2025 WOOD Holds off Tropics for 2025 San Francisco MSBL 18+ Championship
San Francisco MSBL, 18+ Division
Wood 3, Tropics 2 (Game three in best-of-three championship series)
Submitted by Frank Bauch, WOOD manager
After nearly a decade of falling just short, the WOOD of San Francisco 18+ MSBL returned to the top of the league with a thrilling 3-2 victory in game three of the 2025 championship series.
In Game 1 of the series, multi-time league Cy Young winner Kit Larson was on top of his game for the Tropics, striking out 13 hitters enroute to an 8-1 victory. The game was scoreless until the fifth inning, when the Tropics exploded for seven runs, fueled by two-RBI hits from James Harwell and Jeff Kuemmeler. For the WOOD, Ross Pomerantz led the way offensively with two doubles.
In Game 2, the Tropics jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but the WOOD fired right back, scoring seven runs in the third inning to take a commanding lead. Doubles from Kevin Jordan and Kenny Rabin accounted for five RBIs in that inning alone. Kevin Lo, Louis Derosa and Pomerantz each added three hits in that game.
That was enough of a lead for winning pitcher Brett Super, who compiled this seven K’s and only one walk across six innings pitched. He turned the ball over to power reliever Hunter Hennigh, who allowed no hits through the final three innings.
In Game 3, Larson drew the assignment against Super, and a back-and-forth pitcher’s duel ensued. WOOD took the lead in the first when Pomerantz drove in Derosa with a single. But the Tropics’ Mitch Rowan doubled to center in the second to tie the game at one.
An RBI single from Rabin drove in Jordan to give the WOOD another lead in the fifth, but Cameron Briggs tied the game again in the bottom of that inning with a double.
Super departed the game after 4.2 innings and four K’s, turning the game over to Schmarzo, who held the Tropics scoreless for the next 1.1 innings. Hennigh then closed out the final three innings with another masterpiece on the mound for WOOD, allowing only one hit over three innings. The game remained scoreless until the ninth inning, when WOOD’s Chris Paradis singled off Larson with one out. A balk sent pinch runner Eli Tan to second base, and Derosa lined a single to center with two outs to drive home the winning run.
The victory capped a tremendous season from the WOOD, who went 13-3 in the regular season. Kevin Lo won the league batting title with a .596 average, while also leading the league in runs, slugging percentage, and OPS. David Bedrosian led the league in doubles and triples, but missed the championship series due to injury.
Third baseman Zack Braband led the league in on-base percentage and HBPs, while shortstop Spencer Sohmer established himself as a defensive wizard all season long. Schmarzo led the way on the mound in the regular season, with a minuscule 0.36 ERA across 29 innings pitched.
Pitchers Eric Prough, Hiro Schmidt and Nick Piscotty supplemented the pitching staff with huge outings all season, while Tan’s aggressive hitting, Sam Chernack’s outfield versatility, and Luke Vandertie‘s prowess behind the plate all proved essential.
This is the second WOOD championship as a coach for Frank Bauch, and his fourth as a player across 16 seasons.