2023 Paige Dumont, Derek Delatorre, Andy Weber, and Ben Sturtevant Lead the Way as the Giants Capture their Fourth Title of the R.E.B.L. Continental League 35+ Division
Redwood Empire Baseball League, 35+ Continental Division
Giants 6, Pirates 5 (Game three in best-of-three championship series)
By Colby Phelps, Giants manager
October 1, 2023 – The 35+ Continental League Playoffs in the Redwood Empire Baseball League in Napa and Sonoma Counties, California, featured 3 former champions in the Pirates, Giants, Tigers and the upstart Reds. The 35+ Continental League expanded to 8 teams in 2023 under the leadership of outstanding League Commissioner Rick Cantor. The Playoff Rounds are configured with a 1st Round and then a Championship Round, each matchup a best of 3 games series. And now, after a special 21 game schedule, these 4 teams have arrived in the Playoff Rounds, firing on all cylinders.
A beautiful 1st Round matchup was set between the Pirates (#3 seed) and the Defending Champion Tigers (#2 seed). In 2022, the Tigers managed by Skyler Delzell, rose-up and swept the 5 Time Champion Pirates in the Championship Round, and the shock waves of that decisive victory were felt throughout the Continental League. Now in 2023, the burly Tigers must face the stud Pirates again.
Game 1 came on a perfect Saturday afternoon in Santa Rosa and saw Pirates ace Neil St. Marie take the ball for his veteran team. St. Marie is an R.E.B.L Hall of Famer, a fire-balling southpaw who pitches tough with run on his fastball and a devastating hook. Immediately, the Tigers shocked him with booming hits to the outfield, and then beguiled him with bleeders left and right. Before you could call your Mom and ask for a Gatorade, it was 7-0 Tigers. At the same time Tigers right handed ace Wayne Pelletier was carving up the Pirates on the mound, with a combination of darts to the corners and offspeed stuff kissing the zone. Big Wayne cruised to a 10-3 victory.
Game 2 the next day was a reversal of fortune for the Tigers, as the Pirates dispatched another R.E.B.L. Hall of Famer to the mound, their other ace Barney Kaufman. Kaufman is a terrific veteran right hander and he guided his Pirates to a victory, forcing the deciding Game 3, 40 minutes later. Game 3 saw another veteran Pirate right hander Scott Lemon stand tall on the mound and deliver a complete game Win, ending the Tigers run and delivering his long-time Pirates team a Championship berth.
2 towns over in Sonoma, the other 1st Round matchup had begun. The Continental League was treated to the 2nd Playoff berth in a row for the young Reds (#4 seed), managed by SS Jimmy Hayes, who feature the Continental League’s MVP in former Pro CF Julian Williams. Williams is a speedy power hitting monster and has 3 years of Single A ball for the Philadelphia Phillies on his resume. His prowess would be tested by the Reds opponent, the 3 Time Champion Giants (#1 seed), and especially the Giants Game 1 starter, righty ace and former Pro Paige Dumont. Paige and Julian played on the same team in the Phillies organization. Baseball is funny that way.
Game 1 Saturday morning at Arnold Field saw a decimated Reds team that was affected by unavailable players, which was not a fair situation for Reds manager Hayes. This helped lead to a romp by the powerful Giants, with Paige Dumont going the distance for a Complete Game Shutout, winning 14-0. Leading the scoring for the Giants was big stud former MVP 1B Andy Weber, who hit 2 Home Runs in Game 1, both long gone to Right Field.
Game 2 the next day in Santa Rosa saw the emergence of Reds ace right hander CJ Prutch. CJ had opened a lot of eyes during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, as he throws hard and his pitches dance with lots of movement. Facing elimination in Game 2, CJ went the distance for a Complete Game Win, upsetting the Giants and their young righty ace Derek Delatorre, 6-2. Game 3 approached 45 minutes later, and with ibuprofen bottles being tossed around in the older Giants dugout, it was noticed that this deciding game had two questions: Is Paige Dumont coming back to pitch again for the Giants? Is CJ Prutch going to pitch again for the Reds?
The answers came in the 1st inning of Game 3, with both Paige and CJ taking the ball. Hits plus Runs were scratched-out by the Giants against a still tough CJ Prutch, by Rookie CF Jeremy Sedaka, RF Nick Vercelli, P Paige Dumont and DH Colby Phelps. Dumont scattered 10 Hits over 9 innings and got the Win 5-2, ending the Reds impressive run in 2023 and sending the Giants to a classic Championship Round matchup with the Pirates, looming only 6 days later.
The R.E.B.L. Continental League was treated to a tremendous Championship Round series, featuring the Pirates vs the Giants, the 2 teams that had dominated the league for the past decade. The Giants did have extra business in this series, as they had never beaten the Pirates in a Playoff series, losing 5 times.
Championship Game 1 arrived Saturday morning in Santa Rosa, and featured a terrific duel between Pirates ace Neil St. Marie and Giants ace Paige Dumont. Both would go the distance, however Hall of Fame lefty St. Marie atoned for his Round 1 loss by pitching an absolute gem, giving his team a Complete Game Shutout, winning 2-0. The game took only 1 Hour and 50 minutes, a Greg Maddux game.
Championship Game 2 came the next morning at Sonoma State University. The Pirates stayed with their patented 1-2 punch, by giving the ball to their other Hall of Famer, righty Barney Kaufman. The Giants countered with right handed gamer Derek Delatorre, the big-hearted youngster who stalks the mound and pitches with the guts of a burglar. The Giants were the visitors and had the first crack, and #2 hitter 2B Manny Delao got a hit and was moved over to 2nd base on a productive out from Andy Weber. Andy’s younger brother C Teddy Weber then singled in Delao to make it 1-0 Giants in the 1st inning.
The Giants would rally again in the top of the 3rd, when SS John Wedge would lead off with a Single, and then the Giants applied more pressure and loaded the bases, just to have Kaufman get a big strikeout to kill the inning. Meanwhile Derek Delatorre was on the mound with a tired arm and still he managed to get 10 consecutive outs, until the Pirates broke-through with 3 Runs in the bottom of the 4th, with big hits from 1B Neil St. Marie and SS Jeff Roth. The Giants down 3-1 would come back in the top of the 5th, with back to back to back Doubles from RF Nick Vercelli, DH Troy Logan, CF Jeremy Sedaka and tied the game at 3-3.
In the top of the 6th, with the Giants teetering in this must-win Game 2, yet another rally was born with a leadoff hit from Teddy Weber, and then big RF Ben Sturtevant gave his Giants a clutch 2 strike booming Double to right field, scoring Teddy Weber from 1st base. It was now the Giants with the lead 4-3. However, the Pirates were gunning to put away the Giants one more time, and they answered in the bottom of the 6th with a leadoff Walk from LF Benny Shea, a SAC bunt from stud CF Chris Cerda, and another big RBI Hit from Jeff Roth.
It was now 4-4 in Game 2, and the Pirates were feeling pretty good in their dugout. It was the top of the 7th inning, they had a 1-0 series lead in their back pocket, and switched pitchers by giving the ball to closer Jeff Roth. At the same time the Giants were asking Delatorre how he was feeling in their dugout, and he looked up and said: “I got this”. In the 7th both Roth and Delatorre got 3 quick outs each, taking Game 2 to the top of the 8th, 4-4. The Giants then got a spark from outstanding speedy Rookie Jeremy Sedaka. The “Kid” Sedaka slashed a Single into left field.
After several pick-off attempts Sedaka stole 2nd base, just barely beating the throw from terrific Pirates catcher Casey Cassidy. Sedaka then advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch, and with 1 out Manny Delao hit a ground ball to 3rd base, and after the Pirates 3rd baseman looked Sedaka back to 3rd, and then threw to 1st base for the out, Sedaka took-off and raced home, stealing the 5th run. Sedaka bounded into the Giants dugout hollering and nailing high 5’s.
Delatorre took that 1 run margin and pitched a spotless bottom 8th and 9th, and the Giants survived Game 2 with a 5-4 victory. Derek Delatorre won an elimination game against a team the Giants have never conquered in the Playoffs, and it saved the Giants. He gave them a chance for a title, if only they could win the last game of the year, coming one hour later.
The deciding Game 3 of the 2023 R.E.B.L. Continental League Championship was set. As family, friends, and players from around the league settled-in to the stadium seating at Sonoma State University, the Pirates had veteran right hander Scott Lemon warming-up in the bullpen. Lemon had previously won Game 3 a week before in Round 1 and was emboldened for that same chance now. In the Giants dugout was Paige Dumont, sitting quietly. Could he pitch well again? The Giants had no doubts, however anybody else might wonder.
The week before in Round 1, Dumont pitched 3 consecutive complete games in 3 days for 2 different teams. And now he had pitched a complete game in Championship Game 1, and is now asked to win it all in Championship Game 3 a day later. Game 3 began and wouldn’t you know it, the Pirates jumped Dumont in the 1st inning, getting big hits from SS Billy Dodson, CF Chris Cerda, 1B Neil St. Marie, and RF Nick Robertson. Dumont was dinged again in the top of the 3rd inning, and it was 4-0 Pirates. Is it all happening to the Giants again, versus the Pirates? As manager, I called the baseball gods, on my wristband phone. We talked. I offered rum, cigar.
In the bottom of the 3rd, with 1 out, Giants RF Nick Vercelli got a sharp Single. DH Troy Logan walked, flipped his bat. This was the first trouble that Pirate righty Scott Lemon had faced. In the dugout, Giants injured 3B Jimmy Wells asked me to insert him in the lineup. He said: “I can hit this guy”. I put him in, even though he has an infection in a bandaged leg which was twice the size as the other. From the gurney, to the batter’s box. Pinch hitting with 2 outs, Jimmy works the count full, then smokes a laser into left field, a base hit scoring Vercelli, making the score Pirates 4, Giants 1. This broke the ice for the Giants offense, and the Giants would score twice in the bottom of the 5th with a Single from Sturtevant, a Single from LF Casey Thornhill, a clutch RBI from 1B Mike Enemark, HBP from Vercelli, and an RBI HBP from Logan, getting the Giants within 1 Run of Scott Lemon and the Pirates, 4-3.
In the top of the 6th, the Giants were aided by an outfield assist from the Kid Jeremy Sedaka, gunning down speedy Chris Cerda going 1st to 3rd on a hit to Center Field with a perfect throw from Sedaka handled by excellent 3B Steph Bussell making a hard-nosed tag for the out. This preserved the 4-3 score. In the bottom of the 6th the Giants would score 3 huge runs, sparked once again by the Kid Sedaka who slammed a Single, then a beautiful SAC bunt from Delao in which Delao made it to 2nd base on an error, then a 2 RBI Single into Center from Andy Weber, knocking out Scott Lemon, and finally a 2 out RBI Single from Dumont. This made it a 6-4 Giants lead, heading to the top of the 7th.
Dumont’s arm was hanging-in there, and he worked out of trouble in the 7th with even more great defense from 3B Steph Bussell. Dumont then went 1-2-3 in the 8th. This amazing series now had a last-chance top of the 9th for the swashbuckling Pirates, the team who has their name 5 times on the 35+ CL trophy. Dumont coughed-up a leadoff Single to St. Marie. Dumont then got a fielder’s choice from Nick Robertson, erasing St. Marie at 2nd. Casey Cassidy got on base with a fielder’s choice, erasing Robertson. Cassidy is now on 1st base for slugging RF Bobby Ritter, with 2 Outs. Ritter beat Dumont on a fastball away for an opposite field Double, scoring Cassidy and now Ritter stands on 2nd base pumping his fist.
It’s 6-5 Giants, 2 outs top of the 9th. Pirates manager Scott McKenna inserted a pinch runner for Ritter, and up steps Scott Lemon. Dumont gets a ground ball in the hole at shortstop, and Game 2 pitcher Derek Delatorre is there, tired arm and all. Derek picks it, rears-back and yells as he throws to 1st base. Giants 1B Andy Weber picks it off the ground beating Lemon by a step and the game is over! Champagne…incoming.
This is the 4th Championship for the Giants: 2014, 2018, 2021, 2023. Get this: in this 3 Game Series, the Pirates scored 11 Runs. The Giants scored 11 Runs. The Giants just found a way to win 2 of those 3 games.
Championship Studs for the Pirates are Neil St. Marie, Jeff Roth, Billy Dodson, Chris Cerda, Casey Cassidy, Bobby Ritter, Benny Shea, Barney Kaufman.
Championship Studs for the Giants are Paige Dumont, Derek Delatorre, Andy Weber, Ben Sturtevant, Jeremy Sedaka, Teddy Weber, Nick Vercelli, Steph Bussell, Casey Thornhill, Manny Delao, Jimmy Wells.