2012 55+ Division

Pawelek no-hits Dodgertown

LA Athletics 5, Dodgertown West 0

The LA Athletics, managed by Bob Sherwin, won the 55+ division at the 2012 Desert Classic

By Alejandro Rodriguez, MSBL On-Line

PALM SPRINGS – Fifty-nine year old Danny Pawelek spun a no-hitter and was a walk and an error from perfection as the L.A. Athletics defeated Dodgertown West 5-0 to win the 55-and-over crown at the Desert Classic.

The game finished in two-hours-and-15 minutes. It included two four-pitch innings, three three-ball counts, and only one ball that left the infield. Meanwhile, Mark Sain, Jack Charles and John Scheurman led the offense with two hits apiece. The Athletics outscored all tournament opponents 50-7.”This was one of the shortest championship games I’ve been involved in,” said A’s manager Bob Sherwin. “But yet this was also one of the most exciting because in all the years I’ve been involved in MSBL championship games, I’ve never been on the side of a no-hitter, so this was pretty special,” he said.

Danny Pawelek

Sherwin noticed the no-hitter in the sixth inning. “At that point we started to become aware of it, but we didn’t want to use the word around him” Sherwin said.

The Athletics got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the second inning with Pawelek notching an RBI fielder’s choice and a second run scoring on an errant pickoff from the catcher. They scored twice again in the bottom of the third on back-to-back RBI doubles by Kevin Bronson and Mike Thatcher. Mark Sain’s RBI single in the eighth scored Thatcher with the A’s final run.Armando Valle pitched a complete game for the Dodgers, striking out four batters and walking none.

Before he helped the A’s win at the Desert Classic, Pawelek was helping them lose there. Pitching for the Salt Lake Dodgers at the 2010 Desert Classic, the tall right-hander with the Kareem goggles threw 11 and two-thirds innings of relief in a 9-6 win over the Athletics. More remarkably, Pawelek threw 39-and-a-third of his team’s total of 48 innings in that tournament prompting Sherwin to say at the time, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Thankfully for Sherwin, the Salt Lake Dodgers were not in this year’s tournament, and when he learned that Pawelek was available, he picked up the phone. “Bob gave me a call and asked me if I wanted to play,” Pawelek said. I felt it’d be a great fit so I said yes and here we are,” he added.

Dodgertown West manager Rick Fahrney could only tip his hat to Pawelek after the game. “He pitched a heck of a game, but then again good pitching will always beat good hitting,” Fahrney said. “Hats off to them, they got great pitching, but also good timely hitting and they made the plays they had to defensively,” Fahrney said.

Fahrney looks forward to returning next year to try and reclaim the championship.

“This never gets old for us, it’s always a great time, great weather, ideal location,” Fahrney said.

55 National	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Dodgertown West	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	3
LA Athletics	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	0		5	11	1

WP – Pawelek. LP – Valle. Top Hitters: (LA). Sain 2×4, Charles 2×3,

Jon Scheuerman 2×3. 2B – Scheuerman, Thatcher; 2B – Thatcher. SB – Thatcher.

LOB – LA Athletics 7, Dodgertown West 1

Dodgertown West — 55+ runners up at the 2012 Desert Classic in Palm Springs Ca.