2014 Pelicans Repeat in Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City MABL

Lake Hefner Pelicans 10, OKC Cardinals 9

Contributed by Carson Long, Pelicans manager

A little about us:“We’ve had the Lake Hefner Pelicans Baseball Club for two years now and we are back to back Oklahoma City MABL Champs. Our record the past two years is 52-7 and our 2014 record so far is 24-4. This will be our first year to play in theWorld Series in Phoenix in the 25 American Division. We not only play other men’s teams but we also fill our schedule with NBC summer collegiate opponents as well. The guys on our team range from the age of 25-39. We all seemingly have some sort of connection to each other as well whether we played with or against each other in high school, college, or even some have a connection from pro ball. We really most enjoy Sunday’s catching up and playing some ball.”-Carson Long

Game one summary: The Lake Hefner Pelicans had to work hard to get the sweep over OKC Cardinals in the 105 heat index. Ryan Kirk had a solid outing going seven innings and giving up four runs while Australian native David Walker got the win in relief. The Pelicans jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with a home run by Brent Weaver, but the Cardinals would rally to take a 4-2 lead in the seventh. The Pelicans would tie in the eighth by means of a two-run double from Dakota James, driving in designated hitter John Bryant and third baseman Drew Dargen. With the game tied in the ninth, Carson Long lead off and would later steal second base in the inning. Breck Draper delivered the walk off hit driving in Long to win the game 5-4.

Game two summary: The Cardinals responded to the game-one loss by jumping out to 3-0 lead in the first inning. The Pelicans line-up would answer by putting up three runs in the fourth inning. With the game tied 3-3,Brent Weaver would hit a grand slam in the fifth to put the Pelicans in front 7-3. The Cardinals would rally back by hitting a three-run homer and a two-run dinger to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh. Lorenzo Banks would lead off the top of the eighth with a single to center field. He would later advance to third on two wild pitches. Carson Long hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Banks from third and tie the game at 8-8. In a tie game in the top of the ninth, Brent Weaver would drive in Breck Draper and Zach Humphreys on a two-run double to take the lead 10-8. Walker came on for the save in the bottom of the ninth and would strike out the first two hitters but would give up a solo home run to the clean-up hitter. Walker would then retire the next batter to give the pelicans a repeat championship!