MCSN: August 21, 2010

Playoff Payoff

First-round Playoff Recap

Fri, Aug 27, 2010

El Fuego's Jacob Dodds digs in

El Fuego? Fueget about it!

After a 1.5-hour delay to prep the rain-soaked field, the day started with the biggest upset in MCSN playoff history when the #7-seeded Punishers came down on #2 seed El Fuego 16-12.

The Punishers couldn’t be stopped in the first inning, with all of the first six batters of their lineup getting hits and scoring four runs right away. The top of the Punisher lineup showed their strength throughout the game as the first three hitters scored 10 combined runs and Rob Tong brought in a playoff-record 10 RBI. In the sixth, El Fuego pulled ahead 9-8 thanks to big batters Jacob Dodds and Isac Malmgren. But the Punishers surged again the next inning to grab five runs, only to be answered tit-for-tat by El Fuego who tied them once more.

“[It] was a thriller”, said Punishers manager Scott Lilly. “Both teams simply refused to die.”

Going into extra innings to break the tie, El Fuego implemented a pitcher change and fielder reset, but the Punishers still grabbed four more runs and the win. El Fuego’s lineup went three-up, three-down during their last at-bat, sealing their fate.

“Our season saw a lot of player attrition, and for the playoffs we were glad to have even 9, so we thought we still had a great chance to win,” said Stephen Hage, El Fuego manager. “The extra inning [was] our downfall. It was an upset to be sure, but the Punishers were underrated all year and finally had the performance they were capable of having.”

Hage pointed to his co-manager Jacob Dodds for a great season and said, “While we didn't accomplish our goal of winning the league, we did meet our goal of making new friends and having the best time we could have.”

As El Fuego exit play and look back on the season, the Punishers look ahead to the playoffs, where they’ll meet the Carter Administration in the first game of the semi-finals Saturday.

“We're looking forward to our rematch with the Peanuts,” said Lilly. “Our plan is to foil their strategy to glide through the playoffs through a series of forfeits by showing up for the game.”

Joining El Fuego in the cheering stands this week is #6-seed Tsunami, who was edged out by the #3-seeded Smithereens 6-4.

The game was tied 1-1 until the fourth inning when Tsunami scored two runs to take the lead. However, early in the fifth, Smithereens first baseman Eric Morse got a two-run base hit to tie the game, which then sparked a five-run hitting frenzy among the Smithereens offense to win the game.

Both teams pointed to great pitching on both sides, Smithereens' flame thrower Amanda Delgado and Tsunami’s Sam Baturoni, for keeping batters to low run totals.

Despite the loss, Tsunami’s manager Sam Baturoni is already planning for next year. Off-season practices combined with the reputation he’s built up this season, Baturoni thinks he’ll peak in 2011.

“Next year, I'm going to be such a rock star, the single women of the MCSN will be throwing their promise rings at me," Baturoni said.

Smithreeens manager Mat Smith is also making predictions, but for next week, not next summer.

“Saturday, we’ll play red-hot Global Warming, said Smith. “They will try to ‘Bring the Heat!’ but the third time won't be the charm to get a win against us this year. Sorry Ovi!”

Smith was right to call #4-seed Global Warming hot, as they’re blazing through the MCSN schedule with four straight wins heading into the playoffs. Saturday, they beat out #5 seed Lion’s Den 8-3 in the 10 a.m. game to make it five straight.

The game was a defensive battle from the start, and members of both teams said it could have gone either way. According to Global Warming manager Ovi Tissler, his team had a secret weapon that put them over the top: pitcher Simone Halpin who had a career-topping performance.

Fans were nervous as the heart of the Global Warming order faltered early in the game, but the team was easily carried by big hits from Patrick Halpin and Dave "I-just-got-back-from-a-sweet-month-long-European-vacation" Zuperku, who went 3-3 with 3 RBIs.

Tisler confided Zuperku credited his performance with tips he picked up while sipping tea and watching famed English cricketer Graeme Swann's smooth mid-wicket reverse sweeps.

“I'm going to be such a rock star, the single women of the MCSN will be throwing their promise rings at me.”

- Tsunami's Sam Baturoni on next year

"I [thought] we used up all of our offense when we 'brought the heat' in last week's 19-13 win," Tisler said. "But we showed the scary effect that Global Cooling can have on our opponents. Next week's forecast will showcase an amazing localized combination of global warming when we bat, but cooling when the Smithereens come up to hit!”

I’m beginning to think Global Warming chose their name just to incorporate “bring the heat” in trash talk.

In the final game of the day, the eighth-seeded Wombats forfeited to top-ranked Carter Administration but played a scrimmage to end the season with activity. Two of the Carter Administration’s last three games have been against the Wombats, and according to assistant to the manager Bill Van Tuinen, they haven’t seen much action.

“We're going to have to shake off some rust, and I wonder if Commissioner Rob Tong has purposely put us
on ice in order to benefit his own (Punishers) team?” asked Van Tuinen. “There may be an independent
counsel appointed to consider this.”

“To ensure the wins Saturday, I've already arranged for a delivery of the tacos that Andrew Peterson ate last Friday night to the captains of the Punishers, Global Warming, and the Smithereens,” said Van Tuinen in reference to Peterson’s absence Saturday due to a stomach bug. “[But] I have some concern that the Tisler brothers may be immune to the bad food as having grown up eating a diet that is almost exclusively cabbage they may welcome any chance for diversity in their cuisine.”

Semi-finals begin at 8 a.m. when the #1-seed Carter Administration meets the #7-seed Punishers, and the #3-seed Smithereens play #4-seed Global Warming at 9 a.m. The winners of these games will meet in the Championship at 10 a.m. followed by the league-voted All-Star Game at 11 a.m.