2015 Badfish Capture First Title in DCMSBL 25+ ‘B’ Division

DCMSBL 25+ ‘B’ Division

Potomoc Badfish 8, Northern Virginia Warriors 1

‘Badfish Claim First Ever DCMSBL Title!’

By Joe Van Cleve, Badfish manager

In the DCMSBL 2015 +25 B Tournament Championship series, the Potomac Badfish took on the Northern Virginia Warriors. The Badfish, who had never finished better than .500, had the best regular season in team history, compiling 11 wins, 3 losses, and 2 ties, for second-best in the division. The Warriors finished another strong regular season with a record of 10-6. In the season series, the Warriors took the first contest 6-5, while a time limit in the second game resulted in an 8-8 tie.

The championship series was a best-of-three, with the first two games set as a double header, and a winner-take-all game three, if necessary.

Game one of the series did not start well for the Badfish. A lead-off hit, followed by a walk, two hit batsmen and three more hits allowed the Warriors to put up 8 runs in the top of the first. After the Badfish went 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning, the Warriors put up 4 more in the second, thanks in-part to another three walked batters. The Badfish began climbing back with 3 runs in the bottom of the inning, but the Warriors made up all three in the top of the third and never looked back, winning game one 15-5.

The Badfish had to turn things around and fast, as game two was now a must-win.

They started out strong, with two two-out hits in the top of the first to bring home the first run. In the bottom of the first the Warriors loaded the bases with no one out, but were unable to score. A ground ball force-play at home, then a strikeout and a ground out ended the threat. After a scoreless second, the Badfish bats came alive with five hits in the third and seven hits in the fourth, scoring 11 runs in the two innings. On the other side of the ball, Badfish pitching and defense kept the Warriors at bay, as they could manage only one runner past second base after the first inning. The route was on, and the Badfish took game two 17-0.

It all came down to Game Three, four days later.

Thing started slowly for both teams in the decisive game three. In the top of the first, the Warriors had runners on first and third with two outs, but a pop out allowed the‘Fish’ to escape the jam. The Badfish also put two men on in the bottom of the inning, but were unable to bring any runs home. The teams would manage only one more hit each through the next two innings. In the top of the fourth, back-to-back errors by the Badfish put Warriorrunners on first and third with one out, but a 4-6-3 double play ended the inning. Then in the bottom of the fourth the Badfish finally broke through. Three hits to start the inning and a clutch bases-loaded two-out single allowed the Badfish to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Another two-out single in the bottom of the fifth brought home another two runs, and a solo home run in the sixth plated another. Meanwhile, the Warrior bats were stifled by Badfish pitching, striking out seven times in three innings alone, allowing the ‘Fish to climb to a 7-0 advantage at the end of the seventh. Then in the eighth the Warriors started climbing back. They put two men on with one out, but could only bring across one run, and they would get no closer. The Badfish took Game Three 8-1, and with it the team’s first-ever Championship!