2015 Oaks Squeak Past Reds in 25+ Championship in Mid-Iowa
Mid-Iowa Baseball League 25+ Division
Iowa Oaks 2, Reds 0
‘McPherson Shuts Down the Big Red Machine’
Submitted by Joe Smith, Iowa Oaks coach
It was a trying season for the Iowa Oaks from the 25-over division of the Mid-Iowa Baseball League in Des Moines. We battled through injuries and rain all summer but got outstanding pitching the whole year and went into the year-end tournament with the number one seed. It would prove to be no easy road, as we were forced to defeat long-time rivals the Monarchs in the semi-finals. Again pitching would carry us through, as starter Eric Watson would throw a complete game, three-hit shutout to give us a 2-0 win. That meant squaring off against the Reds in the championship for the second straight season.
Pitching again would have to carry us through as the offense never got on track. Jason McPherson was up to the task, however, and dealt a two-hit complete game shutout and we won 2-0 for the second straight game giving us the tournament championship. Jason went 8-0 for us this season on the hill with an era of 1.25 and a whip of .91. To top that off he pitched complete game wins in both the 18 and 25 and over championships in our league. The amazing thing about all of this is the guy is 45 years old!
He is a hard throwing lefty with crazy movement on all his pitches. The icing on the cake is he is a quiet, humble guy who praises his teammates. After every inning he waits for every defender to come off field and shakes their hand before he sits down. He is an awesome pitcher and an even better man
Offensively Steve Bieghler was 3 for 4 in the championship game and played a shut-down center field.
I would also like to extend a special thanks to Commissioner John Linden and everything he does to make our league as successful as it has been. His position rarely gets thanks and routinely is given grief so I would just like to say thank you to him and the rest of the board for providing us all with the opportunity to play the game we love.-Joe Smith