18+ Champion Arrows

“Since the creation of man, nothing has raised his heartbeat and testosterone quite like competition.  The tragedies and triumphs of man versus man are well documented throughout the ages.  In 1839, a man named Doubleday found a way to combine competition and skill into a perfect game called baseball.  Shortly after that the competition was taken to another level when the dreams of every young boy began to circle around “Championship”.

Anonymous quote

The Arrows are the 2009 18+ Champions.

In an excellently played and highly competitive game on Sunday August 30, The Arrows prevailed over the Hurricanes 5-2 in 10 innings.

It was the Arrows’ Eric Teall and Ryan Wyland for the Canes facing off and matching each other almost pitch for pitch for all 10 innings.  The Arrows struck in the first inning when leadoff man Robbie Hechinger scored on a passed ball before Wyland struck out the side.  Teall allowed 2 runs in the bottom of the inning when a booming double off the bat of Tom Gandolph scored Chad Pike and Jude Burger.  From there on it was a stalemate until the Arrows pushed across the tying run in the 6^th when Ryne Foster walked and then came around to score on singles by Brad Meyer and Jim Wegener.

Both teams had scoring opportunities thwarted by excellent pitches and outstanding defense.  The Arrows threatened in the 5^th with runners at second and third with one out, but Wyland bore down and got a strikeout and a ground ball to short to end it, Jude Burger saving 2 runs with an outstanding effort on the play.  The Canes got a leadoff single in the 4^th but the potential rally was stopped when Bryan Apolskis made a diving catch in center and then fired a strike to first base to double up the runner.  After that, Teall settled in and retired 16 of the next 17 batters he faced.  Hurricanes centerfielder Chad Pike stymied the Arrows on a play where he severely dislocated a finger making a diving catch on a line drive off the bat of Clay Slaughter that certainly would have scored Hechinger from second base.  Unfortunately, Chad and had to leave the game to go to the emergency room.   That’s the kind of game it was.

The Canes looked like they were going to win it in regulation when Gandolph ripped a 2 out single and then pinch runner Danny Roberts stole second and went to third on an errant throw from catcher Seth Paul.  Wyland was denied the opportunity to win it for himself when Arrows skipper Drew Furry decided to walk him with the winning run at third.  The knowledge that Ryan had sealed the Hurricanes semi final win with a Home Run certainly factored into the strategy.  It looked like the intentional walk was going to backfire when Danny Gillin sent a fly ball deep to center, but it was eventually chased down on the warning track by Apolskis who was fully extended and fell to the ground after making the catch.

That set the stage for the 10^th inning.  When the first two Arrows struck out looking, it was shaping up to be a long afternoon.  Then Slaughter drew a walk and advanced to second on a single by Apolskis.  That brought up Seth Paul, held hitless to that point, who rifled a single on the first pitch to bring in Slaughter with the lead run, Apolskis going to third on the play.   Paul was replaced with courtesy runner Hechinger who took second uncontested.  With an 0-2 count on Foster, it looked like the Canes were going to get out of it only trailing by 1, but the Arrows first baseman came through with a big hit to score both insurance runs and complete the 2 out rally. The Canes would put a runner on with 2 out in the bottom of the inning but then the last out of the game came on a fly ball to right.

The final four featured teams that finished within one game of each other in the standings, and who had taken turns beating each other in the regular season.

The #4 seed Arrows had to come from behind against the #5 Braves with their closer Ben Stenger throwing 5 innings of relief, to advance to the semi finals against the Dodgers.  The Arrows/Dodgers rivalry dates back to 1994 and the NABA when the Dodgers were known as the Jacklegs, and has featured some memorable games.  The semi final was another in the series, in a closely contested game the Arrows got past the #1 seeded Dodgers 6-3 behind 4 innings of no hit relief by Ryan “Shoes” Nicholson.

The #3 seed Hurricanes got to their second championship game in 3 years by besting the Mustangs 7-2 in a game that was closer than the score would indicate, and then in the semi final, getting past the #2 seed Beavers 5-3 in a see saw game that was decided on a Home Run by Ryan Wyland, who also closed the game for Kenny Hughes.

This was the most competitive playoffs in 18+ history, all games being highly contested with gutsy pitching performances, lay it all on the line defense and clutch hitting.  It really doesn’t get any better.  Congratulations to all the 18+ teams for their efforts and congratulations to the Arrows for winning their second championship.