2015 55+

“Stonebrook, Welch and Burkitt Lead the Pack”

Sacramento Royals 13, So Cal Fire 1

Contributed by Jim Tygrett-DiNuzzi

The Sacramento Royals took the 55+ MSBL Division Championship at the 2015 Las Vegas Open. A combination of outstanding pitching and hitting overwhelmed the competition with the Royals going undefeated and completing each game including the semi-final and championship by the 12 run “mercy” rule.

The pitchers pitched and the hitters hit. Tim Burkitt threw and won two of the three poolgames while Greg Lichtenberger won the other surrendering only one run. Terry Callahan threw and won the semi-final getting the Royals into the championship where team ace Gary Stonebrook completed the tournament sweep in the championship going all the way.

The offense was plenty with all the hitters contributing and when they weren’t pitching the pitchers were hitting as part of the offense, too. The rest of the hitters included Derek Buluck, Darryl Foster, Brian Fisher, Rob Ericson, Jim Marquardsen, Mark Shillingburg, Mark Vendeiro, Bob Wooden, Steve Welch, and Jim Tygrett-DiNuzzi. Lichtenberger and Fisher just missed hitting balls out of the park. Steve Welch, as usual, caught every inning of every game and was named team MVP.