2017 45+ Cactus

Spokane Yankees 16, Fresno HCB 8

‘MVP Wolf Posts Three Knocks, Two RBI, Two Runs Scored’

By Randy Vernon, special to MSBL

November 4, 2017, Maryvale Stadium, Phoenix, AZ – The 45+ championship game between the Spokane Yankees and Fresno HCB (“Hard Core Baseball”) was tied at six going into the 8th inning. But in the 8th Spokane batted around, sending 15 batters to the plate and scoring 10 runs to win the trophy 16-8.

Spokane coach Greg Peterson said “This is our first time winning the championship. We were close last year”. This year they were able to bring home the trophy. As Peterson added, “Our pitchers battled all week. And we had great hitting all week”.

Spokane’s Gary Wolf was dubbed the MVP as he went 3-for-5 at the plate, including a triple and double, with two RBI and two runs scored. Roger Coston had four hits and three RBI. Kelly Holm and Peterson also added three hits apiece. As a team, Spokane had 19 hits in the game, with nine of them coming in the decisive 8th inning. They had three triples in the game and continually put the ball in play having only one strikeout the entire game.

Spokane’s Bret Fink threw a complete game earning the win. He also added two RBI to help his cause.

Fresno was paced by a strong seven innings from starting pitcher Tony Criado. At the plate, Fresno benefitted from a 3-RBI game by Rick Banulos and three hits by Miggy Arellano. Jose Ortiz and Dave Garcia also added two hits apiece. Eight different Fresno batters score one run apiece.

After Fresno fell behind 16-6, they came to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning trying to mount their own rally. They scored one run before the rally came to abrupt end, having the third out of the inning tagged out at home stranding two runners still on base.