2017 Red Sox Sweep Bulls in Championship Series for Atlanta MSBL 30+ Crown

Atlanta MSBL 30+ National Division

Atlanta Red Sox 4, Bulls 2

‘Red Sox Post 15 Win Regular Season, Sweep Playoffs’

Submitted by Cliff Dittmore, Red Sox manager

What a summer it was for the Red Sox – 2017 30+ National League Champions. The Red Sox swept the Bulls in the championship series, winning the first two games in a two out of three series.

We had come up just short over the years, appearing in the championship series the last two years, only to lose in the third and deciding game both times.

Coming into 2017 we kept our core group intact, and added four new players. We carried 16 players on our roster, all of which played in at least 10 games, so that helped keep everyone fresh and we avoided any major injuries. Over our 18-game regular season, as a team we batted .409 and averaged over 12 runs a game. We had three hitters bat over .500 for the season – Dustin Smith, Chris Evers and Cliff Dittmore.

We also had solid pitching, which kept us in games throughout the season. Four pitchers finished with 3+ wins – Brent Sasser, Mike Richards, Chris Evers and Jeff Burns.

We finished the regular season 15-2-1. Going into the playoffs as the top seed, we dominated the Brewers in the semi-finals, sweeping them 18-0 and 18-2. The Bulls beat the Mets two out of three in the other semi-final series setting up a matchup with our rivals. The Bulls were responsible for one of our losses and a tie during the regular season.

In the first game of the championship series, we beat the Bulls 13-2. Chris Evers pitched a complete game, giving up just two runs on nine hits and striking out five batters. The hard throwing lefty mixed in a lot of change-ups and breaking balls to keep the Bulls hitters off balance. The offense was highlighted by Dustin Smith and Tom Nohstadt each hitting 2-run blasts to left. It was Dustin’s second homer of the playoffs.

The second game, was very well pitched on both sides but we prevailed 4-2. We got on the board first with two runs in the top half of the first, then adding one each in the fourth and fifth innings. Mike Richards pitched another complete game, with a very similar line to Evers giving up just two runs on eight hits and striking out five. The key moment of the game was when Richards pitched his way out of a jam in the sixth with bases loaded and only one out. He got a strike out and a fly out to end the threat.

Our team is made up of an excellent group of ballplayers that always picked each other up. This team seemed to truly click on and off the field. We all enjoyed hanging out together for rehydration after each game, which became known for some good laughs and usually ended up with someone picking up a new nickname.

We’re already looking forward to another season and trying to defend our championship in 2018!