2022 45+ American

Sacramento Capitals 12, Willamette Valley Hops 2

‘Fisher Throws 18 Innings in Playoffs to Secure Title’

Submitted by Scott Scardina, Capitals manager

The 2022 Desert Classic in Palm Springs started out with some hard hits for our Sacramento Capitals and I am not talking on the field but to the roster. The COVID virus took out two main pitchers one day before the tournament started. Then during game two one of our big arms (Tim Lindsey) dislocated his left elbow during a collision at first base.  I thought that we were finished. The team persevered and behind the remaining pitchers, there were only four errors committed throughout the tournament.

We were led by the team’s #4 hitter, Blain Grantham, who put on a hitting clinic, including a grand slam homer. The team’s leadoff hitter Scott Spanner also hit everything that was thrown his way. Once the team made the playoffs it was decision time on whether to pitch our ace in the semi-final game or roll the dice and hold off for a possible championship game. It was an easy decision once we saw the Cubs were our competition. The Capitals and Cubs went head-to-head in a similar fashion during the Woodland tournament and I knew it was going to be a hard-fought game so I went with our ace, Lou Fisher.

Lou threw a gem of a game in the semis, only allowing one earned run in nine innings pitched. Our next game was for all the marbles, but who to throw? All of our pitchers left on the bench had already thrown at least nine innings and I threw 12 during pool play. The Capital’s ace stepped up and said to keep him rolling until his arm fell off. This was the first time in Lou’s career that he threw 18 innings straight. Catching both games to a team championship was Sam Calagna. Overall, this was a great team effort, with strong hitting and fielding with all players having a can-do attitude.