2014 Angels Take a Bite Out of Bulldogs for Title in Texas

Austin Metro Baseball League…35+ Division

Austin Angels 13, Bulldogs 2

Top Row L-R: Brown, Craig, Calvert, Austin, Rockey, Fernandez, Cary and Kavcak. Bottom Row L-R: Kuss, Sheppard, Jones, Burrola and Hinojosa. Not Pictured: Deadmon, Funk, Peckham, Rogers and Steen

Submitted by Phil Kuss, Angels manager

It was another successful season for the defending champion Angels, managed by Phil Kuss, in the AMBL (Austin Metro Baseball League) +35 Division. The first round of theplayoffs was played against the Dodgers (managed by Rob Lazare) with the Angels coming out on top 10-2 and 7-3 to sweep the series. In the championship series the Angels faced the Bulldogs (managed by Hollis Bone). In game one the Angels won 12-6 with Johnny Hinojosa pitching a complete game and Josh Steen catching. The final game two score was 13-2 with Robert Calvert on the hill and RC Brown behind the plate. The game started out well for the Bulldogs holding down the Angel bats until Jose Fernandez opened up the game with a bases-clearing triple in the third inning. After that the Angel bats kept the pressure on to close out the game and claim title to the +35 Division for the second year in a row. Jim Rockey led the offense during the playoffs by batting .571 with Calvert swinging at .533 and Jerry Burrola close behind at .500.

During the regular season, the Angels finished with a 19-1-3 record. RC Brown batted .529 with 30 RBI’s to pace all hitters and the team batted .344 for the entire year. The top-notch pitching staff also consisted of Doug Rogers, Brown, Steen and Kuss. You always hear “good pitching and good defense win championships”. That is very true but when you have ball players throughout the lineup that can swing bats and score runs plus have good pitching and play great defense it sure makes it fun to come out the ball park as a manager.