2022 Diamondbacks Outlast Braves 10-9 for 18+ Division Championship at Terre Haute MSBL
Terre Haute MSBL, 18+ Division
Diamondbacks 10, Braves 9
‘Rogers and Buescher Lead the Hit Parade’
Submitted by Cody Richardson, D’Backs manager
We had a great season! It was a long one but a good one. The Diamondbacks are made up of players from Terre Haute and Sullivan, Indiana, as well as Paris, Marshall, and Charleston, Illinois.
Our season started off slow but we started to gel as it went on. We finished the season at 3-7 and were the #4 seed to begin the playoffs. In the first round played at Indiana State University, we beat the #1 seeded Terre Haute Teeth, 11-1. Leading that game was KJ Rogers, who pitched seven innings with no earned runs and also hit a 3-run homer at the plate. Will Adams and I went 3-4 at the plate to help lead the Diamondbacks in round one.
The championship game was a good one. We played the #2 seeded Braves, who we had lost to three times prior. To start, both teams scored a run in the first inning. Then, the Braves took a 5-1 lead through three innings. After the fifth, we had tied it up at five, only to be trailing 9-5 after seven innings. We then scored three in the seventh and tied it at nine in the top of the eighth.
A clutch double-play on a hit-and-run saved a run in the bottom of the eighth and we went to the ninth tied, 9-9. We scored one in the top of the inning and stranded the bases loaded, but held the Braves hitless in the final frame to secure the win and start the celebration.
The Diamondbacks were led by Seth Higgins on the mound, throwing the final seven innings of the game. KJ Rogers went 4-5 at the plate with two home runs and five RBI. Luke Buescher went 5-5 at the plate with four singles, a double, and two RBI. Father-Son duo Karson and Michael Martin made tremendous plays in the field to hold the Braves in check.
The Diamondbacks’ season was very up and down, but by the end of the year, we were playing solid defense and relying on big hitters to get the job done at the plate. It was a fun season, and I was very happy to take home the championship in my first year as manager of the D-Backs!