2013 35+ Wood Bat

2013 MSBL Kickoff Classic 35+ wood bat champion Team Las Vegas-Red

Jeff Cochran pitches Team Las Vegas-Red to titleTeam Las Vegas-Red 16, Downey Waves (CA.) 4

By Steve LaMontia and Thomas Taylor, special to MSBL

Team Las Vegas-Red brought the big bats to the 35+ wood bat title, rode Jeff Cochran’s arm into the finals, and came away with a 16-4 drubbing of California’s Downey Waves.

Cochran allowed just five hits in earning a complete game win. The score stood at 8-4 in the fourth but got out of hand when Vegas tacked on seven more runs in the seventh and eighth innings to put the game out of reach.

The Downey Waves cruised through pool play and the playoffs undefeated and stood at 5-0 before the big game after defeating Team Las Vegas Blue 3-0 in the semi-finals earlier in the day. They outscored their opponents an unbelievable 70-6 during their run and claimed the #1 playoff seed. Las Vegas-Red faced a much steeper tournament hill in what turned out to be the strongest division. In their semi-final game they sent former major leaguer Vic Darrensbourg to the mound against the #2 seeded Stanislaus Indians. After spotting Stanislaus 4 runs in a very shaky third inning, Darrensbourg took control and threw six scoreless innings as the Team Las Vegas offense came alive with a clutch six runs in the later innings to win by two and head to the big showdown.

Darrensbourg was also the offensive leader for Las Vegas with a 3 for 4 day at the plate with a couple of doubles, four RBI’s and two runs scored. Mo Molina added a four for four day and Ryan Bohannan kicked in a three for three afternoon.

Al Alaverras had a one for four day for the Waves while scoring a run and stealing a base as Waves pitcher Jesse Gonzalez went one for one with two walks and an RBI in a losing cause.

There wasn’t an MVP trophy awarded but Team Las Vegas manager Mo Molina was quoted as saying, “The entire Team Las Vegas was the MVP of this tournament because both Red and Blue posted a combined 9-1-1 record.Team Las Vegas plays as a team and wins as a team. Everyone contributes!”