Tiburones arrived to the field 3 on a chilly early morning with multiple combinations on the table to make the playoff. Yet they have one thing in mind and it was win 2 and are in the Playoffs!

The scenario was not going to be easy because they were missing their outfield leader Justin Reed due to an injure. Captain Sardi spent some hours of his Saturday trying to locate a sub until he was able to get the super sub Cody Strull who as soon as arrived to the field asked Captain Sardi for the correct pronunciation of the team name and the meaning of it.

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It was a brisk morning as we walked up to field 3 in a do or die situation!  The Tiburones were staring down the barrel of the no playoffs gun.  Would they be able to not only win one, but two against the division leading Storm Chasers?  A huge underdog moment, to say the least...  In a classic double header, game 1 would see the Tiburones start off with a bang.  A walk for Andy, followed by a fly ball to advance him from Sardi, would bring up our super sub Cody Strull (playing in relief of the injured Justin Reed), who would single.  Kilburn would walk, setting up Brad Earls who would drive in one with his double.  Setting up Enlow to clear the bases with a timely Home Run.  The inning would end with the Tiburones up by 5.  The second inning would see the Sharks not plate a single run but still up 5-0 heading into the top of 3.  The third inning would see the furry of the Sharknado, as the Tiburones would plate 10!  The Bottom would again flip the order with the bottom 3 hitters going 6-6 through 3 innings! The fourth would see the Storm Chasers wake up and score 6 to get back in the game.  Top of the 5th would see the Tiburones bottom AGAIN flip the order on 3 straight hits... a couple of SAC flies would see two more runs before the inning ended.  The Tiburones would plate one final run in the 6th, but would fight off a late rally by the Storm chasers.  Final score Tiberones 18, Storm Chasers 9.

Power Bottom:

Valentin Diaz 3-3, 2 RS, 1 Triple

Ian Contreras 3-3, 2 RS

Chris Peterson 2-2, 2 RS, 1 BB, 2 Singles

Bottom 3 hitters, 8-8 for 1000!

Remember I mentioned the multiple scenarios to clinched the playoff? Well, Tiburones were going to play their 2nd game with the necessity of winning so they will not need to be checking the scores on the other fields but the Storm Chasers were looking to take revenge.

The second game would start out with the Storm Chasers picking up where they left off and smashing the ball.  They would plate 5 before the inning half would come to an end.  The Tiburones would answer back with 4 of our own on a double by Andy, and a flurry of single by both Kilburns, Earls and Enlow, to plate 4.  the top of the second would see another 3 runs from the Storm Chasers.  The bottom of the second would see the "power bottom" for the Tiburones kick into gear again, with singles from Braun, Valentin and Contreras, and the inning would end with the Tiburones still down one.  The bottom of the 3rd would start off with a top of the net Home run from Kilburm and singles from Brad and Liam, but only 2 would cross... the chase continued as the Storm Chasers lead 10-9 going into the 4th. Valentin would lead off the bottom of the 4th with a single but get knocked off the bases on a Fielders Choice from Ian.  Chris "Crispy" Peterson would drive the ball to shallow Center Field moving the runners.  Andy would get a hit and score on a single from Cody Strull.  The inning would end and the teams would be knotted up 12 all. The Storm Chasers would tack on 3 to make it 15-12 going into the final inning.  With time gone the Tiburones faced a 3 run deficit with the bottom of the order due up again.   Not to be denied our sweep after a quick out from Barry, four singles in a row would load the bases  At this moment, "La Samba" and the fans were yelling the famous  chant "Si Podemos, Si podemos" (we can do it, we can do it).  Down 2 with the winning run on first a right field line shot from Andy would score all 3 needed runs.  Kudos to Chris Peterson to score from first, and narrowly beating the throw from the outfield. The whole team jumped into the field and celebrate that awesome walk off as they knew they were getting into the playoff!

Final score Tiburones 16, Storm Chasers 15.

Tiburones did what they need to do or what we called in Venezuela "La hombrada" and they clinched the playoff without needing to wait for other field results.

Power Bottom was great in both games and carried the team on these 2 great W!

Jonathan Braun 2-3, 2 RS, Double

Valentin Diaz 2-2, 2 RS, Walk

Ian Contreras 2-2, 3 RS, Walk

Chris Peterson 2-3, 2 RS

Bottom 4 hitters a combined 7-9! A whopping .778 in Game 2!

Great defense all day with some gems at the outfield by Braun "JB", Ian aka "Tio", Andy "I will clear the bases", Cody "super sub" Strull and captain Sardi. Also, Valentin "Tigre" did an awesome foul ball catch and Earls did a great job at the SS too.

One of the best moment of this games was after "JB" did a great catch at the RF fence and his 2 kids run to him after the inning was done to cheers with him. I love to see the joy of this kids and his dad every Sunday.

Tiburones will face the Padres on the 1st playoff round next week and hope to get Justin Reed back.

Fun Facts

Tiburones mascot name is "Tibu" and he is always chering the team on every home game witht he famous entertainment music group called "La Samba"