Fall 2013 Season ended with three deserving Champions:
Premier Division – Coral Gables Athletics sweep the Miami Dodgers to claim 10th title
The Coral Gables Athletics continued their romp through the league making history and staking claim to being the best team ever by winning their 10th title. Blanking the Miami Dodgers in game 1 by a score of 15-0, the A’s completed the task in the second game of the Championship Series doubleheader by posting a 7-1 final. (Full story pending).
To get to the finals, the A’s survived a tough Miami Reds club 5-4 in the Division’s first semifinal game, while the Miami Dodgers shocked the Miami Marlins by scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk off with a 5-4 triumph in the second semi-final game.
Senior Division – Miami Blues beat South Florida Beach Bums 2 games to 1 to take third title in a row
| BLUES THREEPEAT |
| by Miami Blues (Senior Division) |
| The Miami Blues won the Fall Senior Division Championship for the 3rd year in a row. After a tough 2 game split with the very talented Beach Bums, the Blues left no doubt why they have won the last 2 championships. With 2 great pitchers (Will Dorsey/Michael Jordan) going at it the Blues were happy to take a 1 run lead to the bottom of the 3rd thanks to a double by Brian Nentwig and a clutch single by Brent Lozano. In the bottom of the 3rd with a little rain coming down lead off hitter Ryan O’Malley hit a long 2 strike Home Run over the left center field wall. Sean Emory followed him with a triple and Will Dorsey hit a monster Home run over the left center field wall and just like that it’s 4-0 Blues. Will Dorsey gave up 1 run in the top of the 4th and the Blues had a 4-1 lead going to the bottom of the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th the Miami Blues put the game out of reach. Three singles in a row to start the inning by Chris Antonelli, Brent Lozano and Ray Tolmos loaded the bases. Sean Emory walked for a run and that set the stage for Will Dorsey. Will crushed a long home run over the left center field wall for a Grand Slam, his 2nd Home run of the day and his 6th RBI. Just like that it was 9-1 Blues. The Blues would add a few more runs and cruise to a 12-1 Championship Win. Besides hitting 2 home runs Will Dorsey pitched a gem of a game. The pitching line read like this : 1 run, 5 hits, 0 BB, 11 K’s. |
To get to the championship series, the Miami Blues upended the hopes of the Miami Brewers 12 – 8 in the semifinals, while the Beach Bums shocked the Perrine Monarchs with a bottom of the ninth come from behind 5-4 walk off win.
Masters Division – Dade Tigers 8 – Palm Beach Angels 4 – new team wins it all
| CHAMPIONS!!! | |||
| by Dade Tigers (Masters Division) | |||
A lethal pitching combination of Hernandez/Paylor, clutch hitting, and a stellar defensive performance is the recipe the Dade Tigers used to shut down the undefeated Palm Beach Angels…But it wouldn’t happen without a fight! The home team Angels jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after one. Then in the top of the 2nd the Tigers Duane Medina drew a two out walk. Next batter Ramon Poo (2-3, 3B, SB,1R) followed up with single to put runners on 1st and 3rd with two outs. That’s when Tigers 1st baseman Eddy Castellanos ripped a shot up the middle to score both Medina and Poo and go ahead 2-1. The Tigers added another run in the top of the 3rd when SS Angel Estevez hit a two out single to score Paylor and give the Tigers a 3-1 lead. Tigers pitcher Alain Hernandez got out of the 3rd in 1,2,3 fashion but ran into a little trouble in the 4th. Angels led off the bottom of the 4th with a double by Alvaro Gomez. Hernandez then retired the next batter but seemed to have strained his groin in the process. Trying to fight off the injury Hernandez would eventually hurt himself enough to not be able to continue. In that process the Angels would score two runs to tie it up 3-3 after 4. Both teams would go scoreless in the 5th but the Tigers would take a 4-3 lead in the 6th when SS Angel Estevez got his second two out hit of the game, this time a double in the gap. Next batter Garvi Arias would bring Etevez around to score with a double of his own. After a scoreless inning for both clubs in the 7th, the 8th inning would be when the Tigers would open it up. Eddy Castellanos would lead off the 8th with his second hit of the game, followed by another single by Jonathan Silva. Gomez would then walk his counter part Rayn Paylor to load the bases and bring up the lead off man Jorge Castellanos. Castellanos who got a hit off of Gomez in the 1st would rope a 0-2 pitch to right field for a base clearing triple and extend the Tigers lead to 7-3. The Tigers would add another run in the top of the 9th to make it 8-3. Paylor would then give up a run in the bottom of the 9th after a lead of double but would retire the next three batters to give the Tigers their first championship in their inaugural season. Congratulations to the Angels for a great season and a game well played, it’s always a pleasure. The championship game Co-MVP’s are Jorge Castellanos and Ryan Paylor. Castellanos went 2 for 3 with a 3B, 3 RBI, SB, SAC and 8 stellar plays on Defense, all of which were highlight worthy. Paylor would get the win in relief by going 5 1/3 innings, striking out 7, 2 BB, 4 H, 1 R. Both Tigers pitchers Hernandez and Paylor were an unstoppable pitching force in the post season. The pair in 18 innings of post season work combined for 18 strike outs, 5 walks, 5 Runs (3 ER), and 10 hits. As far as the team MVP, I think everyone on this team deserves an MVP but we had to give it to one guy. That guy was one that played all 12 games, hit the cover off the ball, and caught every game. The Dade Tigers 2013 team MVP goes to catcher Danger Villalobos – Gracias por todo tu sacrificio Villa y felicidades. This is by far one of the best group of guys I have ever had the privilege of playing with. Everyone was solid all season long, on the field and in dugout. Great job fellas! Now go enjoy your championship, you earned it…Champ! Thank you to all the teams in the Masters division for a great season.
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To reach the finals, the Palm Beach Angels of Coconut Creek (representing greater Fort Lauderdale) won their semi-final matchup with the Miramar Rangers by an 11-0 count. Alvaro Gomez tossed a complete game one hitter, striking out nine. Gomez allowed an infield single to Tony DeMarco and nothing else. Anthony DeFilippis, Keith Nicoll, Paul Tunink, and Phil Laufman led a balanced attack with two hits each. The Angels will face the powerful Dade Tigers for the Master’s Division championship.Meanwhile, the Dade Tigers took out the Broward Black Sox 4-1 to advance to the final. This game was all about the pitching. The Dade Tigers two pitchers Alain Hernandez and Ryan Paylor held the defending champion Black Sox to 2 hits, and 1 run (0 ER). While striking out 9 and walking 2. The Black Sox lone run came in the top of the 3rd when a combination of an error and wild pitch allowed a runner to score. The Tigers would tie it 1-1 in the bottom of the 3rd when an error allowed Tigers outfielder Jonathan Silva to get on base with two outs. Next batter Ryan Paylor would hit a line drive to left that would score Silva and tie the score 1-1. The Tigers then jumped all over them in the bottom of the 4th with 3 straight singles to load the bases with no outs but Black Sox pitcher picked off the lead runner at 3rd and then on his next pitch got the batter to ground out into a 6-4-3 double play to get out the jam. The score would stay tied 1-1 up until the bottom of the 7th. That’s when Rene Orovio (3-3, 1 Run, 1 SB) lead off the inning with a single followed by another single by Angel Estevez who was 2 for 3 on the day. Garvi Aries then brought Orovio around to score with a single of his own to make the contest 2-1 Tigers. After another single by Danger Villalobos, Duane Medina came up big with a two out double in the gap that scored two runs to make it 4-1 Tigers. And that was enough to send the Dade Tigers to the Masters Division Championship Game.