MSBL Kickoff: Antiques win 65+ division

The Antiques went 5-1 in the Las Vegas Kickoff Classic 65+ division to take home the trophy. We opened on Saturday with wins over the Ports (Santa Rosa) and the Phillies (Philly & Detroit). We lost on Sunday morning to the San Diego Mudcats, then beat the Avengers (Springfield, Ill.) On Monday, we beat the Ports again in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, the Phillies, who won the 2014 tourney, beat the Mudcats in the other semi- final. We then knocked off the defending champs in the final. 6 games in three days with a 13- man roster. We voted Tom Turner our MVP for the tourney.

Top row (L to R): Denny Brown, Frank Garcia, Tom Turner, Mark Bloomer, Mike Souza, Hiro Tarumi
Bottom row (L to R): Rick Rickeman, Nelson Solberg, Mike Hanks, Bob Loflin, Bob Levine, Skip Willard
Missing: Bill Bonekat, who had to leave to catch a plane.

Details

Antiques 12 – Ports 7

In our opener on Saturday, Bob Loflin started on the mound. After 2 innings, there was no score. We put up 10 runs in a huge 3rd inning. Tom Turner started things with a double, and finished the scoring with another double. Nelson Solberg and Bill Bonekat also doubled in the inning. Mark Bloomer pitched three innings in relief, and Denny Brown finished the final two innings.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R
Antiques	0	0	10	0	0	1	0	1			12
Ports	0	0	2	0	0	4	1	0			7
Loflin, Bloomer (4), Brown(7) and Turner.

Antiques 7 – Phillies 4

In our second game on Saturday, we faced a Philadelphia Phillies team who were the defending champions. The Phillies loaded the bases with one out in the first. Starter Denny Brown wriggled off the hook when Pat Fynes hit a line drive right at 3B Mike Hanks, and then got a ground ball to end the inning. Hiro Tarumi contributed a defensive gem in the top of the third, running down Jeff Blatt’s bid for a double down the left field line. We finally broke through for the first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Bob Levine doubled and Rick Rickeman drove him in.

The Phillies struck back to take the lead with a 2-run 5th inning. Fred Krause’s RBI triple was the big hit in the inning. We got those two right back. Tom Turner singled, Hiro Tarumi banged a triple, and Mark Bloomer drove him in.

The see-saw match continued in the 6th. The Phillies again struck for 2 runs. With 2 outs and 2 runners on, the dangerous Fred Krause popped out to the catcher to end the rally. We responded again. Singles by Skip Willard, Bill Bonekat, Mike Souza, and Bob Levine got things rolling and Rick Rickeman’s 2-run double cleaned things up.

Denny then got a shut down inning in the top of the 7th. While batting in the bottom of the seventh, we scored one run before time ran out.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R
Phillies	0	0	0	0	2	2	0				4
Antiques	0	0	0	1	2	3	1				7
Brown and Rickeman

Mudcats 20 – Antiques 5

On Sunday, we opened up against the San Diego Mudcats. Tom Turner started for us and sailed through the first two innings. He also started our rally in the bottom of the second with a double. He scored on Mark Bloomer’s base hit.

Trouble started in the top of the third. With two outs and a runner on third, we made a key error which then wrapped to the top of their order. They made us pay by putting up 3 more runs. Jim Teeter’s triple was the big hit. They added another 4-run inning in the 4th. A long double by Jerry Encoe, the Mudcats’ pitcher, was the big hit in that inning. It didn’t get any better for us in the fifth. The bad guys put up another 4 spot. Mike Hanks, Tom Turner, and Frank Garcia produced a run for us in the 5th. Skip Willard, Bill Bonekat, Bob Loflin, and Mike Souza produced 3 runs for us in the 6th. That got us back in the game at 12-5. But two more 4-run innings by the Mudcats sealed the win for them.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R
Mudcats	0	0	4	4	4	0	4	4			20
Antiques	0	1	0	0	1	3	0	0			5
Turner, Bloomer (5) and Solberg, Turner

Antiques 30 – Avengers 15

We got hit with some wind and rain between games 1 and 2 on Sunday. After a short delay, we got the second game started shortly after noon. The Avengers, from Springfield, IL, were 1-2 and we were 2-1 going into the game. Because of the runs allowed in the Mudcats game, we were not assured of a playoff berth unless we beat the Avengers. Both teams were pretty tired. This was the 4th game in less than 36 hours for both teams.

Fortunately, we got off to a great start and put up 6 runs in the top of the first. Tom Turner continued his hot hitting to get us started. A 2-RBI double by Bob Levine and a 2-RBI triple by Rick Rickeman were the big hits in the inning.

Mike Hanks started on the hill for us. The Avengers answered with 3 runs in the bottom of the first. This set the tone for the game. We would put up some runs, and they would put some up in their half. Fortunately, we got more than they did for the first 3 innings.

They got back in the game in the bottom of the 4th when they put together a 6 run inning, bringing them close at 20-14. Oddly, neither team scored in the 5th. We put up 10 in the top of the sixth. Mike Hanks had the privilege of making two outs in that inning, as we batted 14 guys.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R
Antiques	6	9	4	1	0	10					30
Avengers	3	2	3	6	0	1					15
Hanks, Bloomer (4) and Rickeman

Antiques 13 – Ports 6

Our 3-1 record clinched a playoff spot. But the runs allowed on Sunday pushed us down to the 3rd seed. #1 was the Mudcats (3-1), #2 was the Ports (3-1), and #4 was the Phillies (2-2). The Fresno Grizzlies missed the playoffs with a 2-2 record due to runs allowed.

With the 3rd seed, we were the visitors against the Ports. This turned out to be a good thing when we again started fast out of the gate. Tom Turner again led off with a hit. Bonekat, Loflin, and Souza followed suit. Levine and Rickeman add RBIs to get us a 3-0 lead.

Bob Loflin started for us. The Ports got one back in the bottom of the first on a walk to Gerry Dasey and Dave Lewis’ long double.

We had another big inning in the 2nd. Hiro Tarumi led off with a triple to left center. Consecutive hits by Frank Garcia, Tom Turner, Bill Bonekat, Bob Loflin, and Mike Souza, and a sac fly from Bob Levine got us 5 more. 2 more in the 3rd got us to a 10-1 lead.

Meanwhile, Bob Loflin was shutting down the Ports tough bats. After our 2 runs in the 5th, put us ahead 12-1, some shaky defense in the bottom of the fifth gave them life. A walk and a couple of errors put us in trouble. Larry Hendrickson and Grizz Williams capitalized on our gifts and the Ports ended up with a 4-run inning.

After a quiet 6th inning, Loflin was toast. Tom Turner came in to start the 7th. Again, our tired defense opened the door. With one run in and the bases loaded, Denny Brown relieved Turner. A popup got the second out. Denny got out of the inning when Eddie Harmon hit a bomb to center field that Hiro Tarumi ran down for the third out. Game of inches!

With time running out in the bottom of the 8th, Denny issued walks to Ralph Leef and Gerry Dasey. Not a good way to open the inning. Tom Turner made a great over-the-shoulder diving catch on Cy Rogers’ bid for a base hit. Dave Lewis hit a blast to deep left center, but Frank Garcia made an acrobatic catch for the second out. A ground out ended the inning, stranding the two runners.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R
Antiques	3	5	2	0	2	0	0	1			13
Ports	1	0	0	0	4	0	1	0			6
Loflin, Turner (7), Brown(7) and Rickeman

Antiques 22 – Phillies 6

Meanwhile, in the other semi-final, the Phillies knocked off the Mudcats. So we didn’t have an opportunity to avenge our loss to the Mudcats. Instead, we needed to knock off the defending champs.

Two very tired teams faced off in the final. We were the home team based on our #3 seed to the Phillies #4.

The top of the first started very much like the first inning of our round robin game with the Phillies. Jeff Blatt, Mike Spratt, and Fred Krause opened with consecutive singles to load the bases with nobody out. Starter Denny Brown then wriggled out of that jam with a comebacker, 1-2-3 double play and a strikeout.

In the bottom of the first, Tom Turner again ignited the rally with a walk to lead off. Bob Loflin singled and Mike Souza drove in our first run. Bob Levine got on to load the bases and Rick Rickeman stroked a bases-clearing double. Skip Willard reached on a Phillies error, and Denny Brown helped his cause with an RBI single for the 6th run of the inning.

Denny uncharacteristically walked 2 in the 2nd. Sal Calcagno made him pay with a double to left.

After batting around in the first, we did it again in the 2nd. This time we batted 12 guys and scored 8 more runs. They got Tom Turner out, so Bill Bonekat had to start the rally this time. Rickeman hit another double, this time only driving in 2 runs. Turner had a chance to make two outs in the inning; instead he drove in the 8th run of the inning.

In the 3rd, Mike Spratt singled again and Fred Krause doubled him home. Krause’s smart base running produced the 2nd run of the inning while we got three ground outs.

Jim Lortz singled and Sal Calcagno got another RBI to manufacture the Phillies’ run in the 4th.

In the bottom of the 4th, we put the game away with another 8 run inning. Nelson Solberg’s triple (!) was the big hit in the inning. A triple in the 6th game in 3 days is pretty impressive.

In the 5th, Denny still couldn’t get Mike Spratt and Fred Krause out. Same formula: Spratt single + Krause double.

Denny was running on fumes in the 6th. The Phillies put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out, and the pesky Calcagno at the plate. Sal hit a bullet headed for right center. But 2B Tom Turner snagged it, tossed to Willard for the DP at second, and we almost had a triple play on the runner on first.

In the 7th, we finally got Mike Spratt out. Krause got another hit for a 4-4 game. Denny got the final out on a laser by Gary Gonzalez right at Nelson Solberg in deep left field.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R
Phillies	0	2	2	1	1	0	0				6
Antiques	6	8	0	8	0	0	0				22
Brown and Rickeman, Solberg (7)

MVP

We voted Tom Turner MVP of the tournament. He pitched, caught, played 2B, and generally played great defense throughout the tournament. He also led us in key hits to start rallies or drive in important runs.

The tournament win really was a team effort, however. With only 13 players, we managed to win 5 of 6 games and keep everybody healthy. We did have 13 tired guys at the end. If you look closely, you should notice that Rick Rickeman caught both games of the Monday DH. And that was after splitting the catching with Turner and Solberg on the previous 2 days.