Author: Men's Senior Baseball League

Inland Northwest MABL, 18+ Division

Astros 11, Phillies 10

‘Walk-off Win Spotlights Incredible Year’

Submitted by Devan Khoma, Spokane Astros

Tucked away in the upper left-hand corner of the United States we have a small city called Spokane, home of the Inland Northwest MABL. In my opinion, we play a pretty good brand of baseball that is extremely competitive. That opinion was proved out on the afternoon of September 8th, 2019. We had weather delays in two of the three weekends we played our playoffs, including the scheduled weekend of the championship game. We waited three weeks in between the winners bracket final and championship weekend. We play a double elimination tournament with a single nine inning game as our championship. All but three of the games played in our tournament were decided by three runs or less.

Our league is very tight knit. In January we played in the MSBL Desert Classic Tournament in Palm Springs and took second, outscoring teams 35-4 in pool play. Most of us play together in tournaments like that, including the 2019 MSBL World Series 25+ division. Almost every team in our league will had at least one player on the team with many teams sending multiple guys. We all know each other well, our strengths and weaknesses, our mannerisms and tempers, etc. This is important when realizing how close these games really were. Every playoff game came down to the wire.

The Phillies have won our league five years in a row. I have managed and played on teams in this league with anywhere from an eighth-place finish to a second-place finish, but I had never won it all. I love winning. But I seem to hate the heartbreak of losing more than I love winning. When we play in our last championship weekend, the losers bracket final plays a game in the morning while the winner of the winner’s bracket receives a bye into the finals. The Phillies and the Dodgers played a 10-inning thriller with a large comeback, clutch hits, and even a bench clearing situation. I mean it had everything. The Phillies ended up prevailing, setting up a rematch of the winners bracket final, Phillies versus Astros.

It was the most incredible game I’ve ever been a part of. The Phillies had a tough time defensively in the first inning, coming off of that 10-inning thriller just 30 minutes before.  But it let us get out to a 4-0 lead. Fast forward to the sixth. It was 5-2 Astros in the top of the sixth and we just fell apart. A couple of close calls, a couple of errors, a walk or two and it’s suddenly 10-5, Phillies. Our 1-2 hitters popped out and grounded out to start the seventh but then our 3 hitter hit a monster solo homer and we’re back in it, 10-6 Phillies. We got one more in the eighth and going into the bottom of the ninth it stood at 10-7 Phillies.  This is where it gets crazy.

Our 7 hitter singled, our 8 hitter singled, the 9 hitter bunted them over and our 10 hitter singled and moved to second on the throw. It’s now 10-8. Our leadoff guy had struggled the entire game, but our team never quits. We had two walk-offs already on the year, and one was his. He singled over the shortstop’s head and two runs scored. We’re knotted at 10 apiece and I came up to the plate.

The first pitch was a wild pitch but I held the runner at third, while our guy on first moved up to second. There is one out, and they need the double play so they intentionally walk me. Our 3 hitter came up, and they pitched him carefully since he had homered earlier. Unfortunately, he struck out. Our 4 hitter swung and misses at the first pitch. The next pitch was a ball. It’s now 1-1 with the bases loaded. The Phillies need a double play to get out of it.

He then hit a ground ball to the right side. I don’t know if I’ve ever run that fast, but all I know is that the ball never got to second. I heard my teammates yelling. We won. We walked off in the championship game. We beat the 5-time defending champions! I have been in the league five years and never seen somebody other than the Phillies win. Somebody finally did it, and it was the 2019 Spokane Astros.

Here is a ‘Shout out’ to every player on our team. We had more “complete team wins” than I have ever seen on a “Sunday league” team. It was a world class operation. For many of our guys, it was their first and last championship. About half of our team is retiring. We all have jobs and families and most of us have kids and for many of us it was a beautiful thing to feel that incredibly pure, child-like joy again.

Sacramento Men’s Senior Baseball League, 50+ Night League

Reds 6, Athletics 4

Top Row L-R: Greg Hovde, Brent Roloff, Jeff Bare, Steve Brown, Jason Frazelle, Jim Marquardsen, Paul Pazirandeh, Bill Hart. Bottom Row L-R: Steve Kinyon, Mike Perkovich, Jason Standley, Jerry Marquardsen (with Picture of Eric Ferrari), Harley Texeira and Eric Franks.

Submitted by Steve Brown, Red’s player/manager

October 8, 2019 – It was another great team win and going back-to-back to win championships this year in both the Night League and the Winter/Spring League was truly special.  This is my 25^th year playing in the SMSBL and 30 years playing in Sacramento.  I have been on numerous championship teams over the years, but going with back-to-back championship wins is very rare. At this age, it is just great to still being able to play this young man’s game, let alone to win. This year’s two (back-to-back) wins means a lot to me.

As for the Night League Championship, we needed to beat the A’s in a best of three game format. The A’s are a tough team and have always given us trouble in the past. In short, we won the first game, lost the second game, and had all of the marbles on the line for Game three. One of our starting pitchers, Steve Kinyon, pitched great and ended up pitching complete games in both Game one and in Game three, with two different catchers (Eric Ferrari and Mike Perkovich), as Eric was not able to make Game three.

In Game three, the A’s got off to a quick start by scoring two runs in the first. Our offense scored two runs in the second inning to tie it up and help Steve relax a bit so he could throw his game.  We scored again in the third inning by a key hit by Jeff Bare, giving us a one run lead over the A’s.  But the A’s battled back and scored two more runs to take the lead back from us.

I told you they are a tough team. But then in the fifth inning we got a couple of key walks from Greg Hovde and Eric Franks to get the bases juiced for key hits from Jason Frazelle and Jerry Marquardsen to help us score two more runs, putting us ahead with the score at 6-to-4. The game score remained the same for the rest of the game and it all came down to the final inning with the A’s having two guys on with two outs and their number three and four hitters due up. Thankfully, Steve and our Game three catcher, Mike Perkovich, were able shut it down by striking out the A’s number three batter who had a hot bat all game and throughout the 3-game series.

I am so proud of all the guys and it took the whole team to get us there, let alone to win.  It all happened with the right mix of great pitching, good at-bats, solid hitting and scoring, huge defensive plays, and perhaps just as important – good team chemistry.  All season and year long, we kept picking each other up, stayed positive, and never gave up.  I could not be prouder of these guys individually and as a team.

Utah Adult Amateur Baseball League, 18+ Fall Division 

Rounders 7, Outsiders 4

Top row L-R: Luke Jacketta, Ryan Sedillo, Justin Severson, Michael York, Ethan Jorgensen, Zach Espinosa. Bottom row L-R: Caleb Schulte, Ryan Feeney, Michael Ramirez, Logan Bingaman. Not pictured: Dustin Clark, Keegan Parry, Cameron Boynton, JC Garcia

‘Newly Assembled Team Battles to Title’

Submitted by Zachary Espinosa, Rounders manager

I was originally “drafted” by the Utah Rounders through the league website back in 2013. I played for them for four seasons until our manager, Chad “Fitty” Johnson, retired and handed the team down to Justin Severson and myself in 2017. Naturally, a lot of other players left due to Chad’s departure, which forced us to reinvent the Rounders after having a solid core for the past 6-7 seasons.

2017 and 2018 didn’t go so well. Not having some of our key players from previous seasons, along with picking up some last-minute players from the website just to field a team, didn’t pan out the way we had hoped. It seemed like the Rounders era was officially coming to an end. Come Spring of 2019, I was playing for the Salt Lake Lugnuts, which I had for the previous three fall seasons because the Rounders were typically only a Spring team. Spring of 2019 would ultimately be the Lugnuts final season, so I knew I’d need to figure something out with the Rounders if I wanted to play. To start, we only had about three returning Rounders from 2018 and two Lugnuts who wanted to play with us in the Fall. So, my task ahead was to find about 10-12 players to fill a solid roster.

Halfway through the Lugnuts season, I began recruiting through the website and actually holding “tryouts” at public fields on the weekends. I had also sent a few emails to Spring managers who weren’t playing in the Fall to see if any of their players would be interested. I was lucky enough to have a good turnout for a few weekends in a row and found some great talent. So, the Rounders were set to start another season with a completely new look.

I’ll be honest, although I knew these guys had some serious talent, I didn’t have high hopes after seeing how 2017-2018 went. But I knew this year I did my due diligence and worked a lot harder to field the best team that I could with what resources I had.

We started the season 2-3. Given the circumstances of our roster, I was actually really impressed with our guys so far but that chemistry just wasn’t quite there yet. Something must have clicked because we won our next six games to improve to 8-3 and ultimately finished the season tied for second place with a record of 10-5. I was so proud of my guys. A 6-team, single-elimination postseason started just two days after our last game. We won the first two games and made it to the Championship. At this point, I’m not even surprised anymore because I’ve realized just how good my guys were.

We were ready for the Championship game against the Outsiders, which would be our third game in as many days and our fifth over the last eight days. It was expected to be around 40°-45° with a chance of snow on this night. Sure enough, it snowed. I started Caleb Schulte, who had pitched a complete game the previous week. He gave up three runs in the top of the first. We came right back and scored one in the bottom and another in the fourth. We were down to 2-3 in the bottom of the fifth and I hit a 2-run homer to left field, which put us up by one. In the bottom of the sixth Ryan Sedillo hit his own 2-run homer, which put us up 7-3. Meanwhile, Caleb Schulte hasn’t allowed a run since the first inning and would end up giving up only one more in the ninth to secure a 7-4 Championship win and his second complete game in as many starts.

Needless to say, I was and still am so proud of this team who started the season barely knowing each other’s names, to winning a Championship. Can’t wait for Spring 2020!

Mid-Iowa Baseball League, 48+ Division

Des Moines Reds 5, Des Moines Yankees 0

Back Row (L-R): Keith Springer, Matt Kamp, Warren Anderson, Raun Taylor, Don Caves, Keith DeWitt. Front Row (L-R): Tim Kirgan, Scott Etzel, Randy Kirkpatrick, Danny Holmes, Phil Smith, Chad Reinke. Not Pictured: Gary Frank, John Parsons, Jon Resler, Keith Snyder

‘Smith and Anderson Shut the Door from the Bump’

Submitted by Tim Kirgan, MSBL and Mid-Iowa Hall of Fame member

Our season was really one of two tales.  We started out trying to grow our team and the league, adding five new players who hadn’t played hardball in over 20 years.   Many guys were very rusty to say the least.  But we kept getting better throughout the year, losing several close games during our 0-10 stretch.  No one ever got discouraged or said a negative thing about each other.  Everyone just played hard and had fun.  The team’s perseverance paid off with a season ending four game winning streak, outscoring our opponents 28-12, and winning the league’s 48+ championship.  The final game score was Des Moines Reds 5, Des Moines Yankees 0.  Phil Smith was voted team MVP, the winning pitcher in all four games during our title run.  Warren Anderson earned saves in all four games.  The Reds leading hitters for the tournament included Scott Etzel .728, Warren Anderson .667, Matt Kamp .555, Don Caves .500, with Keith Springer, Gary Frank and Raun Taylor each hitting .400.

I would add a few things as well if I may.  Warren Anderson, Keith DeWitt, Gary Frank and myself are all original members of the league, which was started in 1994.  We believe we are the only players that have played in every season of our league’s existence, 26 years.  We also believe each of us has now won over 40 league championships (regular season and playoffs).  No one knows for sure and I don’t think any of us really care.  We are all very thankful to be in good health and just enjoy being able to continue to play baseball.

I also think it is worth noting that this 48+ division almost didn’t happen!  In the spring of 2019, Warren Anderson and I attended league board meetings and pushed hard for the league to form a 48+ league while keeping its previous 42+ division, too.  The purpose of this of course was to provide a safe, quality league for players of all ages to play baseball.  Surprisingly this idea was met with resistance as board members did not believe our older league would have enough players.  The league previously had six teams in one 42+ age division.  The result for the league, however, was an increased membership with more guys playing baseball, and an increase in the total number of teams age 42 and over, from six to eight (four teams in the 42+ division and four teams in the 48+ division).  Our vision paid off as the midweek league grew by two teams with many new players, that had not played in years, coming back to once again play baseball.  While we are proud of our success on the field, Warren and I are both also very proud that we were able to help provide quality baseball for older adults in central Iowa.

Cleveland MSBL, 25+ Gold Division

Inca Chiefs 11, Steve’s Sports 7

‘Veterans Take Center Stage for Championship Sweep’

Submitted by Janez Ambrozic, Chiefs manager

Cleveland’s Inca Chiefs won their first championship of their near 15 year history by defeating perennial national power Steve’s Sports in a wild two game series. After winning the regular season opener against Steve’s 2-1 and then again the season finale against them 9-3 to secure the #1 seed, they faced the daunting task of needing to win back to back games on the final Sunday, after losing 2-1 earlier in the playoffs to a strong upstart NEO Sports squad and having to play back through the loser bracket. Going 4-0 against the defending champs in one year seemed a tall ask.  They had barely survived the ride the weekend before, needing a two out, full count RBI triple in the 9^th inning by Cory Finkler to tie the game, before winning it in extras. They were able to exact revenge for their loss to NEO immediately after that game by beating NEO handily 9-4, setting up their championship showdown the following Sunday. Missing four key hitters (Cory Finkler who led the team in HRs, Christian Brandetsas who batted .360 and was in the top two in runs and RBI’s, Mike Henfling who had hit .700 in the playoffs as well as been stellar behind the plate, and John Kosko who hit .341) and facing a loaded Steve’s lineup, their stellar hard throwing 4 man rotation would be key, as pitching and defense had carried them all year.  Crucially they jumped out to a lead on a two run double in the first inning by catcher Richie Perez, setting the tone for game 1. They extended it with 5 more runs in the fourth with hits from Mitch Zofka and Brad Forward, plus a number of walks. Jim Solano, who was the winning pitcher of record in the regular season finale, started on the mound, mixing his mid 80s fastball and big curveball to limit them to no runs through those 4 innings. Ben Pope, the Chiefs most dominating starter all year with his mid 80s fastball and wipe out slider, pitched through to the eight allowing 3 runs. Tyler Finkler, relinquished his SS duties in the 9^th to resume his closer role, where his 90 MPH fastball closed out the game. The final inning was not without drama, as Mitch Zofka made a diving catch in left for the final out with two men on and the game still at 7-3. He banged his head hard on the turf of the brand new Jim Thome All Star Complex, but managed to hang on. Unfortunately, he was not able to hang on till the second deciding game, as nausea and dizziness required him to be taken to the local hospital to monitor for concussion. Now down another key player the Chiefs did what they had done all season, find a way. Ace pitcher Ben Pope from game one, was inserted in the game to hit in Zofka’s spot and the defense was shifted around as longtime veteran and manager J. Ambrozic shifted from second to left field.

Chiefs shifted to the home two for the deciding game and innings eater Josh Armbruster took the mound. Notorious for long at bats and grinding through games with his mid 80’s fastball, slider, and change. Steve’s did jump out to a 3 run lead with a home run in the first, and some of the crowd started to thin thinking the depth and talent would finally start to show its face, as Steve’s also inserted some of it’s younger players for the big final game. But the Chiefs answered in the bottom half with two runs of their own, with RBI singles from Roger Prettyman and Alex Perella. These two hits and answering the early runs were key to the championship. Steve’s countered with three more runs in the second, and the crowd thinned some more. But again the chiefs countered with a run to make it 6-3, and made the last out on the base paths. Ambrozic settled the team down, imploring them to trust each other as they had all year. Armbruster worked out of a bases loaded, no out jam in the fourth, getting a ground out coming home, a strike out and a play at first. It was a huge momentum swing. Again the coach brought the team together, saying the next team to score was certain to win. Finkler led off the 5^th with a single and after a sac bunt and fly, the only other original Chief along with Ambrozic, 43 year old Brad Forwad’s two out single made the game 6-4. After a couple hits and walks, a bases loaded HBP in the 6^th made the game 6-5. With Ambrozic shifted from second to the outfield, Andy Hawkins and Matt Milward shared duties at second, Hawkins’s having a key hit and Milward turning a huge double play to end the 6^th. With two on and one out in the 7^th, 41 year old Chiefs founder Ambrozic hit a line drive single to right to tie the game. From there the flood gates opened after relinquishing the seemingly insurmountable lead, Pope, Finkler, Perella and Zeus Roldan all had hits to take an 11-6 lead. Armbruster settled in and never gave up fighting, allowing one meaningless run in the ninth after the six early ones, for the complete game victory. Poetically, original Chiefs Ambrozic and Forward, 84 years old between them, accounted for 8 of the 18 runs scored that day, with Forward 4-5 in the crucial final game including two doubles and a lumbering triple. Pitcher Ben Pope, “forced” into the lineup of game 2, finished 4-5 with two doubles and two RBIs. In the deciding game Finkler finished 4-5 with 5 runs accounted for, as did Perella finish 3-3 with 4 runs. Every player in the lineup had a hit in game two. The Chiefs, like they had all year, like they had the last 15 years, never stopped believing they could win the championship.

Asheville Adult Baseball League, 18+

Brewsers 3, Black Sox 2

From left to right: Christian Lindsey, Doug Graupe, Chris Sabol, John Vesel, Robert Priddy, Josh Hall, Zach Hall, Gil Santiago, Rick Sichta. Not pictured: Sawyer McLamb, Cody Robinson, Dylan Jones, Wes Aulet

‘Brewsers Accomplish ‘Three-peat’

Submitted by Gil Santiago, Brewsers manager

The Asheville Adult Baseball League 18+ (AABL) crowned the Brewsers for the third straight year as champions. Brewsers outscored opponents 39-7 in four post-season games with the finale being a 3-2 pitcher’s duel.

Josh Hall led the Brewers to victory on the hill. He went six and a third innings, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out six while throwing 124 pitches. Christian Lindsey threw two-thirds of an inning in relief out of the bullpen sealing the deal and recording the save. The Brewsers tallied 11 hits on the day. Rick Sichta, Chris Sabol, Wes Aulet and Hall collected two hits each. The Brewsers didn’t commit a single error in the field. Three-peat complete!

Tucson MSBL, American division

Cubs 11, Twins 6

Submitted by Rick Bitzer, Cubs manager

The Cubs defeated the Twins 11 – 6 in the championship game. Mark Phillips got the win with Gabe Frankel closing it out. This team is nearly the same team that lost in the 2016 Championship in 17 innings. Due to weather issues and several league tragedies, this season was long and full of emotion. However, teams played on and made the best of it. The Cubs started the season slow but gained momentum as the season went along. We did not lose a single playoff game in the final weeks of the season. Our pitching work horse was Mark Phillips (with 61k and an ERA of 3.33 in 54 innings) who had help all season from Gabe Frankel, Joey Rohe and Mike LaChappelle.

Our offense was led by Jimmy Curtis – .556, David Cruz – .519, Pete Parillo – .500 and Steve Ivanoff – .490. We also featured a host of other players in the mid .350’s to mid. 400’s. There were lots of game hero’s with clutch hits all season that made the difference.

This year’s Cubs defense was also outstanding both on the dirt and the grass. We saved many games with solid fielding to support our pitching. Pete Parillo, Kyle Ivanoff and Ben Fife took turns behind the dish all season which helped keep each our catching core fresh. Several Cubs players also got picked up this year to play in the MSBL World Series in Phoenix.

This was my 17th year with the Tucson MSBL and my 16th year as Cubs player/manager. This is without question the finest team I have ever had the privilege of playing ball with. Their teamwork and teammate support was something to see. It is just an outstanding group of ball players and men whom I could always count on. We also won the Central Division Championship in 2004. The Cubs are looking forward to defending our Division Championship in 2020.

SOCAL MSBL, Open Division

Sun Devils 19, OC Bulls 17

Top row L-R: Jacob Mohr, Alan Ray, Brett Wachinski, Alex Castro, John Duran, Vince Payne, Anthony Velazquez, Zack Marton, Brandon Chacon. Bottom row L-R: Derek Clair (Mgr.), Ryan Cheo, Tom Gelatka, Aaron Gates, Gabe Garcia, Jason Greene, Brett Stewart. Not pictured: Dave Morrow and Darryl Williams

‘Garcia Shines in Game one, Fans 19’

Submitted by Derek Clair, Sun Devils manager

The So Cal Sun Devils, based out of Orange County, Ca, swept the OC Bulls in the best of three finals to win the 2019 SOCAL MSBL Open Division championship. The Devils won the first game 4-0 behind southpaw Gabe Garcia’s complete game shutout that included 19 strikeouts!

In the second game, the Sun Devils bolted out to a 16-4 lead before the very talented Bulls came roaring back with 11 straight runs to cut the lead to one. The Devils tacked on 3 late runs and hung on for the wild 19-17 nail biter win to claim the title.

The Sun Devils struggled early in the 2019 season and after being swept in a mid-season doubleheader, saw their record fall to 5-8 on the year. But the Devils stuck to their preseason plan of bolstering the roster with talented players with great attitudes. This process galvanized the team to win nine consecutive games to finish the season 14-8. The team outscored their opponents 84-36 during that span. The Sun Devils motto is to put their best defense on the field with strike throwers on the mound.

The Sun Devils have a rich history, after being founded some 30 years ago by MSBL National HOF Dennis Swartout. They have won 12 league championships during that span. The Devils have evolved from a 30 plus division team, then moved up to the 35+ in the early 2000’s before deciding to challenge themselves by moving to the Open division in 2017. The Sun Devils have also been part of five MSBL National World Series Championships (1995, 1996, 2009, 2011 and 2012). They have claimed titles in 30+, 45+ and 50+ age brackets. The Sun Devils are currently managed by Derek Clair and assisted by Brett Stewart.

Indiana Baseball League, 45+ Division

Indy Stallions 7, Braves 4

‘Stallions Claim Tenth Title in 12 Year Span’

The Indiana Baseball League had a familiar winner in the 2019 45+ Championship, as the Indy Stallions won their 10 Championship in 12 years in the IBL.  The Stallions 7-4 victory over the 45+ Braves marked their 250 Team Victory with only 14 losses.  The Braves were coming off six consecutive 45+ championships and a decade of dominance.

The Stallions had not formed a team since 2014 and had won three championships each in Division 18+, 25+, and 35+.  When the group had enough players to field a 45+ team, players were hungry to get things going again.  It didn’t take long as they Stallions breezed through the regular season with a 13-1 record and finishing 15-1 on the season.

It was a beautiful Fall night in Indy as the Championship Game was played.  The Stallions played solid all night, turning five double plays and had dominate pitching by the lefty combo of Jeff Montfort (UIndy) and Ricky Davis (IUPUI).   The Stallions hitting was led by John Smith (UMiami-FL/Mets), Steve Kritzmire (Turman State-MO), Mike Risley (OlneyJC-IL) and Demetrius Dowler (Indiana State/Cubs) who all had multiple hits and RBI.  The Braves were hanging tough with Ray Starnes (Purdue/Phillies), Eric Mertl (St.Andrews-NC) and Kevin Kluemper (Rose Hulman) who hit the ball solid all night.  In the end the Stallions proved too much for the Braves.

The game featured 23 ex-college baseball players from all over the country, with ages ranging from 45-74 years old.   It was a great game as many have played against or with each other since their early 20’s.  “It was the two best teams in Indy no doubt about it”, said Braves Player/Manager Kevin Dotson (UMemphis/Dodgers).

“Looking at this game, we had the who’s who of players at this age bracket.  It’s also not every day that you have to walk a 74 year-old (Starnes) because he’s 2-2 with two line drives.  It’s a beautiful game,” stated Stallions Player/Manager Cary Davis (BarryU-FL).

The competition is what keeps these guys going, and both will continue to get stronger as their younger players age up a bracket.   Look for both teams to be at the top of the 45+ Division for years to come.