2012 45 Wood Bat National

Darren Fleming’s So Cal Blue Jays won the 45 Wood Bat National title at the 2012 MSBL World Series.

Blue Jays finish strong

So Cal Blue Jays 6, Tri Valley 40’s 4

By Staff Reports, MSBLNational.com

Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe AZ., Nov. 3, 2012 – They didn’t exactly come roaring out of the gate, but the So Cal Blue Jays roared when it counted as they claimed the 45 National Division title at the 2012 World Series with a 6-4 win over the Tri Valley 40’s.

Jorge Valencia threw a complete game and while the top four hitters, Augie Alonzo, Kevin Townsend, tournament MVP Fred Russell and Bryan Hoppie had two hits apiece to help lead the Jays to the promise land.

It was Tri Valley’s third consecutive finals loss in the division. After winning the division in 2009, they lost 3-2 to Team Victory in the 2010 finals, and 4-3 to Team Victory in the 2011 finals. Pitcher Eddie Delzer earned the “Hard Luck” award as he pitched remarkably well in all of those games but was tagged with the loss in each.

The Jays, meanwhile, lost their first three games of the 2012 tournament to Team Victory, last year’s champions, the Boston Wolfpack, and the Tri-Valley 40’s respectively. They rounded out their round robin schedule with wins over Tri Valley and Price Cutter Coors to finish with a nothing-to-write-home-about 2-and-3 record.

Then the bats appeared to wake up.

They knocked off the top-seeded Wolfpack 12-2 in the semifinals and then held on for a 6-4 championship game win.

It was the third year in a row that a So Cal MSBL team claimed the division.

Knocking off Tri Valley was no small accomplishment. The 40’s owned the Blue Jays in previous years. They lost to Tri-Valley in the 2009 finals, and were eliminated in the semifinals by the same Tri Valley team in 2010 and 2011.

The Jays took a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning, but Tri Valley pushed three runs across in the frame thanks to consecutive, one-out singles by Dave Savin, Derrick Lynch, Mark O’Neill, Andre White, John Sellick and Steve Roberts. O’Neill, White and Roberts each had RBI’s in the inning.

The Jays tacked on a run in the top of the ninth inning in a sacrifice fly by Vince Woods that scored Robert Mendoza.

Despite putting runners in scoring position in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, the 40’s could not score. They went quietly in the ninth with Valencia ending the game on a strikeout.

So Cal Blue Jays Roster: Darren Fleming (MGR), Augie Alonso, Frank Castro, Ray Chadwick, Mario Diaz, Danny Gonzales, Brandon Grayson, Ken Hill, Roger Hill, Bryan Hoppie, Tom Lopez, Dave Mendoza, Robert Mendoza, Eddie Morales, Brian O’Shea, Fred Russell, Denny Shaffer, Kevin Townsend, Larry Urrutia, Jorge Valencia, Pepe Valencia, Raul Verducia, Vince Woods

Tri-Valley 40’s Roster- Derrick Lynch, Mark O’Neill, Andre White, John Sellick, Steve Roberts, Mark Volpe, Tom Juelch, Joel Neff, Mo Terrell, Dave Savin, Eddie Delzer, Mark Zopelli, Bill Hawkins, Kevin Wakeman, Chris Bennett, Frank Ochoa, Pat Tressler, Mark Mulloy, Al Grovenkamp, Eric Sherwood, Fred Schaminski, Dale Marinello, Todd Gonzalez, Sam Gomes, Rick Menise, Dave Mattieson