2018 Bay Area Brewers Capture First Championship Since 2011 in Sweep Over A’s
Bay Area MSBL, 30+ Division
Brewers 9, A’s 5
‘Ironman Sechler Throws Championship Victory’
Submitted by Keith Perry, Bay Area Brewers
In the 2018 summer season of the Bay Area MSBL the Brewers claimed the Championship in the 30+ division. The Brewers are a long standing team in the BAMSBL with several players having spent more than 15 years on the same team and in some cases even longer in the league overall. This is a point of pride for the veteran team as they continue to compete in the 30+ division with four players over the age of 50, and eight over 40. With a sprinkling of fresh blood and legs this year, the Brewers found the magic recipe to win the championship for the first time since their back-to-back championships of 2010 and 2011.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Brewers took on the White Sox and defeated them in a high scoring game with a final of 12-10. In the second round, the Brewers beat the Mustachios, a team that had given the Brewers trouble all season, by a score of 11-8.
In the best two of three championship round the Brewers faced off against their longtime rivals, the A’s. The Brewers and A’s have engaged in some epic playoff battles in the past including one extra inning 1-0 affair that ended with a walk off homer in the 11th by the A’s. Looking to avenge that, and other losses, the Brewers did not get off to a great start. The A’s looked to be headed to a first game victory with a 5-1 lead in the seventh inning of game one. The Brewers hung tough and launched a spirited comeback with several clutch hits, the most important by Russ Lamson and Walt Morton. Russ’s rbi hit came with two outs in the top of the ninth to tie the score when the A’s were only one out away from winning game one. Walt followed that with a hit of his own to put the Brewers ahead for good. After surviving the bottom of the ninth the Brewers came away with a 10-9 victory and a one game to none lead.
With a game one “W” in the book, the Brewers came out banging early in game two. Jacob Lerman, fresh off a paternity leave lasting several weeks, showed no rust whatsoever in launching a home run in his first at bat. With two more home runs, one each by Cameron Fox and Rich Adao, the Brewers stretched their lead and then rode the right arm of ace John Sechler the rest of the way to a 9-5 win and the championship.
John threw every inning of every post-season game for the Brewers. Combined with his regular season workload, John totaled 149 innings on the season. There was only one other pitcher in the league who totaled as much as half that many innings. Let me share that John is 53 and still one of the best pitchers in the 30+ division! Sean Pagee anchored the other end of the Brewers battery as the best catcher in the league and you have a very tough combination. Sean was also second in the league in rbi.
On the season as a whole, the Brewers were led offensively by Nate Pautin who nearly captured a team triple
crown by leading the team in batting average at .458, rbi with 24, and falling one homer shy of the team lead with Keith Perry and Gary Ayers, leading the team with three each for the season. Nate also led the league in runs scored and rbi. As a team the Brewers hit a robust .363 to go along with their season long strong pitching. Karl Maier had two home runs in the playoffs along with playing every position on the diamond except catcher and right field throughout the season. With contributions from so many players and an all-around great group of guys, the Brewers had one of their more memorable seasons in recent history. Other notable Brewers team season stats: We led the league in: 2B(67); HR(22); Runs(255); HBP(35); BB(35) and RBI(215).
A note from teammate John Sechler: In closing, the Brewers want to specifically acknowledge the author of this Season Recap, 2018 Brewers Coach/Manager and Kangaroo Court Ruler, Keith Perry. Keith was recently diagnosed with Lung Cancer. Keith was unable to play in our final game but was there to coach/manage and enjoy the Championship with the team and did an amazing job writing this recap. Keith is currently scheduled for surgery to remove the golf ball sized tumor and we all expect that he will be back to play with the Brewers for the 2019 season.
The point of including this with our season recap is that cancer doesn’t discriminate – it affects all of us. As Keith warned us all recently, “if you have a persistent cough, go get it checked out”.
Please keep Keith and his family (wife Heather and daughters Shannon and Sarah-Jo) in your thoughts. The MSBL is a big baseball family and I know we all look after each other!