2021 Mudville 9 Sweep Woodpeckers for 52+ Title in Chicago North MSBL
Chicago North MSBL, 52+ Division
Mudville 9 7, Woodpeckers 0 (Game two of championship series sweep)
The season started off with an 18-man roster where everyone on the team would have to play a part to win a championship. Our first setback was the season starting with starting pitcher Chris Loy missing the first seven games due to recovering from elbow issues from the year before. Then another setback happened in game #2 when their starting center fielder was lost for the season due to his second hip replacement surgery. The club was 8-3-1 at the halfway point of the season but the second half witnessed their third major setback when they lost a versatile player to a season-ending knee injury. However, because of the solid play of the non-starters, the MV9 kept on winning. In fact, MV9 won 10 in a row finishing the season one point ahead of the second-place Woodpeckers. They ended with a final record was 19-4-1 with the playoff on the horizon.
The first game of the playoffs had five starters missing and MV9 trailing the Yankees 4-2 going into the bottom of the fourth inning. That is when a Yankee player collapsed going out to his position. An MV9 player’s wife is a nurse and happened to be in the stands and ran onto the field and performed CPR until the ambulance arrived. Tragedy was averted and the player survived. It was an unbelievable situation, to say the least.
The game was postponed and rescheduled for a later date with the game being picked up where it was stopped. The game was resumed with MV9 starters inserted into the game and they pulled out a 5-4 victory. From the start of the suspended game, MV9 went on a mini winning streak. They defeated the Yankees in game #2, 12-0, and then beat the Cubs 3-2 and 5-0, setting up a championship with the Woodpeckers.
Game #1 starting pitcher Chris Loy left the game after his allotted four innings of pitching with an 11-3 lead. The Woodpeckers scored four runs in the final three innings to close the gap but that was all they did as MV9 won 11-7.
Game #2 starting pitcher Jeff Walsh pitched four shutout innings, leaving the game with a 4-0 lead. Bill Kazmierczak pitched the final three innings preserving the shutout and MV9 winning game #2 7-0, thus becoming Champions.
Top Hitters in playoffs
Jeff Walsh .643 -Avg 8-R 4-RBI
Pat Pascial .467-Avg 5-R 8-RBI
Bill Kazmierczak .462-Avg 8-R 2RBI
Top pitchers in playoffs
Jeff Walsh ERA-0.00 IP 8. W-2 L-0
Bill Kazmierczak ERA 0.00 IP 8.1 W-2 L-0
Chris Loy ERA 0.93 IP 15 W-2 L-0