Inconsistency marked our play in the field and at the plate. Now, 5 weeks later, 13-3 OBI is a proud owner of a double digit win streak that culminated in an extremely entertaining and 2 strange Season 1 postseason tournament victories.
Yes, OBI is once again Champions of a Season 1 Tournament for the second time in 3 years, having won 3 of the last 7 D2 tournament appearances since 2014 Season 1.
This season tournament consisted of the leagues final four. Interestingly, this gives additional value to the Regular Season and allowed the top teams an opportunity to battle for the title.
OBI secured the #2 seed with a double header sweep of #3 seed 7-5-2 Warning Track Power in the final week of the regular season. Basically, OBI earned right to be the Home Team, against Warning Track Power in the Semis. And with the wind blowing in on field #5, and runs proving to be hard to come by,,, this proved fortuitous.
The defense in the OBI Outfield set the tone for both games. Time and Time again, plays we made that most other teams can only dream of:
— Mando solid in LF but spectacular on catches going deep and towards the LF Corner in Game 1. But the play (somehow) made to end the top of the sixth and last inning of the Championship Game was a turning, twisting over which shoulder no one quite knows, bring it in and save runs Top Plays of the Week type stuff…
— Returning from injury and playing solid in LC, Jayse was aces until a 298’ near Big Fly hauled in when all but 3 players thought it was gone type catch to thwart a huge Game 2 rally.
— Returning to his old self, Spillane ranged left, right, back and forward to take hits and extries away from the opponents. More than once, Chris caught the ball on the dead run when it had already flown by another OFer.
— Both Tom and Paul had good nights even though at times the ball seemed to bounce as far away from them as possible. Tom's contortionistic stop of a line drive in Game 1 saved OBI's collective bacon as with the effort, no runs were scored after that hit in the extra frame.
Pitching was spectacular and even with the wind, am not sure a Walk was even given up.
— Juan gave up 1 run in the first two innings of Game 1 before moving to 2nd Base to take over for an injured John.
— Larry had not played in 3 weeks but pitched like he practiced every day from Game 1 3rd Inning on. After giving up 8 runs in 8 innings in Game 1, No Glove No Love scored 13 in the 6 inning Championship Game by charging back late with 8 total runs in the final two innings.
The infield was solid as well from corner to corner:
— Clint fielded the position well and made some nice throws on Double Play attempts. Speed kept him from turning a few.
— Michael moved well to pop flies and grounders alike at SS. Even the speedy were thrown out this night.
— John fielded well before a re-injured hamstring sent him to the bench.
— Juan also made a few nice plays on ground balls and a stolen base hit taken away on a looping shot over the infield on the first base line.
— Behind the plate, JR and Paul called good pitches and fielded their position well.
— At first base, Matt played his groin off as his stretches to snare throws for outs at first were successful as well as painful. A few short hop plays mixed in really made his fellow IFers look good as the opponents consistently sat down after swinging, all night…
But, winning Game 1 with offensive comebacks was Epic:
1st inning — Michael scored on Juan’s 2-out Single after Clint was thrown out at the plate on Michael’s hit. (1-1)
3rd inning — After JR and Larry single and are forced at 3rd and 2nd, respectively, Clint and Michael single to pull OBI back within 3. (2-5)
4th inning — Spillane singles after Matt, John, and Paul follow with Singles. Back within 2. (3-5)
5th inning — Hits by Larry and Mando are followed by 2-run Clint Double, and after Michael Single’s, Spillane pushes one across with a Line Out to RC (Remember this one). Jayse, Matt, and John’s hits push one more run across. (Tied at 7)
6th inning — In the final regulation inning, down by 1, Tom made it look easy with a Triple deep down the LF line. With one out, Larry singled and plated the tying run. (8-8)
7th inning — Again, WTP pushed across a run and was feeling very good about their chances after both Michael and Juan flew out. The from some alternate universe or possibly learning curve achieved by Spillane from inning 5,,, Chris lines a ball over RCers head for a Triple. With the tying run, Jayse beat feet and is safe at first, scoring Spillane. (Tie again at 9)
8th & 9th inning — Both teams put up 0s with other teams watching on…
10th inning — With one out, Michael tossed his Courtesy Swing and Walked on 3 pitches. Juan singled, moving Michael up one base. 7th inning Hero Spillane continues the magic and his base hit to RC goes through the 5 hole,,, Michael scores and the comeback / 10-inning Win is etched indelibly into Victory Lane Semi-Final Tourney Game History…
But wait, there is now another game to play, and OBI moves from field 5 to field 6,,, and the crowd cheered,, yaaaay!!!
The Championship Game started well and looked like an OBI runaway early as we raced out to a 12-5 lead after 4 innings. 9-7 #4 seed No Glove No Love had won their semi-final versus the 1 seed 18-11 and was primed to score some runs. They did in the top of innings 5 and 6, taking a 13-12 lead into the both of the 6th and final regulation inning. Following is the early offense and late game heroics that when mixed with our defensive effort have brought OBI another Victory Lane League Title…
1st inning — After Clint Doubled and Michael Singled, Juan and Spillane stroked RBI Singles. (OBI Leads 2-0)
2nd inning — John and Paul Single then Score on Tom’s Double. JR follows next with his own RBI Single and the top keeps it rolling as Mando singles and Clint rips another 2-run Double. Juan’s RBI Single closes out the innings scoring. (6-0)
3rd inning — A 5 spot in the top of the inning is countered by OBI with Jayse singling and a double by Matt, then both score on John’s legged out Double. And when I say legged out, I mean peg-legged as John’s Hammy was hurting but not stopping him from his hitting duties. Then after two outs, it took hits by JR and Larry to score John’s runner from second. (OBI 11-5)
4th inning — Back to Back Doubles by Michael and Juan plate a run. (12-5)
6th inning — After taking a 12-5 lead into the 5th inning, OBI now trails 12-13 going to the bottom half of the final inning. After JR’s liner was snagged for out 1 by the SS, Larry stroked a gapper in RF that he legged out for a Triple. With the tying run on third and one out, Mando was picky at the dish and walked.
With Larry representing the tying run a third and Mando the winning run at first, Clint took the proper next step and hit a Sac Fly to Left Field and tied the game at 13. Mando being heads up, moved up from first base to second on the play. Michael stepped up to the plate and lined the first good pitch over the pitchers head, easily driving in the speedy Mando for the walk-off League Tourney Title.
A fantastic 13-3 season capped off by a memorable postseason tourney run… How epic is a double digit win streak?
I am told that there are new Victory Lane League Champion shirts heading our way,,, possibly a $25 voucher for Jerseys. It looks like we are all hanging with winners both on and off the field… Gooooooo OBI !!!
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