2022 Montebello Angels Hold Off Sox for 45+ National Division Crown at ‘Beat the Heat’ Labor Day Classic
2022 ‘Beat the Heat’ 45+ National Division
Montebello Angels 6, OC Sox 4
Submitted by Robert Oskin, Angel’s manager
The MSBL Beat the Heat tournament lived up to its name as temperatures soared above 100 degrees all weekend!
The Angels had a complete team effort by going 4-0 and defeating the OC Sox in a great championship game by a score of 6-4.
In the Championship Game, the Angels faced a formidable opponent in the OC Sox as both teams are very familiar with each other and thus it had the making of a fantastic championship game. I called on our big game lefty Bobby Yanez to toe the rubber for us.
The Sox jumped ahead 2-0 after two innings but in the third, the Angels answered with a run to make it 2-1. The game remained tight until the fifth inning thanks to some spectacular defensive plays from the Sox. Then both teams scored two runs apiece in the fifth inning to make it 4-3 Sox. But in the sixth inning, the Angels capitalized on a key error and with some clutch hitting to score three runs to make it 6-4 Angels. That would be all the run support Yanez would need to throw a complete game for the Montebello Angels Championship Victory.
The Angels played a great weekend of baseball with outstanding pitching from Tony Cabrera and Steve Connally who combined to throw all three round-robin games which was just incredible with the temperature being above 100+ both days.
Offensively the Angels were firing on all cylinders throughout the lineup, but standout hitters for the weekend were Louie Gonzalez, Moe Morales, Sergio Alvarado, Kenny Lumpkin, Eddie Nava, and Frank Rodriguez. They were the hot hitters for us all weekend.
The Core of the Montebello Angels have been playing together for over 15 years and they have become a family more than just a baseball team. That is the main reason for our continued success. Our team will is super competitive especially, with the banter with each other, but at the end of it all, we want to succeed and win or lose as a team. Luckily, we have celebrated more wins than losses!