2014 Cubs Sweep Brewers in Saratoga (NY) to Cap ‘Three-Peat’

Saratoga (NY) MSBL 30+

Saratoga Cubs 10, Brewers 6

Submitted by Dave Martin, Cubs manager

The Saratoga Cubs won their third consecutive Saratoga MSBL championship as they swept the number two seed Brewers in the best of three finals and capped off the championship with a 10-6 victory. The Cubs, who finished the season with a 23-3 record, were once again led by their two pitching aces Wally Dow (1.50 ERA) and Matt Steinfort (2.33 ERA). In the playoffs, the Cubs were led offensively by Marcus Maringola (.750 batting average with 6 RBI), Ryan Sherman (.625 batting average with 5 runs scored), and Heath Morris (.467 batting average with 8 RBI). The Brewers finished with a 17-10 record on the season and were led through the playoffs by Geoff Cusano (.647 batting average and 6 RBI), Erik Hoover (.500 batting average with 5 runs scored), and Mike Urvalek (.471 batting average with 5 RBI).Hoover along with Dennis Keppler and crafty veteran Jim Davis led the Brewers pitching staff.

The Saratoga MSBL is an over 30, eight team league based out of Saratoga Springs located in upstate New York. The league features a 21 game regular season schedule followed by a double elimination playoff with a best of 3 finals format. Cubs manager Dave Martin stated “the level of play in the league has taken off in the past few years and there are a lot of very good ballplayers throughout the league which has created a competitive balance where any team can beat you on any given day making it even more remarkable that the Cubs have won three years in a row with the same bunch of guys. A lot of us have been playing together since 2002 and a couple of guys longer than that. We won the championship back in 2002 and then went on a nine year drought coming up just short several times so we know how difficult it is to win the league championship.We are the oldest team in the league but everyone knows the intricacies game so well and the fundamentals that put your team in a position to win ballgames.”

Martin continued that more important than how the Cubs play as a team on the field is how they carry themselves off of it. “The Cubs are such a tight knit group of guys and are all high character husbands, fathers and role models for their kids. We all try to get together as much as our wives will allow outside of baseball whether it be going on fishing or camping trips or going on trips to catch a MLB or NFL game somewhere. This is a special group of guys that has been playing together for a long time and we all savor every moment together on and off the field because we all know we are playing the game on borrowed time. And we all realize how fortunate we are to still be playing baseball into our 40s and 50s!