Author: Men's Senior Baseball League

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2019 Voorhees Chaos Outlast Dynasty to Win 21+ Division Crown in South Jersey MSBL

South Jersey MSBL, 21+ Division

Voorhees Chaos 9, South Jersey Dynasty 1

Submitted by Eric Datis, Voorhees Chaos co-manager

The Chaos was created because I tried to become a free agent the prior year after not playing baseball for 24 years.  That didn’t happen so I created my own team with another friend of mine.  Mitch Brown and I split the 2019 managerial duties.  At first we were struggling to acquire players, as people thought it was a joke.  Then little by little we started picking up one good player after the next.

My team is a little older for the 21+ division and we had to deal with many injuries throughout the season.  But with a few key additions before the deadline, aka pitchers, our team really started to mesh in the second half of the year.  We finished the season in second place with a tough task ahead of us as the first-place team only had two losses.

In the Championship series we were missing our best pitcher on day one of the double header, so we knew taking game one against the Dynasty was vital.  It turns out we won the first game 10-5 and we were happy to do so.  The second game we ran out of pitching, which turned into a joke basically as they took a nine-run lead. Late in the game, though, they also ran out of pitching.  We were down eight runs in the last inning and started to mount a comeback.  We scored seven runs with the bases loaded and two out.  I thought it was about to be a win and then we popped out to end the gamed, losing 16-15.

Finally, the last game was a pitcher’s duel for a while until we hit a bases clearing double to give us a 4-1 lead.  We then scored a few more runs in the seventh and eighth and ran away with the championship 9-1.  We defeated the SJ Dynasty in the championship series two games to one.

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2019 Cobb Reds Capture Fourth Title in Six Years in Atlanta MABL Weeknight 35+ Division

Atlanta MABL Weeknight, 35+ Division

Cobb Reds 8, Dodgers 5

‘Colliver’s Dinger Closes Door on Dodger Hopes’

Submitted by Don Fletcher, Reds manager

2019 Cobb Reds have won the 35+ championship of the Atlanta MABL four of the last six years.  This season featured some incredible come from behind victories against the 18+ league in crossover games.  The Reds finished the season with a 12-3 record, with two of the losses coming against the rival Dodgers earlier in the season.

After securing the #1 playoff seed, the semifinal game was played against the pitching dominate Expos.  In a time-shorted playoff game, the Expos got out to a 7-0 lead by the top of the fourth inning.  The Reds scored two in the fourth and then tied it with five runs in the fifth inning.  With time running out in the bottom of the sixth inning and a tied ball game, the Reds came through with two runs to put themselves in the championship game versus the talented Dodgers club.

The Reds starting pitcher Reggie Barrau continued his impressive outings against the Dodgers hitters.  With some clutch hitting by Cuba Hernandez and Alex Ramirez and a back breaking 2-run blast by Josh Colliver, the Reds cruised to an 8-5 victory to secure the championship.

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2019 D’backs Make it a ‘Five-Peat’ in 25+ Division of Seacoast (NH) MSBL

Seacoast New Hampshire MSBL, 25+ Division

D’backs 7, Indians 3

Front row L-R: Scott Coslett, Miles Spalding, Ron Mitchell, Chris Parker, Edward James. Back Row L-R: Marshall Goldberg, Lucas Edwards, Brian Joselyn, Paul Brooks, Josh Sharp, Adam Johnson, Matt Trial, Rich Luciano and Mike Driscoll

‘Diamondbacks Make it Five Titles in a Row’

Submitted by Paul Brooks, D’backs manager

The Diamondbacks won their fifth consecutive Seacoast New Hampshire MSBL World Series. They defeated the Indians, who had upset the previously undefeated Orioles in the Semi-Finals. The Dbacks won Game one by a score of 10-4 behind the complete game effort of Brian Joselyn. Lucas Edwards and Chris Parker led the offense.

Joselyn would toss three more frames to start game two, however it was Josh Sharp who picked up the 7-3 win with five solid innings of relief. Edwards tossed a perfect ninth. Sharp collected two hits and two runs batted in while Edwards had three hits and a walk to complete the best two of three series sweep.

Final Standings                        W        L

Orioles                                       11        0

Diamondbacks                          9         3

Dodgers                                      4         8

Indians                                       3         9

Pirates                                        2         9

SEMI-FINALS

Indians 14     Orioles   6

Dbacks 25     Dodgers 0

FINALS

Dbacks 10     Indians   4

Dbacks 7       Indians   3

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2019 Little Chute Blue Jays Sweep Brookside for Northeast Wisconsin Crown

Northeast Wisconsin MSBL

Little Chute Blue Jays 4, Brookside Baseball Club 2

Submitted by Matthew Bent, Blue Jays manager

The Little Chute Blue Jays entered the 2019 season of the Northeast Wisconsin MSBL looking to carry the momentum of winning five of their last six in 2018, and did just that. Having never reached the playoffs in club history, this team set out on a mission in 2019  to take advantage of every opportunity possible, and at the end of the season the Blue Jays finished with a record of 16–1 scoring the most runs while allowing the fewest and bringing the Paul Deal Memorial Trophy to Little Chute for their first championship in team history. A true team effort all season full of heart, hustle and determination.

In Game one of the Championship Series, the Blue Jays were led by an outstanding pitching effort by Yeral De la Cruz, formerly of the Minnesota Twins minor league farm system, throwing nine innings, allowing two runs, one earned on six hits. Former Iowa Hawkeye Phil Schreiber came in for a perfect top of the tenth 10th inning. With two on and two out and the score tied at two, Scott Rosik hit a base hit into left scoring Brett Hurst from second for the walk off 3-2 win.

In Game two of the Championship Series, the Blue Jays were again led by an outstanding pitching effort, this time by Angel Garzon, formerly of Cincinnati Reds minor league farm system, bringing a no-hit effort into the sixth before allowing one run over seven innings. Phil Schreiber came in and got the 2-inning save to lock up the championship on a 4-2 victory.

Throughout the season and the playoffs the Blue Jays were led by incredibly strong pitching as well as outstanding defensive efforts by shortstop Cody Backhaus, left fielder Luke Wollenberg, third baseman Brandon Wilder, first baseman Jess Lesperance, catcher Derek Loreti and center fielder Scott Rosik, as well as huge clutch hitting and base running by Billy Miller, Scott Rosik, Angel Garzon, Yeral De La Cruz, Ryan Steffel, Nick Westergard and Manager Matthew Bent.

Here is a link to the Blue Jays Facebook page that shows a video of the final championship out! https://www.facebook.com/LCBlueJays

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2019 Hebron Hops Make it Five in a Row in 35+ Division of Connecticut North MSBL

Connecticut North MSBL, 35+ Division

Hebron Hops 9, Rocky Hill Caps 4

‘Hops Make It a ‘Five Peat’

 

Submitted by Todd Johnson, Hops manager

 

The Hebron Hops, formerly the Hebron Nor’Easters, finished off the 2019 season by beating the Rocky Hill Caps in the league finals. The Hops went 21-5 en-route to their fifth consecutive 35+ league championship.

 

The Hops had to battle injuries and losing key players throughout the regular season, but were still able to accomplish their preseason goal of a fifth title. 

In the first round of the playoffs, the Hops faced a new 35+ team in the Granby Cubs. Game one was close, with Hebron winning 7-6. Game two was an easier win, as the Hops won 14-2. In the semi’s, Hebron took on a much improved Bristol Mustangs team. The Hops pitching was too much as Hebron took both games, winning 7-1 and 4-1.

 

In the finals, it was a third consecutive matchup, between Hebron and Rocky Hill. The Hops scored early and often and handled the Caps in game one, 16-5. Game two was a tough fought battle with Hebron winning the championship game 9-4. 

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2019 Chesapeake Angels Claim Tough 22+ National Division Title at Chesapeake MSBL

Chesapeake MSBL, 22+ National Division

Chesapeake Angels 23, Maryland Cubs 3

Submitted by Eric Brooks, Angels manager

In the Chesapeake Angels fifth season in the Chesapeake MSBL they set many team records, going 23-6-1 on the year overall and 20-1-1 in division games. We scored a 22+ division high 293 runs and allowed a 22+ division low of 106 runs. Key players that contributed to our successful 2019 campaign were our team MVP Pat Kohl who batted .411 with a .580 OBP, seven doubles, two triples, a home run and 24 RBI’s. Pat also was our number two pitcher on the mound going 4-1 with a 3.22 ERA.

Our Pitcher of the Year was Kenny Armiger, who pitched 87 innings over 14 games going 11-1 on the year with a 1.86 ERA. He had an amazing 91 strikeouts to only 23 walks. The Playoff MVP was Mike Shapskinsky who batted .563 with a .632 OBP, three Doubles, a home run and nine RBIs in five playoff games. In the 3-game championship series Mike batted .727 with a .750 OBP, three doubles and six RBI’s.

We finished the regular season in first place and clinched the #1 seed in the playoffs with five games left to play in the regular season. This was in huge part to our team hitting .348 on the year with a .457 OBP and our team pitching ERA of only 3.52 on the year.

Angels baseball ran through the winner’s bracket in the playoffs to make it to the best of three championship series to take on the Maryland Cubs. Unfortunately, we lost Game one by a score of 3-2, which was our only loss to a division opponent on the year. We bounced back to win Game two by a score of 8-7 to force Game three for the championship. Angels pitching and hitting all clicked at once defeating the Maryland Cubs by a score of 23-3 to be crowned Champions!

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2019 Saratoga King’s Angels Topple Cubs in Championship Game of Saratoga (NY) MSBL

Saratoga (NY) MSBL, 28-Over

Saratoga King’s Angels 7, Cubs 2

Left to right top row: Mike Ruggiero, John Kirkpatrick, James Stair, Matt Milligi, Sean Weil, Brian McBee, Chris Hackett, Oliver Aldrich. Bottom row left to right: Matt Sanchez, Tom Keating, Ben Cook, Justin Wilock, Rich Sutherland, Mike DeGregory. Missing: Art DeGregory, Matt O’Rouke

Submitted by Matt Milligi, Angels manager

The Angels started off in 2012 as the league’s first expansion team and the very first expansion team to win a championship. Not one teammate knew each other and just showed up to play baseball. The early years were tough only winning a couple games a season.

Brian Mcbee, Matt Sanchez and Joe St. Pierre shared managerial duties until Brian Solely took over the role in 2013. As the years progressed, we started to fill in the gaps and added talent throughout the years. I started playing for the team in 2016 for the Angels and took over the management role in 2017. 2018 we got a local sponsorship and are known since then as the Saratoga King’s Angels.

Our season record for 2019 was 22-6. Our playoff run can be summarized by excellent defense while averaging seven runs per game offensively.

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2019 Collinsville River Rats Shutout Dodgers for Connecticut North 25+ Title

Connecticut North MSBL, 25+ Division

Collinsville River Rats 1, Newington Dodgers 0

The 2019 Collinsville CT River Rats won their second Connecticut North Men’s Senior Baseball League Championship with significant contributions from the entire roster. A strong defense throughout the playoffs was the foundation to winning each series.

#3 seed Collinsville faced off against the #1 seed Newington Dodgers, who finished the regular season with 19 wins and just four losses. Newington lead the league in pitching with just a 2.7 runs against average. Mike Giordano of Collinsville had a breakout season on the mound and was the anchor of the pitching staff. In the finals the Rats pitching staff was the dominant force throwing two shutouts, had no errors, and only gave up three hits in two games.

The offensive attack was lead by Alejandro Gonzalez who had six doubles and one triple in the playoffs. Chris ‘Fish” Fisher and Enrique Alvarado had clutch hits in each series to help Collinsville win back to back championships. After a 2-4 start to the season the River Rats finished the season winning 16 of their last 19 games. The Collinsville River Rats  were 2019 champs due to one major factor, “Teamwork”.

Here is a YouTube link to the championship game highlights: https://youtu.be/E6kW-_gjVgE 

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Team Balin Goes Undefeated, Wins John A. DeBenedictis Father/Son Tourney in Chester, Pennsylvania

Supplied by Gregg Balin, Team Balin manager and Jersey Shore MSBL President

The annual JA DeBenedictis League Father/Son Tournament was recently held in Chester, PA and was won by our Team Balin, 4 games to 0. This is Team Balin’s second time in the tournament.  We also won in 2018, winning four games and losing none.  I was thrilled to play alongside my grandson, 14 year-old Kyle Leiser, who led the team in batting average.  Here is a brief recap of the games:

Game One versus Pisanti
Winning pitcher Tim Marker, Sr. started the game and threw five great innings. In the first inning Alexi Colon scorched a triple off the right field wall to score his father Willie, who reached on an error. In the fourth inning Tim Marker, Jr. singled and was moved to second on my ground out and then my grandson Kyle doubled down the left field line for an RBI.  He would also score on an error.

In the sixth inning I led off with a base hit and moved to second on another base hit by Kyle but a throw to the cutoff man skipped away allowing me to move to third base.  Mike Spatola then slapped an RBI single to plate me for the go ahead run. In the last inning Kyle doubled in Tim Marker, Jr., who singled, for an insurance run. Tim closed the game with a save in the last inning for a 6-4 win. Kyle Leiser was 3 – 4, (triple, double & single) with 2 RBI while Tim Marker, Sr. and Mike Spatola tallied two hits each.

Game Two versus Casey

After a quick scoreless first inning Team Balin sent nine hitters to the plate in the second, scoring four runs, with Mike Spatola plating a pair on a single as Andrew Spatola and Tim Marker, Sr., each singled in a run.  In the third inning Kyle Leiser and I both walked with the bases loaded while Mike Spatola added another RBI single for three runs scored.  The final score was 7-6.

Game Three versus Galante

The two unbeaten teams matched up in game three and it was a great battle.  Team Galante held down the best hitter’s on Team Balin, scattering three runs over five innings.  Kyle Leiser singled in the second inning, stole second base and scored on Andrew Spatola’s single. In the fourth inning Mike and Andrew Spatola, along with Tim Marker, Sr., singled and an error led to another run.

Team Galante was holding a 4 – 3 lead and exploded to plate four more runs and to seemingly have shut the door on the game with an 8-3 lead.  In the final inning I led off with a single, then a fly ball was caught for the first out seemingly to put Galante in control. However, Andrew Spatola and Tim Marker, Sr. followed with singles, loading the bases.  Henry Colon, who had been hitless in two games, battled and fought off several pitches then doubled down the left field line for two RBI.  Austin Spassatempo walked to load the bases while Lou Spassatempo’s RBI groundout plated a run. With Galante only needing an out to secure the win Willie Colon had an RBI single to plate his son, Henry. Alexi Colon then tripled in two runs, the go ahead run and the eventual game winner.  Tim Marker, Jr. closed the game with a K and two ground outs to get the save.

Game Four versus Hefton

In the first inning leadoff hitter Lou Spassatempo singled then stole second.  After two outs were recorded Alexi Colon smashed an RBI double to right. I was pitching while Team Hefton battled back to plate a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Team Balin scored six runs in the second on base hits by Mike Spatola, Tim Marker Sr., and an RBI single by Austin Spassatempo.  Lou Spassatempo reached on an error, Tim Marker Jr. doubled in a pair of runs, and Alexi Colon singled in another run, putting Team Balin in control at 7-2.

The game quieted down in the second, third and fourth with each team plating two runs.  Hefton scored a pair in the fifth, making the score 10-4.  I was relieved on the mound by Willie Colon and then Kyle Leiser recorded the final outs to an ending score of 10-6.  I picked up the win as Kyle Leiser, Alexi Colon, Mike Spatola and Tim Marker, Jr. all had two hits.

Great speed on the bases with timely hitting and great fielding, coupled with great pitching by the Father’s and games closed by Tim Marker, Jr., made us the winners.  It was tough competition in every game.

Here are some stats from the tourney:

Kyle Leiser, .545 BA, triple, double, Mike Spatola, .538 BA, Tim Marker Sr., .454 BA, Gregg Balin, .454 BA, Andrew Spatola, .416 BA and Alexi Colon, two triples and two doubles.