firmly
on the line, Adrian Roznowski led off and was hit by a pitch.
Yosier Tejera beat out an infield hit to put runners on first and
second with none out. Eric
Silverberg laid down a perfect bunt that settled on the third base
line. Tritz fielded the ball and threw to first, too late to nab
Silverberg. Making matters worse for the Sunsets, Tritz's throw
was wide of first, allowing both runners to score and sending
Silverberg, carrying the tying run, to second. The
Tritons sent John Hardardt in to pinch run for Silverberg, and the
Sunsets summoned Spring from the bullpen. Spring
retired Marrero on a tapper in front of the plate on which Craig
made a fine play, but Hardardt advanced to third.
Warman, who already had two hits, stepped to the plate with the tying
run on third and only one out. Spring fired two quick strikes
before missing with two breaking pitches. On the 2-2 pitch, Warman
drilled a line drive headed for center field, but Spring reached
up and snagged the liner for the second out. With
the tying run still on third, Spring, the former Best Pitcher
Award winner faced Faria, the league's reigning MVP. Spring,
perhaps in the twilight of a brilliant career, fanned Faria for
the final out. Tritz,
who allowed three runs on 12 hits in eight plus innings got the
win. Spring got the final three outs and earned the save. Arlick
went the distance for the Tritons and took the loss after
permitting three earned runs on nine hits. Tritz
struck out two, hit one, and walked one. Spring struck out one.
Arlick fanned nine and hit one, and walked one. Craig's
two hits and RBI led the 'Sets. Brandon Hull added two hits.
Tejera's three hits paced the Sons of Poseidon.
Game 2, which has a lot to live up to after the a brilliant
display of baseball in Game 1, is slated for Thursday night.
Federal League on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FederalLeague
Send mail to webmaster@federalleague.com
with questions or comments about this web site.
Web Site Copyright © Federal League Athletics,
2018. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|