2017 Braves Make It Five in a Row in 45+ Division of Indiana Baseball League

Indiana Baseball League, 45+ Division

Braves 8, Indians 0

Front row L-R: Steve Sandman, Scott Golden, Todd Fuller, Matt Brown, manager Mike Fisher, John Smith, Greg Rubeo. Back row L-R: John Gordon, Ray Starnes, Brett Behler, Kevin Kluemper, Keith Oehlman, Kevin Dotson. Not in photo: Brian Wolff and Brett Dennemann

‘Braves Make it Five Titles in a Row’

Submitted by Mike Fisher, Braves manager

The 45-plus Braves of the Indianapolis area of the Indiana Baseball League won their fifth championship in a row. We finished first in our division with a 12-2 record for the season. We defeated the Indians in the championship game 8-0 on a beautiful fall night for baseball on October 2, 2017.

We got outstanding shutout pitching by our starter Kevin Kluemper for the first five innings and the last four innings by Keith Oehlman. Keith also got us started in scoring with getting a 2-out, 2-strike hit to score two in the bottom of the fourth inning. Matt Brown had a great hit to score Ray Starnes, who got on with a great bunt and was advanced to second by Mike Fisher.

Kluemper also had a double with the bases loaded to score three to cap off his 3-hit, 4-RBI night. Scott Golden had great base running to score three runs. John Smith was walked three times intentionally and ended up scoring two times after the walks. Steve Sandman provided his usual great plays in center field and contributed with an RBI in the eighth. We also had good catching by Todd Fuller and good play at second by Kevin Dotson, as well as at first by Brett Behler, with John Gordon contributing another solid performance at the plate. This was our fifth championship in a row and capped of another great season by the Braves.