2016 Astros Post Great Season in Inaugural Effort in Antelope Valley (CA)
‘Astros Boast Great Run in 2016 Antelope Valley’
Submitted by Scott Klein, Antelope Valley Astros manager
This Astros AVMBL team was formed in less than two weeks! I had a group of guys that wanted to play, so we built it with friends of some and returning players from others. The chemistry was great. Some of our notable outstanding performers were Garrison Robertson .489, Hunter Wheeler .482, Richie Hawley .444, Trever Klein .400, outstanding pitching performers Joe Mauldin 0.56 era, Hunter Wheeler 1.35 era (81k in 46 2/3 innings) and Scott Harris 2.27 era. Our team era was 3.36. The season ended in a frustrating loss to the returning champions Marlins but we had a terrific run.
Our season started April 3rd. I really didn’t know what to expect. We got out of the gate pretty well, winning the first three then a tie. After that we ran off a 4-game winning streak with two of those games won on our last at bats .We went on an 8-2 run and finished second in the standings.
Our first round playoff game was a tight game against the Blue Jays until the eighth when we opened up a 6-run lead and won. The second round against the Phillies went the same way. We were trailing by a run then came back in the eighth and put the game away.
The Finals were in a best of three format. We played the defending champion Marlins. The manager of the team is Brian Scoles, who is a great guy whom I have known since he was 14. He has a couple of players on his team that I had coached before in pony league and against in high school. They have been together for many years so they have chemistry. So here we are, a team put together in two weeks playing this mighty Marlins team. The first game was close, 3-3 going into the eighth, and I made a bad base coaching error sending a runner home. He was thrown out and behold our next batter got a hit that would have scored the runner. They scored in the bottom of the ninth to capture a 4-3 victory.
We won the next game and were excited about playing in our first championship game. We stumbled and bumbled and hit a couple of home runs but couldn’t make up the deficit. We lost by four runs but never gave up. It was a great first season for this team. I am very proud of the AVMBL 2016 Astros.