2022 60+ National
2022 60+ National
Lonestars 5, Team Victory 4
Submitted by Bill Rector, Lonestars’ manager
The Lonestars finished 5-1 in a very tough and balanced 60 National Division during round-robin play. This earned them a bye to the 60N Championship game. This is the Lonestars’ third 60 National title in four years (2019, 2020, 2022). They lost in the 2021 semi-finals in 10 innings.
The Lonestars were down 3-0 to Team Victory going into the bottom of the third inning. Bill Rector drew a leadoff walk and was bunted over by Santiago Gonzales. He later scored on a sac fly by Bradly Hill. The Lonestars scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning after Jack Bradley walked and Ron Piacenti was hit by a pitch and later scored on a two-out single by Gonzales. This tied the score at 3-3. The score remained tied until the bottom of the eighth inning when Joe Capperelli walked and later scored on a double by Dave Dietrich.
The ninth inning got tenser when the Lonestars made a two-out error to give a run back to Team Victory and the score was tied again at 4-4. In the bottom of the ninth inning, David Thrall led off with a double for the Lonestars. That brought Ron Piacenti to the plate who doubled to right center to bring in the walk-off winning run. Final Score, 5-4 Lonestars.
Robert Calvert, who pitched 8 2/3 innings, and Ron Piacenti were the Championship MVPs. During the week Robert Calvert and Barney Owens led the pitching staff in innings pitched and ERA. Robert Engelmeyer, Norm Churchill, and Glynn Solomon also had strong contributions. Our infield/outfield played great all week with contributions from everyone. David Minchow, Marty Schroeder, and Dave Howard carried the catching duties for the week.
The overall MVP for the week was Joe Capperelli, who played great defense at shortstop and wreaked havoc when he was on base with his speed.
I would also like to thank assistant coaches Alex Brunet and Joel Morley for all their help during the week. A lot of work goes into putting a team together and winning and it cannot be done by one person alone.