2012 35 Mountain

35 Mountain champion Montbello Angels

Montbello Angels 10, Stanislaus Indians 6
By Jeff McGaw and Les Zoltowski, MSBLNational.com

Goodyear Stadium, Oct. 20, 2012 – Cisco Vega had three hits and five RBI, and Manny Garcia added two hits and two RBI as the Montebello Angels successfully defended their 35 Mountain Division crown with a 10-6 win over the top seeded Stanislaus Indians.

The win avenged an earlier, 4-3 loss to the Indians in round robin play. The Angels are the proverbial thorn in the Indians side. In addition to losing in the finals this year, the Angels vanquished Stanislaus 3-0 and 7-5 on their way to the 2011 tournament crown.

Angel starter Mario Chavarin allowed three runs through eight complete innings to earn the most recent win. Eric Orue allowed three runs in the ninth in relief of Chavarin, but it wasn’t enough for the Indians.

Jeremy Advincula took the loss for Stanislaus. He left during the Angels’ four-run sixth inning. Josh Hamm and, an inning later, Earl Smith closed it out for the Indians.

Stanislaus shortstop Kevin Crivelli lays out for one

Vega was ridiculous.

He smacked a two-run double into deep center field in the fourth inning to tie the game. In the sixth inning he doubled to right center to drive in two more runs and put the Angels ahead.He added an RBI single in the seventh to complete his day.

Fuji Espanza had three hits and one RBI for the Angels. Aramando Alcantar dropped in two hits toward thecause. Garcia, meanwhile, had two hits including a two-run single in the seventh inning.

Noting that Stanislaus defeated the Angels in pool play, Angels’ skipper Robert Oskin had high praise for his opponents. “They’re a great team and I have a lot of respect for them,” he said. “The rivalry is a great one.”

The Indians struck for a run in the first inning when Joe Cornell tripled to right field. Manager Clint Romeroknocked him home with a ground ball to second base. Romero finished with two RBI in the day.

The Indians, 22 men strong, powered through round robin play with a 6-0 record scoring 75 runs. Cornell had 11 hits in 22ABs (including 3-doubles, 1-triple) for .500 average despite missing 2 round robin games due to injury. Ben Mendoza also hit .500 with 10 hits in 20 at-bats. Nate Rien hit.410 and led the Indians with 13 RBI, while Calvin Thomas – hit .395 with 10 hits and 10 RBIs.

The Angels finished with a 5-1 record counting the 4-3 loss to the Indians. They beat the Long Island Rays 8-1 for the right to advance to the finals.

35 Mountain runners-up Stanislaus Indians