2019 Twin City Giants Take 18+ Title in Red River (LA) in Skipper Mitchell’s Final Season
Red River Adult Baseball League, 18+ Division
Twin City Giants 3, Elysian Fields Rangers 2
‘Team Founder and Skipper Mitchell Retires on Top’
By David Mitchell, Giants manager
My team story is pretty easy to tell. I started this team in 2014. Our first year in the league we only won three games. That was a learning experience for me and the guys.
Our second year we turned things around and finished second place in the league championship tournament winning our first trophy. Well, 2016 2017 and 2018 all ended with second place trophies. So, for four years straight this team has been in the final championship game at the end of the season and came away shorthanded each year. Needless to say, second place was getting frustrating.
This year was going to be different. The league changed the age limit in which players could join, so that opened up a whole new market. We picked up some young players that are very talented. This allowed us to add young arms to the mound and gave use a nice variety in pitchers available from week to week. Every game was carefully thought out and we ended up having a great season with a record of 14 wins one loss and one tie. I still don’t agree with a tie but that’s life.
At the end of the season we found ourselves, once again, in the finals. However, this year was different. We had home field advantage and had beaten the other team in two previous games. The championship game would end no different, winning 3-2 in an amazing nine inning show down with the team we had lost to four years in a row previously. I guess it was our year. We finally won the big trophy.
After the game Luke Squyres was recognized as the 2019 season MVP for his contributions to the team both on and off the field. I gave the championship trophy to the game winning pitcher, Codey Knowles, which happened to be the longest standing member of the Twin City Giants aside from myself. I then announced to the team that I was retiring from baseball for good. I finished 32 years in baseball with a 26-5-2 record over my last two seasons of managing and couldn’t be happier to leave the game on top.