2015 Scorpions Sting Road Runners for 45+ Crown in Red River (LA)

Red River (LA) Adult Baseball League 45+ Division

Shreveport Scorpions 6, Ruston Road Runners 5

‘MVP Pearce Boasts .667 Average for Year’

Contributed by David Pratt, league President

The inaugural 45+ Division Red River Adult Baseball League Championship saw three established teams battle for bragging rights over a brand new age division title. 2015 marked the first season for the newly established 45+ division. During the regular season, parity seemed to be the most notable bi-product of the recently developed division, and it continued throughout the playoffs. The Shreveport Scorpions won the division, but played several close contests along the way. The Elysian Hawks and the Ruston Road Runners finished second and third, respectively, with the Hawks nabbing the higher seed by one game.Elysian Fields and Ruston squared off in the semi-final the night before the championship game with a trip to the finals on the line. The Scorpions earned a bye and awaited their opponent. Ruston emerged victorious with an 11-5 win over the Hawks and hoped to carry their momentum over into the title contest.

The Road Runners did start solidly in the championship, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Ed Buckley singled home Greg Cole, who had singled and stolen second base. Buckley later scored on Greg Martin’s hit. However, the Scorpions answered in the bottom of the frame when two hit batters, a single, and a double by Brian Harvey added up to three runs and the lead.

Trailing 3-2, Ruston benefitted from another hit and stolen base by Cole, along with a RBI triple from David Duhon and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Buckley to retake the lead, 4-3, in the third inning. Still clinging to a one-run advantage at 5-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Road Runners were looking for six more outs to complete the upset of the Scorpions.

Shreveport would not go down easy, and the Scorpions would tie the game in the home half of the eighth inning when Keith Bass drew a walk, stole second, advanced to third on the errant throw, and score on a wild pitch. Ruston did not score in the ninth, setting up a dramatic finish in the bottom of the ninth inning.

After two quick outs and extra innings looking like a certainty, Paul Robinson singled to keep hope alive for Shreveport. Zemeron Vance pinch ran for Robinson and immediately stole second base on the first pitch. The second pitch short-hopped the plate and bounded about the backstop sending Vance to third, but when Vance noticed the catcher was still chasing the ball down, he took off for home and scored to win the game.

Patrick Pearce, Harvey and Robinson all finished with two hits to lead the Scorpions’ offense. Bobby Malmay earned the win on the hill, tossing five innings in relief, allowing only one unearned run on six hits, one walk, and two strikeouts.

The Road Runners outhit their opponent 13-7, but they suffered a tough blow when Cole, who had singled and stolen a base in both his first two at-bats, left the game early with a leg injury. Richard Morrison also had two hits in the game while Duhon and Mike Shanley each collected three hits in the loss. Duhon went the distance on the mound, surrendering six runs, four earned, over his nine innings of work.

Pearce was named the championship team Most Valuable Player. He batted .667 on the season with three doubles, two triples, and a home run to go with 11 runs scored and 13 RBI in seven games. The Scorpions’ manager is Max Hahnel.