2015 Falls Church Cardinals Win First DC MSBL 35+ Title
DC MSBL/MABL 35+ ‘B’ Division
Falls Church Cardinals 16, Kapital City Royals 1
’35+ Falls Church Cardinals win 1st DC MSBL Championship’
Contributed by David Smith, Cardinals manager
The Falls Church Cardinals defeated the Kapital City Royals in three games to win the 35+ B Crown in the DC MSBL/MABL. The epic game was the first one, which took 12 innings and two nights to decide. The undisputed star for the Cardinals was 5’9”, 150 lb Dave Lawson who ended up pitching all 12 innings. Lang Gibson caught all 12, working well with Dave to keep the Royals just enough off balance. Lawson was supported by a stellar defense. An incredible outfield of Tim Steffan, Wade Little and Dave Izawa made outstanding catches of hard-hit Royal baseballs. The infield of Dan Pototsky (1b), Joel Rubin (2b), and Eric “Jake” Jacobson was equally amazing, with Rod and Joel flawlessly handling 22 chances, one of them Joel fielding a short hop smash while on his back!
The Cards were winning 6-5 in the eighth when after making game saving catch in the gap near the warning track, center fielder Wade Little had his sights set on an easier fly when he pulled his hammy and went down in a heap. Tie game. Both teams had chances but no runs were scored and the game halted after 11 innings with the score tied 6-6. The game was continued the next date. Picking up the game in top of 12th, the Royals finally solved Lawson, pushing across a pair. Then in the bottom of the inning the bases were loaded for Paul Linnell, who ripped a hot smash into right field to tie the game. Up comes Dan Pototsky who singles in the walk off run!
For the second game, the Royals continued their sudden solving of Dave Lawson and plated four in the first inning. Tim O’Brien replaced Lawson and kept the Cardinals close until a six-run seventh put the game out of reach for 13-1 Royal win. The deciding game was set for Monday, except weather intervened forcing a delay to Tuesday. The extra day proved beneficial to the Cards and Dave Lawson, as he was ready to pitch again.
In the deciding game the Royals lead-off man started by singling, but was immediately thrown out attempting to steal by our backup catcher, Bill Murphy. In the second inning, bases were loaded for the Cards just in time for the late-arriving Steve Payne to tie his shoes, grip a bat, and rip a double to center. The lead for the Cardinals was soon 3-0. Each inning the Cardinals slowly built their lead, while the Royals were stymied by our defense. Whenever they mounted a threat, a double play would kill it. The Cards made four double plays and Lawson had no K’s, so all plays were made in the field. Finally, four runs in the seventh and eighth innings ended the game with a 16-1 score.
The hitting stars were Steve Payne(4-4), Tim Sheridan (3-3) and Bill Murphy (with a bases-loaded 2b). MVP honors went to right-handed pitcher Dave Lawson, who pitched throughout with a broken left thumb while hurling 21 innings to lead the Cardinals to their first Championship. Props also to 66 yr old (dashing?) Tim O’Brien, who tossed two complete games to propel the Cards to the Championship! Kudos to all 18 Cardinals who appeared in the three game set, as only five could appear in all three (we used three different managers – thanks to Dean Hirakawa and Dave Izawa). Steve Head was at all games in his walking boot to root, and Wade Little came to cheer in the last two with his hammy wrapped tighter than a Christmas present!