2020 45+ National

2020 45+ National

East Coast Cardinals 5, Carolina Pirates 4

‘Cardinals Capture Fifth Title in Pat Seven Years’

Submitted by Ralph Proulx

The Cardinals went 5-0 in pool play and outscored their opponents by 70+ runs. Behind great pitching and defense all week the Cardinal offense was sparked by Joe Ferrando, Matt Branz, Fred Falkowski and Larry Hingle, to name a few.

In the semifinals the Cardinals squared off against the New York Isotopes. Behind a complete game pitching of former Big leaguer Rusty Meacham and his battery mate Jim Lacki, the Cardinals moved past the Isotopes by a score of 15-4.

Both the Carolina Pirates and the East Coast Cardinals were undefeated going into the Championship final. The Cardinals had a 5-2 lead when the Pirates scored two runs to bring the game within one run. Former pro Eddie Aucoin pitched a complete game. With the tying run on third Aucoin was able to get the Pirate batter to chase a pitch and pop out to first baseman and co-tournament MVP Larry Hingle.

Larry Hingle shared the tournament MVP with long time East Coast Cardinals coach Steve Garrett.  “What a performance by each man on this team,” stated manager David Hash.  “Every player performed above expectations when called upon. I believe this is the very best 45+ EC Cardinals team we’ve ever assembled.”