MCSN: August 23, 2014

Sting Like A Beeh

Week 9 Recap

By Rob Tong

Fri, Sep 19, 2014

The 2014 Moody Softball champion Killer Beehs For the first time since 2008, the league provided complimentary lunch for participants and their families on Championship Saturday (and this year, the league also provided complimentary breakfast as well).

But more notably, for the first time since 2007, the Championship Game did not feature the #1 seed. What's more, for the first time ever in the history of the league, the Championship Game did not feature either the #1 or #2 seeds. How did that happen?

8am: First-round Playoffs, #5 Shield Bearers at #4 Tectonic Plates

Last week, the Shield Bearers were without inspirational assistant manager Tim Kurtz. This time, they were locked and loaded with Kurtz back...ready to avenge their previous loss to the Plates.

But the Plates were ready. Pitcher Scott Whitaker kept the Bearers, including slugger David Fowler, in check all game, limiting them to a season-low two runs. The Shield Bearers had a chance with two runners in scoring position in the fourth inning but came up empty.

"That was the ballgame," Fowler conceded.

On the offensive side, the Plates' Tim Verduin and Matt Chandler hit big shots off hard-luck veteran Shield pitcher Bruce Riegel that helped lead the Tectonic Dinnerware to an easy 13-2 victory.

With the victory, they would face the #1 Halos at 10am.

The 2014 Caravan

9am: Semi-finals: #3 Killer Beehs at #2 Caravan

If the #3 Killer Beehs had tough sledding to get past #6 Fruit Of The Spirit, then theoretically, #2 Caravan should dispatch the Beehs easily.

But the Beehs were ready. With both teams sporting the same number of batters in the lineup, this was a matchup of the Beehs' power vs. Caravan's depth.

Not surprisingly, defense and pitching was the showcase here. But Caravan was squeaking towards the finish line with a slim lead, first with a 5-1 lead after three innings and 6-2 after five innings, surviving a Robert Rezek solo home run over the fence, as Caravan ace pitcher Pa Nelson and his defense astoundingly held the Beehs to under five hits through five innings.

But then the fateful sixth inning came and pitcher Pa Nelson faced Rezek again, this time with the bases loaded and the score 6-3. There was chatter about whether to intentionally walk the slugger or take their chances. Pa was told to go after Rezek, but it was Rezek who went after Pa, launching a heart-breaking grand slam to give the Killer Beehs a stunning 7-6 lead. Rezek made the lead hold up by shutting out the Caravan in the final two innings. Thus, even though Caravan had twice as many hits as the Beehs (14-7), it was the Beehs who would advance to the Championship Game.

The 2014 Halos

10am: #4 Tectonic Plates at #1 Halos

The Plates beat the Halos in their last encounter, handing the Blue Angels their only loss of the season, so the Plates were coming into this game full of confidence. On the other hand, Rob Tong-led teams have made it to the Championship Game four of the last seven seasons, so this promised to be quite a battle.

The game lived up to its promise. The Plates put up five runs in the first inning to try to set the tone but the Halos responded with four of their own in the bottom half to keep the game close. Then the Plates hit the gas pedal and jumped out to a 9-5 lead after three innings thanks in part to a Tim Verduin over-the-fence home run. Stephen Hage helped his team's own cause with a smash to deep left-center in the fifth inning. By the time the Plates finished hitting in the top of the sixth inning, they were leading the top seed 12-6. Meanwhile, the Halos' first two hitters in the bottom half of the inning went down and the team looked finished. Or were they?

Dan Armstrong smacked a double. After Scott Veigel coaxed a walk off Plate pitcher Scott Whitaker, Tom Collins hit a single to bring in a run. Robert Martinez was intentionally walked to load the bases, but Jeff Kobayashi made them pay by unloading the bases with a double. Rob Tong followed with a double of his own to plate Kobayashi and close the scoring with five runs. The Halos somehow now only trailed by one run. All this with two outs.

“That was probably the best game I've ever seen.”

- Tim Kurtz said of the Tectonic Plates tightly-contested game against the Halos

After Halos pitcher Veigel set down the Plates in the top of the seventh, the stage was set for the Halos' bottom of the order to come up with another dramatic tie or win. The Halos already had three walk-off victories this year,
a league record.

But Whitaker willed his team to victory, taking deep breaths between pitches to help calm his nerves and setting down the Halos in order to seal the truly seismic win over the #1 seed. The elated Plates celebrated their nerve-wracking but well-deserved victory.

"That was probably the best (Moody Softball) game I've ever seen, and I'm glad I was able to be part of it (by umping)," Tim Kurtz said.

11am: Championship: #4 Tectonic Plates at #3 Killer Beehs

Could the Plates pull off a second mega-upset in a row? Though the Beehs are the #3 seed, they have the talent to easily be the #1 seed.

The answer turned out to be no.

The Plates' Matt Chandler led off the game with a monster shot to deep center field and looked to have an easy inside-the-park home run. Maybe the Plates could pull off another shocker. But alas, Killer Beehs shortstop Eric Lim fired a laser relay to pitcher Rezek covering home for an easy out at the plate.

And the Plates seemingly could not recover after that. Verduin, Rob McMahon, Dave Zuperku, Chandler and Whitaker all were hitting weak balls off Rezek, unlike the cannons they were blasting just an hour earlier against the Halos. Maybe playing in their third game of the morning was catching up to them. Maybe Rezek is simply a masterful pitcher. We will never know this side of heaven, but one thing is for sure: the Beehs decided to hit since the Plates were not. Beeh slugger Joshua Pagan showed off his ability to hit to right field, Giovanni Medina hit not one but two balls to deep outfield spots, and every Beeh reached base at least once.

It didn't help the Plates that pitcher Whitaker suddenly couldn't find the strike mat, having to be relieved by Mandy Verduin on the mound, who did a respectable job on emergency notice.

So just as Chris Carter won the championship in his third year of recycling his last name as his team name ("Carter Administration"), so does Bryan Beeh also win the championship in his third year of recycling his name as his team name ("Killer Beehs"). We should all be so vain.

Congratulations to the 2014 Killer Beehs!

Lord willing, we'll see you next year for another season of fun in the Son! And start thinking now of a friend you might want to invite to get the friend discount!