Expansion
Series: Beacons Rally
Past Sunsets For 4th Championship In A Row
March 3, 2012 (Federal League Wire Service)
The Lighthouse Point Beacons became
the first team to ever register four consecutive Expansion
Series championships as they rallied for a 16-11 win over the
Sunrise Sunsets in Game 4. The win enabled the Illuminators to
clinch the series, three games to one.
Jimmy Efre, who was the Game 3 winner for the Beacons, started
against Matt Sperry for the Sunsets. Sperry was making his
fourth start of the series, establishing an ironman record that
may never be equaled.
After a scoreless first inning, the Sunsets took a 1-0 lead in
the bottom of the second as Randy Talley led off with his fourth
home run of the series. The Twilighters added on another run in
the inning when Eric Bigham hit a two out single and then scored
on a base hit by Demetrio Green. Bigham was able to motor all of
the way home as Beacon left fielder Jamie Siragusa misplayed
Green's single. By the time Siragusa recovered the ball, Bigham
had scored and the Sunsets had taken a 2-0 advantage.
In the third, the Beacons got on the board as Ryan Scott crashed
a two out solo homer.
The Sunsets' 2-1 lead remained intact until the top of the
fifth. Siragusa, hoping to atone for his earlier miscue, led off
with a sharp single to left. With two out, Efre swatted a two
strike offering over the fence in right center to give the
Beacons a 3-2 lead. Scott followed with a home run to left, his
second of the game and his fourth of the series, to put the
Beacons ahead by two.
An RBI double by Mike Govern in the bottom of the fifth brought
the Sunsets to within a run, but the Beacons escaped with the
lead as Siragusa robbed Joe LaRocca of an extra base hit with a
sliding catch on the warning track in left center to end the
inning.
Talley's second homer of the game, and fifth of the series, tied
the score in the sixth. His sacrifice fly in the bottom of the
seventh gave the Sunsets a 5-4 lead. A brilliant double play
turned by shortstop Jeff Fazio, converting a short pop up behind
the mound into a twin killing with a diving catch and perfect
throw, allowed Efre to avoid further damage.
Sperry got the first out in the top of the eighth, but yielded a
single to Rich Martell and then walked Pat Vadala. Siragusa,
playing with two broken ribs since the first inning of the first
game, launched a high drive off the top of the fence in left
center for a game tying double. Guy Bitchatcho then gave the
Beacons the lead for good with a three run blast to center.
Jose Morales kept the rally alive for the Illuminators with a
single. Reliever David Bourns walked Efre and then hit Scott
with a pitch to load the bases. Bourns gave up an RBI single to
Fazio and then issued a walk to Chris Basso to force in another
run.
Trailing 10-5, the Sunsets attempted to claw back in the bottom
of the eighth. An RBI single by Jimmy Schariest and a three run
home run by Brandon Hull brought the Twilighters to within 10-9.
In the top of the ninth, the Beacons added six more runs. Pat
Vadala led off with a single to center and Greg Grosheim pinch
ran for him. Siragusa then hit a ball off the fence in right
center, but was held to a long single as Grosheim took third.
Bitchatcho followed with a line single to left to score Grosheim.
Siragusa was forced at third on Morales' bunt attempt, but Efre
singled in a run to make it 12-9. Scott was hit by a pitch,
loading the bases, and Fazio unloaded them with a grand slam to
left center.
Holding a 16-9 lead, Efre quickly got the first out as he
induced Talley to bounce out to Morales at third. Bourns kept
the Sunsets' hopes alive with a solid single to right. Sperry
got aboard with an infield single, but Efre fanned Bigham for
the second out. Green drew a walk to load the bases and
Schariest, after spoiling four two strike pitches, doubled down
the left field line to score two runs.
Now holding a five run lead, Beacon manager Keith Nicoll
summoned Basso to the mound in relief of Efre. Basso responded
by retiring Hull on the first pitch he threw. When Hull's pop up
to second settled in Nicoll's glove, the Beacons had won their
11th championship in team history, the most in Expansion Series
history.
Siragusa's four hits led the way for the Beacons. Hull and
Bourns had three hits each for the Sunsets.
Efre picked up his second win of the series, and Basso, who was
the Game 1 winner and would have started Game 5, earned a save.
Sperry, who pitched an unbelievable 31 and two thirds innings in
the series, took the loss.
Guy Bitchatcho, in his initial campaign as a Beacon, was named
Playoff MVP after the series. Bitchatcho went 17 for 27 in the
post season, good for a .630 batting average. Bitchatcho had
four post season home runs with 15 RBI and eight runs scored.
Game 3-Beacons Edge Sunsets, Take Series Lead:
The Lighthouse Point Beacons moved
to within one win of clinching their fourth straight Expansion
Series championship as they posted an 11-8 win over the Sunrise
Sunsets in Game 3.
Jimmy Efre pitched a complete game for the win, besting Matt
Sperry, who made an unbelievable third starting assignment in a
span of five days for the Twilighters.
The scoring began in the top of the second as Randy Talley
connected for his third circuit clout of the series. The Beacons
answered with three runs in the bottom of the second as Rich
Martell hit his second home run of the series, followed by a two
run shot by Guy Bitchatcho, later in the inning.
In the third, the Sunsets tied the score on a two run double by
Joe LaRocca, and then took a 4-3 lead in the fourth on an RBI
single by Jimmy Schariest.
When LaRocca connected for a two run home run in the sixth, the
Sunsets held a 6-3 advantage.
In the bottom of the sixth, Sperry, who had pitched heroically,
began to show some signs of wear. Bitchatcho led off with his
third round tripper of the series. After one out singles by
Keith Nicoll and Efre, Ryan Scott drilled a three run home run
to put the Signalmen in front, 7-6.
In the seventh, Bitchatcho singled and went to third on a one
out double by Nicoll, and the Sunsets sent Dave Bourns to the
mound in relief of the beleaguered Sperry. Bourns issued a two
out walk to Scott to load the bases, and Jeff Fazio drove in all
three runners with a double to right center.
Bourns made amends with a two run double in the bottom of the
eighth that just eluded the diving effort of right fielder James
Carter. Bourns' double brought the Sunsets to within 10-8, but
the B's added an insurance run in the home half of the eighth on
Bitchatcho's RBI single.
Efre worked around an leadoff double by Sperry in the top of the
ninth, retiring the next three batters in order to secure the
win.
Bitchatcho's four hits and four RBI led the way for the
Illuminators and only slightly overshadowed the yeoman effort of
Sperry on the mound for the Twilighters.
Game 2-Sunsets Tie Series: The
Sunrise Sunsets scored nine runs in an epic first inning and
coasted to a 16-11 win over the Lighthouse Point Beacons in Game
2 of the Expansion Series. The win, played in gusty conditions
that favored the hitters, enabled the Twilighters to square the
series at one win a piece.
Matt Sperry made his second start of the series and pitched a
complete game for the win. Sperry permitted seven earned runs on
17 hits, but emerged victorious.
Mike Govern established an Expansion Series record that may go
unchallenged as he hit a pair of home runs in the bottom of the
first. Govern's two run shot opened the scoring and, later in
the inning, he drilled a grand slam. In all, Govern wound up
with seven RBI as he added a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Randy Talley hit his second homer of the series in the first,
and Brandon Hull had a pair of hits and an RBI in the frame.
Brant Spring started for the Illuminators, but failed to get out
of the first inning. Spring took the loss after being charged
with nine runs, four earned, on seven hits in two thirds of an
inning.
Guy Bitchatcho got the Beacons on the board with a two run shot
in the second. Demetrio Green responded with a two run blast in
the bottom of the second to restore the Sunsets' nine run
cushion, but Rich Martell hit a two run shot in the third, and,
after Ryan Scott's three run homer in the fifth, the Beacons
pulled to within 11-9.
Joe LaRocca's solo homer in the bottom of the fourth made it
12-9 before Hull's RBI single and Govern's sacrifice fly in the
fifth made it 14-9.
The Beacons drew to within 14-11 in the sixth on RBI singles by
Pat Vadala and Jamie Siragusa, but Sperry pitched out of a bases
loaded jam to preserve the lead.
A two run double by Eric Bigham in the eighth closed out the
scoring.
Game 1-Beacons Slide Past Sunsets:The Expansion Series finally began
on Tuesday night amid all the fanfare usually accorded such
events. In this case, at least, the game lived up to its billing
as the Lighthouse Point Beacons edged the Sunrise Sunsets in
Game 1 of the best of five series.
After a stirring National Anthem, including a flyover, the teams
played brilliant and exciting baseball.
Chris Basso started for the Illuminators, and Matt Sperry
started for the Twilighters, in what developed into an epic
pitcher's duel. Both hurlers went the distance.
Things did not start well for either pitcher. After recording
two quick outs in the top of the first, Basso hit Joe LaRocca
with a pitch before serving up a long two run home run to Randy
Talley. Sperry, however, was unable to hold on to the lead,
surrendering four runs in the home half of the first inning.
Jimmy Efre opened the inning with a single that snuck past newly
installed third basemen Brandon Hull's glove. Basso followed
with a double to center that barely eluded Mike Govern's reach.
Sperry retired Jeff Fazio on a ground out, but Pat "The
Bat" Vadala singled in Efre and sent Basso to third. Basso
scored when Jamie Siragusa bounced into a force play. After Greg
Grosheim walked, James Carter doubled into the left center field
gap as Siragusa and Grosheim both scored.
Govern cut the deficit to 4-3 with a home run in the top of the
third and there the score remained as each twirler placed a
series of goose eggs on the scoreboard. Sperry shut down the
Beacons from the second through the seventh on only six hits.
Basso was even stingier, retiring 15 straight batters from
Govern's homer in the third until a one out double by Jimmy
Schariest in the top of the eighth.
With Schariest on second, representing the tying run, Hull
singled to right just over a leaping Keith Nicoll's glove.
Schariest has to hold up until the ball cleared Nicoll's leather
and was only able to advance to third. Basso fanned the
dangerous Govern for the second out. When Basso picked Hull off
of first, he alertly stayed in the rundown as Schariest scored
the tying run barely ahead of the tag on Hull.
With the score now knotted at 4-4, Vadala led off the bottom of
the eighth with a fly ball to left that eluded Schariest's
leaping attempt at the fence. Vadala pulled into second with a
double. However, when shortstop Eric Bigham speared Siragusa's
one hopper through the middle, Vadala was trapped off of second and
easily put out. Grosheim followed with a solid single to left
and, when it slithered past Schariest's glove, Siragusa scored
from first, sliding in ahead of the throw with the go ahead run.
Guy Bitchatcho added a two out single that scored Grosheim and
gave the Beacons an insurance run.
The Sunsets did not go quietly in the top of the ninth. After
Basso retired LaRocca leading off the frame on a sliding catch by
Efre in center, Talley doubled off the fence. David Bourns
singled to right with Talley stopping at third. Basso hit
Demetrio Green with a pitch that loaded the bases and put the go
ahead run on base. Reaching back for something extra, Basso, in
his longest outing of the campaign, fanned Sperry for the second
out before inducing Eric Bigham to pop out to first basemen
Chris Sitler to end the game.
Basso scattered seven hits, hit three batters, and struck out
nine. Sperry permitted five earned runs on 13 hits, hit one, and
fanned three. Basso did not walk a batter. Sperry walked one.
Vadala and Bitchatcho led the Beacons with three hits each.
Bourns and Talley had two hits a piece for the Sunsets.
The game featured some interesting plays. One of Sperry's
pitches bounced under LaRocca's mask and lodged in his chest
protector causing a dead ball and allowing for the advancement
of a runner. In the second inning, with Bigham on second,
Schariest hit a long fly to center that Efre ran down. Bigham,
who had rounded second, was ruled to have failed to retouch the
bag on his way back to first. When Nicoll brought the ball to
the infield and touched the bag, Bigham was out for an inning
ending double play. In the eighth, when Schariest scored the
tying run, it was only by the slightest margin that he crossed
the plate before the third out was made. Despite the close and
unusual plays, the umpiring crew did a solid job.
The game was played in two hours and 11 minutes.
