2017 35+ Cactus Consolation
Portland Mets 12, Sacramento White Sox 0
‘Lyman Throws Shutout, Shines All Week’
By Jason Johnson, special to MSBL
October 21, 2017, Hohokam Stadium, Mesa, Az – Solid defense and a strong outing from starting pitcher Greg Lyman led the Portland Mets to a 12-0 victory over the Sacramento White Sox in the 35 Cactus Division consolation game. The Mets out hit the White Sox 15-4 and turned three double plays shutting down hopes of White Sox rally.
“We got a helluva pitching performance from Greg Lyman who did it all week for us,” said Mets manager John Santiago. “He did pretty well and our bats were stellar again. We enjoyed it and it was a good team win.”
In the bottom of the first inning Brian Ferrell got things going for the Mets when he lined a two-out double to left field driving in Jeremy Roulin from first. From that point on the Mets offense would get into a groove scoring in every inning except the second and sixth.
“Our offense has been great for us all tournament and today was no different,” said Santiago. “We even scored 27 runs in a couple of games earlier in the tournament. Everybody contributed, everybody got in and everybody got an at bat so it’s all good.”
With two runners on in the third inning Roulin laced a double plating Santiago and Sean Fennell. Sean McGovern followed that with a two out double to drive in Roulin giving Lyman a four-run cushion allowing him to settle in and go to work.
Sacramento struggled to get their offense going and didn’t get a man in scoring position until Warren Alston led off the top of the fourth inning with a triple. The Mets brought their infield in and Lyman was able to get Skye Ropke to ground out to the shortstop, Charles Loseth to line out and Pete Petzing to ground out to get out of the inning unscathed.
Over the next five innings the Mets turned three double plays to quell any chance of a White Sox rally.
“Lyman has been so consistent for us throughout the year, even in our Portland league,”
said Santiago. “He’s good for seven, eight or nine innings and is going to throw a lot of strikes. There isn’t a lot of good contact made on his pitches which goes to show how hard he works and where his accuracy comes into play.”
The Mets would continue to put crooked numbers on the scoreboard in the fourth, fifth and eighth innings led by Sean McGovern and Marco Nguyen who each scored two runs.
Despite not getting to the championship game, the Mets relished the opportunity to travel to Arizona to play on the same fields as the big leaguers. Having an opportunity to play out their dreams is what makes the experience all the worthwhile.
“The experience of playing here is awesome,” said Santiago. “For us it’s about getting the opportunity to play on these types of fields and the competition is great. Every team really has an opportunity to win.”
Pool Play
During pool play the White Sox played to a 2-4 record. Gary Arlitz had two clutch hits in pool play to help get the White Sox to their two victories. In addition to Arlitz, Charles Loseth and Skye Ropke helped lead the Sox offensively while Justin Boyer led by example with his glove.
The Mets went 3-3 in pool play. Their toughest loss came against the Chandler Bats where the Mets struggled to string together hits and left too many runners on base in what Santiago felt was the deciding game for them.
Semifinals
The White Sox defeated the Nor Cal Knights in a slugfest 19-12 with pitcher Richard Campbell earning the victory.
In the semifinals the Mets defeated the Elevated Athletics8-4 behind a strong pitching performance from Jason Schlenker.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Sacramento White Sox 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4
Portland Mets 1 0 3 3 2 0 1 2 X 12 15 0
Pitching Line:
WP: Lyman LP: Spanner
2B: Ferrell (PM), Mayer (PM), Roulin (PM), McGovern (PM), Lort (PM)
3B: Nguyen (PM), Alston (SWS)
Leading Hitters: Mets – Santiago 2×5, RBI, R; Roulin 1×4, 2R, 2RBI; Lort 2×3, R. White Sox – Alston 1×3; Loseth 1×3.
SF: Mooney (PM)
CS: Santiago (PM)
Team LOB: Mets 11, White Sox 4
Time of Game: 2:16