2015 Outlaws Squeak by Giants for 21+ Title in Red River (LA)
Red River (LA) Adult Baseball League 21+ Division
Elysian Outlaws 4, Twin City Giants 3
‘MVP Struwe Leads the Way on the Bump’
Contributed by David Pratt, league President
The 21+ Division Championship Tournament for the 2015 Red River Adult Baseball League was very entertaining and tightly contested. The top six teams participated in the two-day event, with the top two seeds (#1 Elysian Outlaws & #2 Monroe Mudbugs) earning opening round byes as a result of their strong efforts during the regular season.
Four teams played in two Saturday morning games to determine who would face the top two seeds in the semi-finals that evening. When the dust settled, the third-seeded Twin City Giants advanced to face the Mudbugs and the fifth-seeded Barksdale Bombers were tasked with tackling the Outlaws. The Giants upended the Mudbugs, 9-2, and the Outlaws held the Bombers scoreless with a 3-0 victory to set up the title game match-up on Sunday.
The Giants, playing in their first-ever RRABL finals, had reeled off six straight victories and were playing their best baseball of the season when it counted most. Twin City was 3-10 in their inaugural 2014 campaign, but entered into the championship in 2015 with an impressive 10-6 record, which included two wins over the second place Mudbugs.
The Outlaws had finished the regular season with a 13-1 mark, their lone blemish being a forfeit due to the unavailability of many of their players for that particular game. The squad from Elysian Fields soared through the season, scoring 132 runs and allowing only 14, for a differential of 118 runs. The Outlaws were in search of their fifth RRABL title in franchise history, but the Giants had been their toughest games during the year, scoring nine of the 14 runs the Outlaws had allowed.
The championship contest was a pitcher’s duel from the beginning, pitting the top pick in the 2015 RRABL draft, newcomer Riley Spencer of the Giants, against the veteran league MVP Sean Struwe of the Outlaws. Both would battle inning after inning, tossing complete games in the process.
Elysian Fields broke through on offense first when JayDon Day’s two-out single with the
bases loaded in the second inning plated all three runners. Day’s hit would have most likely scored both Casey Huntsinger and Timmy Chhor, but the Giants’ left fielder misplayed the ball while charging hard in an attempt to gun down the second runner. As a result, the ball rolled to the fence, allowing Struwe to score as well.
Twin City pecked away at the 3-0 Outlaw lead with single runs in three consecutive frames. Codey Knowles singled to lead off the third inning and promptly stole second and third. He later scored on a ground out by Spencer. In the fourth, Ryan Williamson singled and scored when Michael Welch singled and both runners advanced on a throwing error. The Giants tied the game in the fifth inning, again taking advantage of an Outlaws’ error. Chris Oki’s grounder could have been a double play, but the return throw to first sailed wide and into the dugout, allowing Oki to advance to second. He scored two batters later on Justin Ivey’s single.
With the game still knotted at 3-3, Brandon Goswick led off the home half of the seventh inning for the Outlaws with what should have been a double. However, the relay throw from the outfielder missed the cut off man and Goswick alertly took third base. David Pratt followed with an RBI grounder to put Elysian Fields on top for good, 4-3. Struwe closed out the game, sitting down the final seven consecutive batters, striking out the final three in the ninth.
Struwe was chosen as the championship team Most Valuable Player. The lefty finished the season a perfect 7-0 with an ERA of 0.41 with 52 strikeouts in 44 innings to go with three complete games. He also sported a .375 batting average for the year. The Outlaws’ manager is Tony Lamothe.