MCSN: August 25, 2012

Pass the Plate passed the Transformers

Fine China

Championship Recap

Wed, Aug 29, 2012

The MCSN season was completed on a hot and sunny August saturday that began like any other, but history was about to be made.

The Transformers juggernaut seemed a lock for the league title, having coasted through the regular season in record fashion and facing a day where they would need to lose twice to be denied a crown. Pass the Plate's day started auspiciously when the team's main passel of bats was left in Dan Coughlin's car, which had been relocated to Danville, IL with his wife and children.

The top two regular season teams opened the day's action, and Pass the Plate proved Primed for the upset with a four-run first inning, showing no ill effects of their missing bats.

The Transformers answered with four runs of their own in the first, and the foundation for a classic was laid. It's possible the Transformers could have added a critical fifth run in that inning, but Nick "the Plate" Ploegstra painted the corners all day, keeping the Transformers off balance and inducing two key called third strikes in that first inning.

In one of the first games all year that featured two 13-person lineups, depth would prove crucial, but these were perhaps the two deepest teams in the league.

After a scoreless second, Pass the Plate went up with two runs in the third, but the Transformers again responded with four runs and appeared to be in control of the game.

The Transformers led 8-7 heading into the sixth inning, when Pass the Plate erupted for four more runs and the Transformers faced a rare late-inning deficit. However, once again the Transformers answered with two runs of their own to close the gap to 11-10 with one inning to play.

Alas, neither team could muster any offense in the final inning. The Transformers had Fallen, but in this double-elimination tango, they would definitely be able to get up.

Les Carter and Andrew Tisler powered the offense for the victors, going a combined 6-for-6 with six runs scored and seven RBIs, although controversy surrounded one of Carter's inside-the-park-home runs that some contended had hit the trees and should have been a ground-rule-double.

The Transformers were led by the typically explosive trio of TMT (Tisler, Martinez & Tong), who contributed a combined seven of the team's 10 RBIs.

Moving into the loser's bracket meant another game at 9am for the Transformers against the hot-hitting (and fresh!) Believas.

The Transformers showed their mettle (metal?) by bouncing back and trouncing the Believas 16-8. But it was more energy expended and the heat was rising, literally and metaphorically, heading into the 10am tilt. Additionally, one of the younger players on the Transformers roster, Chris Cormier, was lost for the remainder of the day.

“I'm beginning to think having four outfielders is overrated.”

- Transformers manager Rob Tong on his team's struggle to take advantage of the Beehs' three outfielders.

Pass the Plate vs. the Transformers Part Deux would be no laughing matter for Pass the Plate as the Transformers easily handled the younger and fresher Plates 14-6.

The first inning opened in similar fashion to their first game, deadlocked at three runs each. That is where the similarities ended, though, as the Transformers scored five in the third and four in the fourth to blow the game open. Offensively, the Transformers were led by Rob Tong and Ovi Tisler with four RBIs apiece.

"Robot" Martinez had to leave the game early, and, unlike the Terminator, he did not come baaack for the rest of the day. Crafty pitcher Bruce Riegel was also finished after this game, giving rise to suspicions he may have been powering himself with an Armstrong-like EPO solution that simply ran out of gas in the heat of the day.

And so, both teams trudged toward the day's final game and the third matchup of the day between Pass the Plate and the Transformers, and a record-breaking fourth consecutive game overall for the now-depleted Transformers. An 8am game that had featured 13 players on both rosters had whithered down to 12 for the Plates vs 10 for the Transformers.

Perhaps the youth and vigor of Pass the Plate would overcome the experienced precision of the Transformers?

Once again, the two teams opened with strong offensive first innings with a 3-2 lead for the Transformers. And after five innings, the Transformers held a 5-4 lead.

But this trilogy-closer was more Return of the King than Dark Side of the Moon, as Andrew Tisler's second over-the-fence homer of the game led to a three-run sixth inning and positioned Pass the Plate for the championship.

Some quarters were also speculating that after wife Andrea's big-hitting the week before, Andrew was eager to prove he had not been surpassed by his better half.

The Transformers were not going to go quietly and staged a rally in the bottom of the seventh. Team manager and league commish Rob Tong represented the winning run with two outs and two on, but the crafty Ploegstra induced him into a meager fly ball that concluded the season.

Pass the Plate's victory left the 2008 Emoticons as the only undefeated team in league history, a team that Plates-hero Andrew Tisler (and wife Andrea) also played on.

Pass the Plate's typically strong defense was also bolstered throughout the day by the play of Mayi Castro at both first and third base.

For the second time in a day, the Transformers lost a game where they had outhit their opponent, but they just couldn't get them at the right time.

Player-manager Rob Tong's record in title tilts dropped to 1-3 and he was rumored to be presented with a Jim Kelly jersey after the game. However, he will enter next season as the all-time RBIs leader in the league, so he'll certainly have plenty of motivation in his off-season workouts.

Rookie manager, but league veteran, Jeremy Huntington won his second overall title and hopes to avoid the fate of last year's winning rookie manager Jerry Hodge, who underwent off-season knee surgery.

Thus ended the 2012 season as yet another regular-season champion was unseated in the playoffs.

See you all next year!