Blue Rocks Fall to the Storm Chasers in the Semi Final Round

I took longer than normal to write this week’s article, as I wanted to really ponder our last weekend as a team.  First off, I tip my hat to Pease’s Storm Chasers.  They bounced back after losing game 1, and Pease himself made the tough decision to switch around the fielding lineup.  Mike Babb is an incredible pitcher, not only in the pitching itself, but in the way he fields the position.  And putting Brian Ortega at short stop for the final 2 games punched their ticket to the championship.  He made incredible plays the whole day.  Congrats to the Storm Chasers for advancing.

Let’s get back on track.  The Blue Rocks had an outstanding season.  If you have never played for Banta, you are missing out on a great experience.  He made everyone enjoy the game week in and week out.  I was lucky enough to be a part of it, albeit just as an assistant coach. We pretty much used the same lineup every week, and never once during the season did we need a sub.  So let’s break it down player by player as you would have seen them come to bat…

Grayson – While playing RCF most of the year, I was always confident you would make some sliding spectacular catch week after week.  You were a great leadoff hitter for us, and I loved watching you grow as a player.  You were our most vocal player, always cheering everyone on and building them up.

Luke – When Banta and Grayson told me that they wanted to draft you with the 4th pick, I couldn’t have been happier.  Incredible short stop.  Incredible hitter.  Incredible base runner.  Incredible teammate.  I am glad you got to hang with me this season. 

Babbit – I still tell Kelly Alexander, “if you had taken Babbit last fall on the Trash Pandas, we would have walked through that season”.  Almost anything hit to third this season was an automatic out.  Your strength at the plate had me comfortable that we would always score as long as Luke was on first before you came up. 

D Bone…always seemed to take the most round about way to catch a fly ball, but you constantly made the catches.  And the grunts at the plate are only second to Michael Barth’s, but the power is undeniable.

Banta – The pitching kept us in every game.  The attitude and motivation in the dugout kept us going.  The sneaky pop at the plate had me saying “Banta’s still got it”. 

Simo – I played with you many many years ago, when we were both way younger and way more resilient.  You moved to first base for this team, and never once complained.  The hustle is still there, and it was a pleasure being your teammate again.

Dalton – You still own one of the best diving plays I have ever seen by a LCF.  I also watched you throw a ball flat footed from the fence and almost gun down a guy tagging from third.  A sneaky strong arm.  And so cool, calm and collective.  Nothing ever seemed to agitate you. 

Strull – Ever since that Shalom Live when they compared you to Larry David, I can’t get that out of my head.  You had the best batting average on our team.  When you came to bat, I was preparing the last guy that got out to be ready to run.  Mr. Automatic.  One of the smartest hitters I have ever played with.

Beas – I can still remember sitting next to Banta in the draft, and when he got to you, he smiled and said “give me Beas!”.  He was excited and I now understand why.  Great teammate, great player. 

Matt – Held down RF all year long.  And your hustle at the plate caused more than a few errant throws from the other teams.  You always seemed to start a rally for us.

Timmy – I probably talked to you the most throughout the year.  You always smiled and laughed, even if it was at your own expense.  In the last regular season weekend, you were perfect at the plate, and I loved watching it.

Ozzie – I still don’t know how you were still on the board when it was our pick in the 12th.  I can’t imagine you will ever fall that far again.  You hit 500 this season, and just like Strull, I always felt good with you at the plate and us needing a hit. 

I will be sad this weekend that we are not on the field playing for a repeat Blue Rocks Championship.  But there was nothing to be sad about this season.  I had a great time, and I look forward to seeing all of you out there in the spring. 

Blue Rocks Take Series Vs Tarpons 2-1

Game 1 - Blue Rocks 11 Tarpons 3

I was planning on waiting until the season was over for my next article, but my Captain asked me to write one about week one in the playoffs, and to keep it positive…so obviously he has not read any of my previous articles.  The Blue Rocks visited the Tarpons in game one on field 4, with the wind blowing in from right field.  That didn’t effect the swing of Big Game Brian Babbit, who hit 3 home runs in this game.  Luke and Babbit had 10 of the 11 rbi’s in this game.  The defense and pitching were once again the most impressive part of the Blue Rocks game.  D-Bone made a nice sliding catch in this game, Matt Casey caught everything and anything hit to right field, and Banta pitching and fielding his position like he was 28 years old again.  Complete game on both sides of the ball.

Game 2 - Blue Rocks 3 Tarpons 7

Game two featured the Tarpons coming to the home team Blue Rocks field, where the Blue Rocks were planning on closing this series out.  The Tarpons came out of the gate with a couple of runs in the top of the first, but then were held scoreless for the next 4 innings.  We aren’t sure if it was the Blue Rocks bats taking a game off, or a new family edition to the cheering section, but we couldn’t get much going offensively in this game, and at the end of 5, it was a 2-1 ballgame.  The top of the 6th, the Tarpons put together a little rally, scoring 5, and it was just too much of a hill for us to overcome in the last couple at bats.  Curb Strull and Ozzie were again bright spots at the plate, as automatic as always.

Game 3 - Blue Rocks 9 Tarpons 8

After a 10 minute break, a nice pep talk from Captain Banta, and our cheering section cleared out, we started game 3 and scored 1 in the top of the first after a Luke walk and a D-bone rbi single.  We kept the bats going, scoring 5 in the 3rd, 1 in the 5th, and 1 in the 7th, to take a commanding 8-0 lead going to the bottom of the 7th.  Then the unthinkable happened.  A walk here, a walk there.  A bloop single here, a ball in the gap there.  A line drive off a diving glove, a line drive off a jumping as high as possible glove, a fly ball over a head.  Next thing you know, we are in a battle as the Tarpons came back and scored 8 in the bottom of the 7th.  If you were there, and you saw Daltons catch in LCF, you would have hugged him as I did, as that undoubtedly saved our season.  I don’t know who hit it, or how many people were on base, or even what part of the inning it was in, I just know that since I have returned to the league, I have played with the I guy, I have played with Vinnie Terhune, and I have played with Justin Reed, and this was one of the best catches I have ever seen by a left center fielder.  I am still not sure how he got to it.  Or how he held on after the full speed, full lay out dive to catch it. 

The Blue Rocks were shook after the bottom of the 7th.  After a quick pep talk about resiliency and everyone picking each other up, we started the 8th inning.  The Blue Rocks went 3 up and 3 down, and you could hear the confidence in the Tarpons dugout…but we have the secret weapon….Banta’s pitching.  He was able to hold their big guys again to a scoreless bottom of the 8th.  In the top of the 9th, we sent up Matt Casey to lead off.  Coming into this at bat, Matt was already 3 for 3 on the day, and he didn’t let us down, and smoked a ball to left field to get us started with a single.  Timmy Crites drew a 1 pitch walk.  Ozzie walked up to the plate, and told himself “I will not hit into a double play…it’s an out or a walk”…He may owe the Venezuelan’s a veinticuatro, but that decision led to the following….a single by Grayson to load the bases, and a Sac Fly from Lucas to plate the go ahead run.  The defense shut down the Tarpons in the bottom of the 9th, and the Blue Rocks seized the series. 

good: we turned a 6-4-5-2 triple play

bad: we got swept

humorous: watching the captain think he is Javy Baez surviving at least six throws in a rundown

not so humorous: captain's body reminding him that he is closer in age and baserunning shape to Joan Baez than Javy Baez