2016 Braves Make It Four Consecutive Titles in 45+ Division of Indiana MSBL

Indiana MSBL 45+ Division

Braves 12, Indians 2

Front row left to right: Todd Fuller, Greg Rubeo, Kevin Chaffee, John Smith, Don Pollard, Scott Golden, Mike Fisher. Back row left to right: Steve Sandman, Ray Starnes, Joe Striewe, Dave Gandolph, Don Connelly, Keith Oehlman, Brian Wolff, Matt Boyd, Steve Brodie, Kevin Dotson.

‘Braves Outlast Indians in Battle of Tribes’

Submitted by Mike Fisher, Braves manager

Mission accomplished. On the crisp fall night of September 26th the Braves defeated the Indians 12-2 to win the 45-over Indianapolis MSBL league championship. The Braves went undefeated for the second season winning their fourth consecutive championship. We went 15-0 for the year. The Braves have now won 35 games in a row over the last three seasons.

The Indians gave us a great game earlier in the year. The Indians were ahead of the Braves 5-1 in the seventh inning when John Smith hit a grand slam in the seventh to tie the game. John then hit a 2-run double in the ninth with two strikes to win the game for us.

In the championship game we got the lead early by scoring six runs in the bottom of the first inning. We ending up winning the championship game 12-2 behind strong pitching from Keith Oehlman and Kevin Dotson. Keith Oehlman started and went five innings giving up only one run with five strikeouts. Kevin Dotson closed it out giving up only one run over the remaining four innings.

We had strong play by multiple players. Scott Golden started the game off with a long battle at the plate as leadoff hitter in the first inning. Scott fouled off multiple pitches with two strikes and finally drew a walk to start us off, which was the start of the 6-run first inning. John Smith had three hits including a double with two RBI. Don Pollard contributed three hits with a double and an RBI.

In addition to a great pitching performance, Keith Oehlman had two hits with a triple, two walks, and three runs scored. Steve Sandman had two hits, Brian Wolff had two hits and two RBI and of course was a vacuum cleaner at first base. All year he was a main stay at first base.

Todd Fuller caught all nine innings behind the plate. He was our iron man as catcher throughout the season especially on those hot summer nights. All in all it was a great season. Great players made my job as manager much easier. We look forward to 2017 and to letting the streak continue.