Baseball Playoffs

Brock Lucas Luke Kruger-Aimone Wilson Wong Kimberly Dutan Tigers

The Minor League regular season ended and playoffs began with the standings as shown below. The first two Playoff rounds began last week with single-elimination games and the final two winners advancing to the Championship Game today (Saturday, June 16). The action so far has been very exciting, as you could tell from the roar of the crowds and the enthusiasm of the players. Come on out to the field this morning at 9:30 to watch the top two teams fight it out for the Championship!

Regular Season Final Standings
1st place – Navy Blue Team
2nd place – Red Falcons
3rd place – Maroon Team
4th place – Green Team
5th place – Lt. Blue Tigers
6th place – Black Mets

Playoff Round 1

The first game pitted the Lt. Blue Tigers against Green. The Tigers got on the board first, putting up three runs with the help of a home run by Brock Lucas. In the bottom of that frame, Luke Kruger- Aimone’s defense kept the Tigers on top with a 3-2 lead after one inning. After that, the Tigers’ bats came alive like a lion just released into the wild: The Tigers scored the maximum-allowed four runs in each of the next four innings, powered by RBI doubles from Kimberly Dutan and Jordan Johnston. Green did start clawing its way back with a four-run third inning, including a Brando Molina RBI double. But the Tigers defense shut them down, with tremendous play in the outfield by Wilson Wong. The final score was 20-9, and the Tigers advanced to Round 2.

The Green team gave out trophies after the game. Every player received one, and additional awards went to Jordan Chambers (sportsmanship), Brando Molina (most valuable player), and Andrew Camilleri (gold glove for fielding).

The second Round 1 game between the Black Mets and Maroon was a real nail-biter, with both teams scratching out runs and playing spectacular defense, keeping the game close until the very end. Maroon scored first and it was 2-0 in the bottom of the second when both Alim Greaves and LaDon Stephney had RBI hits and later crossed the plate to make the score 6-0. In the next inning, the Mets began their comeback when Steven Sanchez’s double scored two runs, then made a defensive gem of a play in the bottom of that inning. The Mets got even closer in the 4th inning, bringing the score to 7-4 when Jaden Perry smashed a double down the third base line, and Frankie Hogan followed with a hit that brought two runs home. The Mets stopped Maroon in the next inning with an eye-popping defensive play at second by Jaden, and then came up again in the top of the fifth still down by three. Jakira Young led off with a double and later scored on another blast by Jaden, but two great plays by Maroon’s Andrew Enoch, a pop fly catch and a tag out at home, prevented more scoring and Maroon came up to bat leading 7-6. An amazing catch by Sanchez prevented Maroon from scoring again, and the 6th and final inning began with Maroon still on top by one run. The Mets tied the score via a lead-off double from Frankie Hogan, who later came in to score. In the bottom of the inning, with the score tied 7-7, LaDon Stephney came up with the winning run on base and quickly ended the game with an RBI blast to the outfield. The final score was 8-7 and Maroon advanced to Round 2.

The Mets gave out trophies to each player after the game, and additional awards went to Steven Sanchez, (most valuable player), Frankie Hogan, (sportsmanship) and David Franqui, (gold glove for fielding).

Playoff Round 2

The first game was Round 1 winner Lt. Blue Tigers against the firstplace finisher, Navy Blue. Defensive highlights from both teams kept the scoring low, including a double-play executed by the Tigers’ Brock Lucas (his first of two) to stop a Navy scoring threat. In the top of the third with Navy barely leading, the Tigers’ Wilson Wong led off with a hit and then scored, but Navy answered back in the bottom of the inning with four runs of their own coming off the bats of James Matten, John King, and a Joel Strickland triple. Both teams’ defense held the other’s bats in check, and by the bottom of the fifth inning, with Navy leading by only 5-2, Navy tacked on another three runs, the inning ending on Lucas’ second defensive gem. With the score at 8-2 in the top of the final inning and the Tigers down to their final chance, they showed how tough they are by mounting a comeback that made the score 8-5 and seem like victory was within reach. But Navy held on, and the final score was 8-5. Navy advanced to the Championship.

Jonah Bobo Jacob Hogan Rocky Portuhunco Falcons

The Tigers gave out trophies to each player after the game, and additional awards went to Luke Kruger-Aimone (most valuable player), Wilson Wong (sportsmanship), and Brock Lucas (gold glove for fielding).

The second Round 2 game was another exciting, close game between Round 1 winner Maroon and second-place finisher Red Falcons. Maroon opened the scoring when Takeshi Fakai, LaDon Stephney, and Olivia Vordenber all smacked the ball into play to give them a 2-0 lead after one inning. They kept up the pressure in the next inning with the help of Elija Colon’s double to increase their lead to 5-0. Jacob Hogan came to bat for the Falcons in the bottom of the second and smashed a solo home run. That’s all the scoring Maroon allowed until then, as Colon and Maroon’s defense were solid. Maroon added three more runs in the third on hits and runs from Andrew Enock and Alim Greaves. With the Falcons down 8-1 in the bottom of the third and their season slipping away, Falcon’s top of the order came up and brought their bats, in a big way: The top four hitters, Cameron Hogan, Rocky Portuhunco, Esther Work, and Jonah Bobo all reached base and scored to close the gap to 8-5. Falcons defense then went to work with sparkling plays by Alexander Enock and Sam Serfaty, and an unassisted double play by Jonah Bobo that held Maroon to one run over the last three innings. In the 6th, with Maroon still up by 8-5. the heart of the Falcon order came up and scored four runs, capped by a line drive over third base from Sarica Samms that put the Falcons on top by one. With the Falcons leading 9-8 in the top of the final 6th inning, Maroon scratched out a run to tie the game on a Colon hit and a Stephney RBI. With the game on the line in the bottom of the 6th, and the score tied at 9, Cameron Hogan led off with a single and was driven home by a rocket to the outfield off the bat of Rocky Portuhunco to end the game. The final score was 10-9 and the Falcons advanced to the Championship game.

Maroon gave out trophies to each player after the game, and additional awards went to LaDon Stephney (most valuable player), Andrew Enock (sportsmanship), and Elija Colon (gold glove for fielding).