2023 75+ American
Mudville9 5, Cambria 4
‘Workhorse Riell Shuts Down Cambria on the Bump’
Submitted by Steve Faigin, Mudville9 manager
It was the Mudville9’s first year playing 75’s, as we have been exclusively in the 70’s and 73’s for a few years. This year we had teams in all three 70+ divisions.
It was touch and go with player numbers for a while but we finally got to a good-sized roster. We had the combination of many long-term MSBL World Series participants and a few new faces, but the team got a real boost when long-time MSBL World Series player CJ ‘Heater’ Heatley was able to join the team. Without going into details, Heater has several serious medical issues and was originally not planning on attending. But thankfully, three weeks before the tourney began, he decided he could make it, though he had no idea how much, if any, he would be able to contribute.
But contribute he did! Overall, Heater had 15 hits, one double, nine runs scored, and was the leading hitter on the team!
The Mudville9 75’s had a record of 5-1, losing only to the National Division Sacramento Solons.
We had players from different parts of the country, with a concentration in Chicago and Arizona. One local player, pitcher Les Riell, really stood out as he pitched 32.2 innings, amassing a 4-1 record with an era of 3.31. That was an amazing performance. He pitched the championship game against Cambria, going all nine innings, allowing only one earned run, with two strikeouts, and gave up only one walk.
It was an exciting and close championship game. Besides Les’ pitching, we had clutch hitting from MSBL veterans Steve Obert and Billy Smith, who each had three hits. Also, with two hits each was Tony Cabrera, Dan Doleshal, CJ ‘Heater’ Heatley, and Bob Wengert.
Other contributions for the week included Billy Smith, who pitched eight innings and gave up NO earned runs with a record of 1-0. Billy also batted .519 with 14 hits, three of which were doubles, and played a great second base all week. Steve Obert and Bob Wengert had 13 hits each, while Terry Patnode contributed 12 hits and seven RBI. Kenny Overton wound up with eight hits, including two doubles and one triple, as well as leading the team with 12 RBI.
Rick Gordon and Dan Doleshal had six hits each, with Dan having four doubles, one triple, and six RBI. Perry Tasky was 3 for 3 with an OBP of 1.000 as he also drew three walks. Bob Wolf played a great shortstop and Joel Rovner played a great center field and was our fastest runner when it counted. Dave Schultz was 3 for 5 with a walk, and an OBP of .667 while helping out at second base.
Overall, the team played great defense!