2015 55+ Wood Bat

‘Four Run Sixth Propels Angels’

Inland Angels 7, Chicago North Legends 4

By Steve LaMontia, Director of Communications

Las Vegas, Nevada, March 9, 2015-The Inland Angels entered the bottom of the sixth inning holding on to a precarious 3-2 advantage over the experienced Chicago North Legends in the finals of the 55 and over championship game of the 2015 Kickoff Classic in Las Vegas. They advanced to the top of the seventh inning with a 7-2 bulge after plating four runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the wind out of the sails of the Legends. The Legends fought back with two more of their own over the next three innings but it was too little and they fell to the Angels 7-4.

After a fly ball to center and a 1-3 ground out to start the bottom of the sixth it looked like a pretty easy inning for the Legends, but then the wheels came off. Seven batters in a row reached on a combination of four hits and three walks and four runs later the inning turned from routine to disastrous for the Legends. Mike Kyander, John Denney, Dan Duffey and Rory Werner got key hits in the big inning while Larry Phipps, Doc Rubio and Rick Shapiro chipped in walks.

“It was an amazing inning,” explained Angel’s skipper Ted Poleto. “We just got a couple of good bounces and things went our way to give us some breathing room.”

Ed Tuer was ‘Mr. Consistent’ on the other side of the ball as he pitched the complete game victory for the Angels. “Ed also beat the Legends in the round robin game,” added Poleto. “He certainly did his job to beat a very good team twice.”

Poleto assumed the helm for the Angels five years ago as they have come close to the title in lower age brackets but finally moved up to their actual age division and copped the trophy. “We had several guys with over ten hits in the tourney, which of course translates into runs,” said Poleto. “We had a cohesive team-oriented group and were fortunate to come away with the win. Mostly, we are all very fortunate to still be playing this great game at our ages.”

The Angels made it to the championship game with a 23-3 thumping of the Tri Valley Giants, avenging a 12-10 loss to the Giants in round robin play.