2016 65+ Central ‘Ring’ Division

Salty Dragons 10, Tucson Toros 4

‘Tremblay and Castillo Co-MVP’s’

By Russ Christ, Special to MSBL National

October 28, 2016, Scottsdale, Ariz. – Diamondbacks Complex – The Dragons’ roster, a combination of players from Rhode Island and Northern California, made it look easy. They were sparked all week by co-MVP’s Ruben Castillo and Bob Tremblay, the Dragon’s first two batters.

Tremblay went 2-3 with two RBI and Castillo went 1-3 with a walk in the championship game.

Allan Green, the Dragons’ co-manager (with Noah Clark), described them as standouts. “Bob hit the hell out of the ball all week,” Green said, “including today. He had a couple triples yesterday and played shortstop basically every game and hardly made an error. Ruben pitched in probably four different games in relief and shut down whoever it was every time, including today. As our lead off hitter he was crushing the ball.”

Castillo, a southpaw, relieved starter and winning pitcher Ernie Barten with three-and-a-thirds of scoreless relief. Barten gave up four earned runs on nine hits, walked two and struck out one in nearly six innings of work. “I had a rough inning in the second, but it’s all in the defense,” Barten said. “Those boys played terrific. Tough catches in the outfield and tough ground balls. They made all the plays.”

Clark, from Rhode Island, gave credit to the Toros, but also liked what he saw from Barten. “First of all that’s a great team that we faced,” Clark said. “Those guys played solid defense and we were able to get a jump on the first inning. Ernie did the job for us. Everybody on this team was limping and gimping, but we got through it. We had a lot of heart on the bench.”

The Dragons jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first and scored three more in the fifth to take a 7-4 lead after the Toros fought back to tie the game in the third. Tremblay singled, Gary Firestone walked, Willy Rios hit a bloop single, and Clark singled to score Tremblay. Craig Rickeman and John Ludwig added hits and RBI’s. Green hit a SAC fly to complete the scoring.

Firestone added a two-run double in the fifth, scoring Castillo and Tremblay. Then Tremblay knocked in Ludwig and John Metras in the sixth with sharp single to left field to make it 9-4.

Arnie Mares suffered the loss for the Toros. He worked five-and-a-third innings, allowed nine hits, three walks and six earned runs. Mares also led the Toros offensively. He was 3-3 and scored two runs. Bob Long and Chuck Milo went 2-4 for the Toros. Phil Grejeda, their lead off hitter, went 2-5. The Toros also turned two double plays.

The Salty Dragons finished the week 7-1, while the Toros, managed by Lou Russo, ended the week 5-3.

Tucson Toros 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 —4

Salty Dragons 4 0 0 0 3 2 0 1 x —10

Double: A. Mares (Toros), G. Firestone (Dragons)

SAC: J. Rivera & A. Green (Dragons)

HBP: M. Sewell (Toros)

DP: Toros (2)

Key Stats: (Toros): P. Grejeda 2-5; A. Mares 3-3, 2 R, B. Long 2-4, C. Milo 2-4; (Dragons): B. Tremblay 2-3, 2 RBI, G. Firestone 1-2, 2 RBI, W. Rios 2-4, J. Ludwig 3-4, RBI, N. Clark 1-4, RBI, C. Rickman 1-4, RBI

WP: Ernie Barten

LP: Arnie Mares