2014 Cobb Reds Capture 35+ in First Year in West Metro Atlanta

West Metro Atlanta MSBL 35+ Division

Cobb Reds 6, Generals 5

Contributed by Don Fletcher, Reds manager

The Cobb Reds, playing in their first season of the West Metro Atlanta MSBL 35+ summer baseball league, had a record of 12 wins and one loss going into the playoffs. The Reds were the first place finishers and earned a bye week. After the bye, the Reds disposed of the Eskimos to set up a rematch against the Generals, which were the only team to defeat the Reds during the season. Playing at North Atlanta High School, on a field that would easily rival a college baseball diamond, the atmosphere felt like a championship game.

The Reds took an early lead when Perez Cummings scored on a double by Luis Nesmith. The Red’s pitcher Mark Ives was flawless for the first 11 batters until he gave up a walk. The walk was followed by a triple and a throwing error allowed the Generals to take a 2-1 lead. The Generals added another run in the fifth inning to stretch their lead to3-1. The Red’s Martin Carswell started off the bottom of the fifth inning with a single and stole second base. Chris Greenwald reached on an error that allowed Martin Carswell to score. The Red’s cleanup hitter Scott King singled home Greenwald to tie the game up at 3-3.

The top of the sixth inning provided one of the most exciting plays of the season. With runners on first and second, the Generals#23 Woodcam smashed a single into center field that Luis Nesmith fielded and came up firing home. The ball was cut off by the Red’s first baseman Don Fletcher and he threw a strike to the catcher Bobby White. It was a bang-bang play that was hotly disputed but the call on the field was”OUT”. The Generals still had two runners on base and got a single by their leadoff hitter Freewalt scoring two more runs to put them up 5-3.

The Generals called upon their fireball closer to come in to slam the door but the Reds added two more runs by Martin Carswell and Luis Nesmith on a couple of errors, a single and a walk. The game was tied 5-5 going into the top of the eight and the Red’s closer Luis Nesmith, who replaced Mark Ives in the seventh inning, was setting the Generals down in order until the General’s Downer scratched a leadoff single in the eighth. A strike out and an excellent play by the Red’s second baseman Josh Davis and the Red’s third baseman Chris Greenwald stopped any scoring chance the Generals could muster.

The bottom of the eighth inning saw the Red’s batter Bobby White get hit by a pitch. The next batter, Mark Ives, watched four balls go by and advance to first by a walk. Both batters advance on the next pitch which was in the dirt putting the go ahead run on third base with one out. Rafael Decristina was walked to load the bases. Matt Gibbs was at the plate with one out when Bobby White scored the go ahead run on a slider in the dirt. The Generals pitcher struck out the next batters but the Reds were going to the top of the ninth inning up 6-5.

Luis Nesmith closed out the game with solid defense by Josh Davis and Scott King to give the Reds a hard fought 6-5 victory against the Generals. Throughout the whole year the Reds had an unselfish team that when called upon delivered. A special thanks to Andy Austin, John Cattarulla and Stephen Gray for their contributions throughout the season.