2020 55+ National

Diamond Dream Mustangs 13, New Jersey Reds 4

Submitted by Mike LaComb, Mustangs manager

The tournament finally got started on Wednesday, after three dreary rainout days. So, the Mustangs and every other 55 team had doubleheaders each day. Gary D’Ambrisi and his tournament staff did an amazing job getting the whole tournament back on schedule all the way through to the championship games.

Once we hit the diamond the fun began, as the Mustangs went through the week undefeated to grab their first ever 55+ National Fall Classic Championship. The team put on an awesome hitting display as we scored 124 runs in eight games, and our pitching and defense only gave up 24 runs the whole week.

We had a roster of 22 men, and each of them came up big all week. The main reason for our success was that players shared time all week, so all of us were healthy and ready once we got to the playoffs. Robert Doggett and Sean Cohan had OBPs above .700!  Pedro Guzman, Jimmy O’Connor, George Kerst and Enrique Ayala were above .600 OBP. Amazingly, we had 15 players with an OBP at .500 or above. The pitching staff was dominating from start to finish with Jaime Castillo, Mike McLeod, Dave Porta, Dave Randolph, John Denney, Enrique Ayala and Wilson Reyes taking the mound for us.

Defensively, Joe Walsh, Mike McConnell and John Mauk handled the catching. Robert Doggett, Sean Cohan, Shaun Hires, Dave Haggart and Enrique Ayala patrolled the outfield. While Dan Cassidy, Jimmy O’Connor, Steve Hutchinson, Pedro Guzman, George Kerst, Mike McLeod, John Denney, Dave Carrodine, Jose Vazquez and George Cooper solidified the infield.

When we got to the championship game, Mike McLeod took the mound and pitched a masterful complete game to defeat the NJ Reds 13-4. Robert Doggett had four hits in the game, and was named the tournament MVP.