2022 65+ Central

Puget Sound Mariners 10, Dragons 3

‘Mariners Go Back-to-Back is 65s’

Submitted by Tom Evans Krause, Mariners’ manager

The Puget Sound Mariners won back-to-back World Series titles while claiming their first-ever 65 & Over MSBL Central Division title in 2022.  The Seattle-based team scored a 10-3 victory over the Dragons in the Central Division championship contest at the Salt River Fields complex.  The M’s took 65+ Cactus Division honors in 2021.

The Mariners lost to the Dragons earlier in the week during the Round Robin in an 18-15 shootout, so the re-match was expected to be anybody’s game to win.

As predicted, the title tussle was very close for the first seven innings, with the Mariners holding a narrow 4-3 lead.  The Mariners pushed across two runs on four hits in the top of the eighth.  Building on a 6-3 lead, the M’s took advantage of several hits, walks, and Dragons’ miscues to add four more tallies in the ninth.

Rick Filush was masterful on the mound picking up the win for the Mariners in a complete-game effort.  He scattered eight Dragons hits while striking out two.  Filush finished the week 1-1 with a 2.60 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP.

Offensive stars for the Mariners in the title game included Wayne Ottum, who went 2-4 with a Sac Fly, three RBI, and two stolen bases, Lonnie Bloom, 3-5 with one Run, Wes Lewis, 2-4, one walk and two RBI, and Rocky Nordness, 1-3, two walks, two stolen bases, and three runs scored.

Nordness and Filush were named Co-Most Valuable Players for the week.  Offensively Nordness produced a slash line of .480/.581/.720.  In addition to his prowess at the plate, Nordness went 2-0 on the mound with a 1.29 ERA and 1.07 WHIP.  In addition to his great work on the bump, Filush added to the cause on offense with a .450/.538/.650 slash line. 

Other major contributors for the Mariners included Sam Ceci, who hit .542, and Randy May at .471.  Glenn Kost provided more support with a .412 average along with Craig Armstrong who hit .375 for the week.