Cubs - Rookies National Division Champs

 

Astros - Rookies National Division Runners-Up

The MI Diamondbacks fell just short of completing a clean sweep for MI, losing 6-4 in the bottom of the 6th to the Bellevue West Dodgers tonight, to finish a strong 2nd in the AAA Bellevue/MI City tournament.  Great run, D'Backs!

Rays Nation,

 

Quite a performance tonight by these boys.  They continue to provide us coaches and you parents living testimony to what can be accomplished with a dogged determination to never give up and a truly humble conviction that they will end up on the winning side of the game regardless of the situation.  Tonight was no exception.  Down 5 - 2 going into the top of the 6th, The Rays were determined to do whatever it takes to get the lead by scoring 4 runs and then finishing strong by taking the Dodgers out in a 3 up / 3 down bottom of the 6th.  What an outstanding team effort! And now for the recap....

 

After an uneventful 1st inning where pitching dominated the top of both teams lineups and neither team scored a run, Birthday Boy #1, Robert Teng, lead off the Second inning with a hustle infield single.  Hunter drove him over to second with a base hit to left field.  The runners advanced into scoring position on the first pitch to Brandon when it got passed the catcher.  Then, with a 1-0 count, Captain Brandon drove the ball hard to the right side of the infield for an RBI allowing Robert score the first run of the game.  The Dodgers, however, were not to be denied, and in the bottom of the 4th, manufactured 4 runs with some timely hitting and capitalizing on a slight chink in the Rays pitching armor.  But just to show them that 4 run innings are no big thing to the Rays, Boom-Boom Blake, tonight's other Captain, showed what leadership was all about by leading off the 3rd with one of the biggest doubles we've seen all season from any of our Rays deep to Right Field, that was all of 2 feet short of a home run.  Although no runs were scored in the Top of 3rd, that hit started the 'never say die' mantra in the Rays dugout.  The Rays yielded their last run of the game in the bottom of 3rd when the Dodgers stole home on a wild pitch, and then tried to steal home with another base runner on the same play, but the 'never quit till the plays over' attitude from Hunter, got the ball into Robert in time to make the tag at home to get the 2nd out of the inning.  The last out of the inning was a highlight reel play from Christian with the sun in his eyes in left field, robbing the Dodgers of another run.  The momentum had turned, and it was time for the Rays to get down to business.   

 

Birthday Boy Number #2, Cole Miller led off the Top of the 4th with a solid single off their starting pitcher.  After the pitching change, Cole stole second.  With 1 out, Hunter laid down a bunt that had cole thinking home from the time it was put down.  The Dodgers fielded the bunt and threw Hunter out at 1st as Cole was rounding 3rd, but by the time the Dodgers realized what had happened, Cole was crossing the plate for the Rays 2nd run of the game.  The Dodgers were 3 up / 3 down in the bottom of the 4th on a 9 pitch inning by Hunter and infield defense from Ben at 2B, and Cole catching the 3rd out at SS.  In the Top of the 5th Christian reached on a walk with 1 out but with some great at bats from the bottom of the order, we couldn't get him in put another run on the board.  So again at the bottom of the 5th, we went to Hunter who got the job done with a 4-3 ground out, Ben to Robert, and 2 strikeouts.

 

This is where it gets interesting.  Down 3 runs, entering the 6th inning, which is a 9 run limited inning, the cheer the captains came up with was 1-2-3, Fun, Fun, Fun.  And I think that's what got it done for us.  With 1 out, Matt drew a walk after being down 0-2.  With some heads up base running, he worked his way over to 3B during Will's at bat and crossed the plate on a wild pitch to bring the Rays to within 2.  Will hit the ball hard into play, but the Dodgers Shortstop made a great play and threw Will out.  With 2 outs and a 2 run deficit, The Dodgers were 1 out away from the Championship.  But with their victory balloons flapping in the wind next their dugout, their pitching staff started to feel the pressure of closing out a great performance by the Dodgers and hit the next 2 batters, Birthday Boys #1 and #2 and put them on base.  With Hunter at the plate, a few back to back wild pitches and some great 3rd base coaching from Coach Mark allowed both Cole and Robert to steal home to tie the game.  Hunter ultimately drew a walk on a full count, forcing the Dodgers to make another pitching change which brought Ben to the plate.  A timely single from Ben that was mis-handled by the shortstop knocked Hunter over to 2nd. Then Captain Brandon delivered his 2nd RBI of the night by drilling a first pitch double to left field, scoring Hunter for the go ahead run.  The Dodgers were able to get out of the top of the inning after allowing 4 runs, down by only 1.

 

At the bottom of the 6th, the Dodgers were leading off with the top of their order.  With Hunter at 60 pitches, it was time to bring in our closer, Birthday Boy #1, Robert who showed the Dodgers the positive mental attitude it takes to be a closer.  With the determination and confidence we've seen from him all year, Robert got the 1st Batter to hit a soft ground ball right back to him, which he then threw to Hunter at 1B.  He struck out the 2nd batter in 4 pitches.  Not satisfied with that, Robert made sure that the 3rd batter went down in 3 pitches.  The Rays win the game with final score of 6-5.  

 

Rays had 4 shutout innings defensively, gave up only 4 hits, and got 6 strikeouts.

 

Offensively, Rays got 6 hits, 2 of which were doubles, and earned 6 base on balls.  

 

Tomorrow we'll have more Fun, Fun, Fun  by playing 1 pitch at a time, keeping our heads in the game, regardless of score, and continuing to swing those bats to put the ball into play to pressure those Dodgers to make the play.  See you all at 4:45pm.

 

  --Coach Roger

Coaches Left to Right:  David Sandwith, Keenan Conder, Zach Zakahi Back Row:  Carson Sandwith, Reid Martinez, Erik Raisys, Liam Dammeier, Will St. Mary Front Row:  Bill Moonka, Carter Melick, Teague Conder, Jacob Guedel, Reis Kissel, Sam Peckham, Quinn Zakahi

On Thursday evening, the Mercer Island Dodgers won the AA Mercer Island/Bellevue Tournament, recording a 12 to 8 victory over the Mercer Island Rays.  

In the championship game, the Dodgers remained true to its team concept registering timely hits throughout its lineup, stellar fielding and consistent pitching.  The Dodger bats set the tone early, coming out hot in the top of the first inning swinging their way to the maximum run total of 4.  The Rays fought back to tie the score at 6 after three innings.  After a scoreless fourth inning, the Dodgers pushed 2 runs across in the fifth and 4 in the sixth while holding the Rays to a collective 2 -- for the final margin of 12 to 8.

 

The AA Mercer Island/Bellevue Tournament included a total of 20 teams from Mercer Island, Bellevue East and Bellevue West.  At the trophy presentation for both teams following the championship game, the Tournament Director from Bellevue West complimented both teams and spectators on their spirited play and sportsmanship, and also complimented Mercer Island on its strong showing in the AA, AAA and Majors tournaments.  The Tournament Director concluded by asking the boys a question easily answered by MI Coaches, parents and supporters:  "what do you guys do all day on that Island -- just play baseball?"   

AA City Tournament Bracket & Rules