Major League Baseball: Dodgers win season
- Published: July 27, 2017
The 2017 Minor League post-season tournament lingers on, thanks to more rain last weekend that delayed the championship game not just once, but twice. Meanwhile, the Major League season wrapped up with the Yellow Springs Chiropractic Dodgers finishing as 2017 champions.
The Minor League tournament opened on Wednesday, July 19 with the Sam and Eddie’s Open Books Orioles advancing to the championship game after a 13–4 victory over the Nipper’s Corner Red Sox. The teams finished third and fourth in the overall season standings and met in the tournament’s only semifinal game since the regular season champion Tom’s Market Pirates could not field enough players and were therefore eliminated. That gave the Peach’s Dodgers a bye and they will now face the Orioles for the post-season championship.
The Orioles and Red Sox played equally well early in the game, with the Orioles leading 3–2 after two innings. The Red Sox scored first, thanks to Henry Lake’s RBI base-hit. But RBI singles from Frank Machi, Cal Freeman and Neirin Barker put the Orioles up 3–1. The Orioles responded with another run in the second when Henry Babb crossed the plate thanks to sister Violet’s RBI single. But the Orioles broke the game open in the bottom of the third, adding four runs on Cal Freemans’ RBI double, a two RBI base hit by Sameer Sajabi, who then scored on Jackson Knopp’s RBI infield base-hit. The Red Sox added a run in the fourth on Aiden Scavone’s double, but that is all they could manage. The Orioles put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fourth with six more runs on RBI singles from Kian Barker, Lucas Price and Sajabi, while Kellen Scott and Cal Freeman smacked RBI doubles. Avry Bell-Arment led the Nipper’s Corner Red Sox with a three-for-four day at the plate and an RBI, while Aiden Scavone, Max Lugo and Violet Babb all went two-for-three. Freeman, Machi and Kellen Scott led the way for the Sam and Eddie’s Open Books Orioles, all going three-for-three at the plate with Freeman knocking in three runs, as did Sameer Sajabi.
Meanwhile, the Yellow Springs Chiropractic Dodgers took the regular season Major League title finishing with an overall 11–1 record, splitting a season-finale double-header on Monday, July 17, winning the first game 11–1 over the Sunrise Café Indians who then rebounded and outlasted the Dodgers 13–7 in the second game. The Dodgers jumped out to an early 7–0 lead after two in the first game, holding the Indians scoreless through two until Sophie Lawson scored after a walk and a pair of stolen bases. Colin Linderman led the Dodgers, with a three-for-three day at the plate, three runs scored, three RBIs and a pair of stolen bases. DeAndre Cowen and Noah VanHoose both went two-for-three, with Cowen scoring three runs and VanHoose adding two more. Lucas Dunn, Krishan Miller, J.P Anderson and Azel Schindel rounded out the Dodgers scoring with one run each.
But it was a much different second game, with the Indians prevailing after the Dodgers jumped out to a 5–0 first inning lead on RBI singles from Linderman, Schindel, Shawn VanHoose and J.P Anderson. Anderson’s RBI scored veteran Sam Linden, who later left the game after taking a bad bounce but soon fully recovered. The Dodgers could only manage another run in the third and one in the fifth, while the Indians’ bats and defense both dominated. A five-run second inning followed by an even bigger seven-run third inning propelled the team to a long awaited win over the Yellow Springs Chiropractic Dodgers. Matt Duncan paced the Indians with three hits on as many attempts, two runs scored and three stolen bases. Jake Ortiz- Thornton and Jaymon Lange were close behind, both going two-for-three at the plate and scoring two runs each. Ortiz-Thornton added two RBIs and four stolen bases, while Jaymon Lange finished the day with three RBIs and a stolen base. Luka Sage-Frabotta scored twice as did Brady Baker. Lily Rainey, Jeremy Lange and Aamil Wager each crossed the plate once, while Sophie Lawson and Josh Clark both added RBIs to round out the Sunrise Café Indians team effort.
The Peach’s Dodgers and Sam and Eddie’s Open Books Orioles are now set to face off in the Minor League championship game at 5 p.m. Sunday, July 30 on the softball field in Gaunt Park. The all-league post-season picnic, awards and annual meeting will immediately follow the game. All Minor and Major league players and family members are encouraged to attend and bring a side dish to share and something to drink. Hamburgers and hot dogs will be provided. Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP via a link found on the league website at ysbaseball.org.
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