In a collective senior moment, Big Red and Scarlet forgot that today's consolation game was totally meaningless and dueled to the end, with Red prevailing 21-19.
It started with both teams hot each gaining the "curse of the first" with five runs. Red stayed ahead or tied through six, but Scarlet wouldn't lay down, and took leads of 16-14 and 19-16 in the top of the seventh and eighth, respectively. But Red responded each time, and in the bottom of the eighth, after the bottom of the order turned it over to the top with three runs in and the score tied, Rich Brown put Red ahead to stay with a two run single. Scarlet couldn't answer the bell in the ninth, and suddenly the season was over.
Everyone had a hit but the top of the lineup did most of the damage. Kevin Kane went out in style with a perfect 5-5 day including a triple. Mark Pitzlin led the team with four RBIs on a double and a home run. James Del Rio also was perfect at 4-4, including two doubles and a home run. Nah, we didn't miss him last week when he was suspended. Much. Oh Well.
Randy Crase, Mr. Consistency, was also 4-4 with a double, and Lamont LT Thompson rounded out the hitters with perfect days, 4-4 with a double and three RBIs. Brown and Tony Gorgone had three hits, and Kravin got a clutch double in the third.
On defense, it was a tale of two games. At times, we reverted to our former error prone selves, but we put up enough good plays in this game to ultimately make a difference. In the second, Del Rio made perhaps the play of the game, snagging a sinking line drive up the middle and flipping it to LT who alertly covered second and got the runner there who had taken off too quickly.
If there would be gold gloves given out, my nominee at 2B would be Gorgone, who made play after play, including handling a tough grounder in the sixth to hold Scarlet to one run. Del Rio also showed his range by going into shallow left to catch a blooper that seemed destined to fall. But not. And finally Pitzlin made one of his signature running catches on a shallow fly in the fifth.
What a season for Red, from the depths of last place to the top of the heap in the second half and then the disappointment of losing the first round of the playoffs, when expectations were so high. We all learned from it, even in our advanced ages, and appreciated going out with a win all that much more. We also went out for pizza, at Pinky's Pizza to enjoy the season just a little more. Special thanks to Mark Pitzlin for bringing post game beer and soda every week, and injecting a winning spirit into this team. And to Larry Rafferty for keeping it together through the tough first half and leading us to the undefeated second half. But - let me remind you one more time Larry - in the games you missed, we never lost, the Co-manager went the whole year without a loss. And there you have it!
It started with both teams hot each gaining the "curse of the first" with five runs. Red stayed ahead or tied through six, but Scarlet wouldn't lay down, and took leads of 16-14 and 19-16 in the top of the seventh and eighth, respectively. But Red responded each time, and in the bottom of the eighth, after the bottom of the order turned it over to the top with three runs in and the score tied, Rich Brown put Red ahead to stay with a two run single. Scarlet couldn't answer the bell in the ninth, and suddenly the season was over.
Everyone had a hit but the top of the lineup did most of the damage. Kevin Kane went out in style with a perfect 5-5 day including a triple. Mark Pitzlin led the team with four RBIs on a double and a home run. James Del Rio also was perfect at 4-4, including two doubles and a home run. Nah, we didn't miss him last week when he was suspended. Much. Oh Well.
Randy Crase, Mr. Consistency, was also 4-4 with a double, and Lamont LT Thompson rounded out the hitters with perfect days, 4-4 with a double and three RBIs. Brown and Tony Gorgone had three hits, and Kravin got a clutch double in the third.
On defense, it was a tale of two games. At times, we reverted to our former error prone selves, but we put up enough good plays in this game to ultimately make a difference. In the second, Del Rio made perhaps the play of the game, snagging a sinking line drive up the middle and flipping it to LT who alertly covered second and got the runner there who had taken off too quickly.
If there would be gold gloves given out, my nominee at 2B would be Gorgone, who made play after play, including handling a tough grounder in the sixth to hold Scarlet to one run. Del Rio also showed his range by going into shallow left to catch a blooper that seemed destined to fall. But not. And finally Pitzlin made one of his signature running catches on a shallow fly in the fifth.
What a season for Red, from the depths of last place to the top of the heap in the second half and then the disappointment of losing the first round of the playoffs, when expectations were so high. We all learned from it, even in our advanced ages, and appreciated going out with a win all that much more. We also went out for pizza, at Pinky's Pizza to enjoy the season just a little more. Special thanks to Mark Pitzlin for bringing post game beer and soda every week, and injecting a winning spirit into this team. And to Larry Rafferty for keeping it together through the tough first half and leading us to the undefeated second half. But - let me remind you one more time Larry - in the games you missed, we never lost, the Co-manager went the whole year without a loss. And there you have it!
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