Long Road Back To World Series Title!

PHOENIX, Arizona -- It started for some of the players in our league as far back as 1999, when San José beat the Long Island Mariners to become 18+ American World Series Champions. Rudy DeAnda was one of those players and he's been on the long road to claim another World Series title for San José. It took twelve years for San José to get back into the Championship game. A lot older, and definitely slower, the team now competes in the 25+ Federal Division as the San José Brew Crew. Once again, as if two teams were destined to play each other, the Brew Crew squared up against the Long Island Mariners in the Championship game.

Round-Robin

Game One

Round-robin play began Monday against the Seattle Rays.

Jordan Romero took the rock for six strong innings, allowing only one run. Bryan Morrissey threw three innings behind him to pick up the save. San José came out on top 9-2 behind the bats of Brian Thomas (2-3, 2 RBI), Drew Pleasant (2-4, HR, 2 RBI), Rich Rodrigues (2-4, RBI), Jeremy Hernandez (2-2), and Michael Barnes (2-4, 2 R, RBI).

Game Two

Game Two was also on Monday and was against the Mariners. Matt Flaherty threw eight innings for the Brew Crew allowing five runs, three of which came in the first inning. San José was trailing 5-4 into the eighth when the offense exploded for five runs to take a 9-5 lead. Eddie Newman closed the door in the ninth.

Jeff Canter (3-4, 2B, RBI), Jeremy Hernandez (2-3, 2 RBI), Ray Hutchison (1-2, 2 R), Ryan Becks (1-3, 2 RBI), and Rich Rodrigues (1-2, 3 RBI) supplied the offense.

Game Three

Game Three found San José against the team that took them out of the playoffs last year, the St. Thomas Tropical Waves. Both teams were sitting at 2-0 and this promised to be a great game. Ten innings later, and after the dust settled, the Brew Crew came out on top when Randolph Sandoval hit a go-ahead double to make it 3-2.

Eddie Newman, again, came in to close the door, this time picking up a save. Rob Rosales looked phenominal on the mound throwing nine strong innings and allowing only two runs to earn the W. Other standouts were Drew Pleasant (2-4, R, RBI) and Rich Rodrigues (1-4, RBI).

Game Four

Wednesday set San José up against the Tri Valley Bandits.

Kyle Madej was given the ball and went 6 2/3 innings, giving up five runs, only three earned. Casey Ramback came in relief and gave up only one run, earning himself the save.

Johnny Angleson (2-3, R), Michael Barnes (1-4, HR, 3 RBI), Jeff Canter (3-3, 2 R), Steve Goldberg (2-4), Ray Hutchison (3-4 , 3 2B, R, 2 RBI), Casey Ramback (1-2, R, RBI), and Brian Thomas (1-3, R, 3 RBI) all did well on the day at the plate.

Games Five and Six

Thursday offered a doubleheader for San José, both night games and right in the middle of the Tournaments BBQ/Tradeshow. Guess we missed that!

The first game looked to Ryan Becks on the hill for San José. Set up against the Chicago Seminoles, Becks looked good initially but had to be pulled as a very tight strike zone provided zero support. Kyle Madej came out of the bullpen to finish out the game. The Brew Crew came out on top 17-7 and secured the first place seed for playoffs.

At bats looked good from Ryan Becks (3-3, 2 R, 3 RBI), Steve Goldberg (2-4, 2 R, RBI), Jeremy Hernandez (1-2, R), Ray Hutchison (3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI), Drew Pleasant (1-3, 2 R, RBI), Casey Ramback (1-1, R), and Jeff Canter (1-3, 3 RBI).

The second game of the night found José Medina Jr. on the mound, who threw seven strong innings against the Glendale Pirates. Jeremy Hernandez threw the final two innings as the Brew Crew came out on top, 9-2.

Ryan Becks (2-3, R, RBI), Kyle Madej (1-3, R), Casey Ramback (1-3, R), and Brian Thomas (1-2, R, RBI) powered the offense.

Playoffs

Semi-Final

Semis were set and the Brew Crew squared up against the Chicago Seminoles. The Seminoles had to beat the Tri Valley Bandits in the morning game, but were still able to save their ace.

Matt Flaherty was handed the ball and shoved for six innings, allowing only two earned runs. The bullpen looked to Rob Rosales, and made the right call. Flaherty picked up the win while Rosales earned the save throwing three innings and giving up only two hits.

Jeremy Hernandez (2-3), Ryan Becks (2-3, R, 2 RBI), Eddie Newman (1-1, R), and Drew Pleasant (1-2, RBI) were on fire at the plate as the Brew Crew came out on top 6-2 and made it to the Championship Game.

Championship

For me personally, this was my first trip in four tries. Jeremy Hernandez, José Medina, and Ryan Becks are most of the reason WE made it this year. The four of us have been conspiring our plan since our brutal loss last year. Basically, since November 2010! Each of us, the Manager/Coach as you may call it, selected players from our teams AND our opponents to form the 2011 squad: San José Brew Crew. That said, this Championship game was HUGE for all of us. The tables were set... We made it, now lets do it!!!!

Jordan Romero was given the ball to face the big bats of the Long Island Mariners. Romero cruised through six, while San José gave him run support scoring nine by the sixth. Romero tired in the seventh and Eddie Newman was called in. Newman threw the seventh and eighth and hit a wall in ninth. Matt Flaherty came out of the bullpen but allowed two base hits scoring two runs and loading the bases with a walk. The Mariners crusher, who had already went yard, was up and the pacing in the San José dugout was at a max. With one out he launched what most of us thought was a goner. Jumping at the fence in center however, Drew Pleasant snagged the ball to record the second out. A third run scored to make it 9-8, San José. Another basehit loaded the bases as the runner from 2nd was held. Bases loaded, two outs, and the number six hitter up. A ground ball is hit to Goldberg at SS, Brian Thomas is waiting at 2nd and with a quick flip, the San José Brew Crew became the 2011 World Series Champion!!!!

Leaders

Offense leaders in the tournament were:

• Ryan Becks (.500 avg, 8 R, 9 H, 9 RBI, 13 TB, .609 OBP, .722 SLG)
• Jeremy Hernandez (.476 avg, 10 H, 16 TB, .522 OBP, .762 SLG)
• Jeff Canter (.444 avg, 8 R, 8 H, 11 TB, .500 OBP)
• Ray Hutchison (.440 avg, 8 R, 11 H, 10 TB)
• Steve Goldberg led the team in Runs with 9
• Johnny Angleson led the team in Stolen Bases with 6

Pitching was held in check by:

• Matt Flaherty (15 inn, 2-0, Save)
• Jordan Romero (12 inn, 2-0, 9 K, 3.00 ERA)
• Rob Rosales (12 inn, 1-0, 1.50 ERA, .67 WHIP, Save)
• Kyle Madej (12 inn, 2-0)

Defensive standouts were Casey Ramback, Ray Hutchison, Johnny Angleson, and Drew Pleasant, who tracked almost every ball hit to the outfield.

All in all it took the entire Brew Crew to take the ring home to San José!

Proud of this team!!!

Brian Feduk