2025 Bombers Sweep Tornados to Capture Tough 35+ Sunday Division Title in Atlanta MSBL

Atlanta MSBL, 35+ Sunday Division

Atlanta Bombers 9, Tornados 7 (Game two in best-of-three championship series sweep)

Submitted by Craig Rizk, manager

I was asked to take over a 1-15 team in 2023. This is when I created the Bomber’s organization, which consisted of a tournament team and a local team. Three players from the previous local team stayed on board, so I essentially had to rebuild the local team from scratch.

I was able to recruit several local players, but nearly half of the team came from the upcoming league draft. I was able to draft seven players that went to the tryout, and two more that I spoke with over the phone. My goal in building this team was to strategically find players that would help us be successful rather than just bodies to fill out a roster.

Luckily, I was able to draft a catcher in the first round and built the team with strength up the middle as my priority. Year one, we went 11-5 during the regular season. We won our first-round playoff game and made it to the semifinal game against the Tornados. The semi-final was a nail-biter until my pitcher, Will Brown, who’s normally an outfielder, broke his arm in three places by throwing a pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning. He was pitching his third inning in relief.

In the top of the eighth, Will tied the game with a dramatic home run. The game was halted for over 45 minutes to get him off the field in sweltering heat before we fell short in extra innings. The team that beat us won the championship the next weekend. My teammate ended up having nine screws and three plates put in his arm to repair it.

In year two, 2024, we added some key players to improve our pitching, defense, and added some speed. In the first year, we had one consistent pitcher and a few guys who could throw some innings.

At the end of the year, our pitchers were overused. We also had two guys recovering from arm and Achilles surgeries, along with some nagging injuries to many of our players who missed time throughout the season.

We lost a key power hitter, Tony May, right before the playoffs, who injured his knee, ending his season with surgery imminent. We were able to go 12-4 during the regular season, and we made it all the way to the championship, a best-of-three series. We didn’t have three key players or enough pitchers for the weekend, which caused us to be swept in two games.

2025 was a crucial year for the Bombers. My management approach changed to focus on winning the championship as the only goal that mattered. We had a couple of players move on to other teams and I brought in key players to fill any holes in the roster, including two more starting pitchers that played a pivotal role in our success.

Everything revolved around the team mentality. We started the season strong. Teammates healed from their past injuries, and we were on a mission every week. We were 11-1 going into the last four games of the regular season when we had our only hiccup of the season, going 1-3 to end up 12-4 again for the regular season. Not ideal momentum going into the playoffs. We scored nearly 200 runs during the season and had a +76 run differential, which was an even better differential before our late-season losses.

We won our first playoff game 15-2. In the semi-finals, we played the newly formed Dodgers, who went 11-5 in their first season and were the only team to beat us twice during the regular season. We beat the Dodgers 7-3 with me pitching a complete game and retiring 14 in a row at one point.

We were going back to the best-of-three championship series against the Tornados, who won the league in 2023 after beating us in the semi-finals.

Our goal was to sweep the Tornados, and to do so, we needed to win game one. We came out of the gates hot with our first baseman, Tony May, hitting two home runs in our 12-7 victory.

Tony came back from knee surgery in six months and played through major soreness throughout the season, but came through in the clutch.

Game two had us down early by one run until Manny Reinoso hit a 3-run homer to put us ahead.

We built a 9-4 lead only to have the Tornados creep back to within two runs before a weak lineout to second base secured our victory and the first championship for the Bombers.

Our season MVP and leadoff hitter, Jason Giuliano, was on base and scoring runs all postseason to be the catalyst for our offense.

Everyone contributed all season long. The team came first and these players were the reason for our success: #5 Dave O’Neal (OF), #6 Andrew Kehnle (C), #7 Craig Rizk (P/MGR), #9 Daniel Condon (3B), #10 Tommy Scaggs (P), #12 Michael Maher (IF), #14 Kenny Asaro (2B), #15 Blake Nathan (OF), #18 Nick Plagman (OF), #19 Manny Reinoso (OF/C), #22 Ryan Marston (IF), #26 Henry Zhu (P), #28 Jeff Stopper (P), #29 Rob Mustic (SS/2B), #30 Jason Giuliano (OF), #36 Tony May (1B), #38 Jason Davenport (C), #39 Franky Galvan (OF), #44 Will Brown (OF), #51 Norm Giles (OF)