Las Vegas 2006 Recap
May 30th, 2006The SD White Sox rebounded from a slow start to put together a solid 2-1-1 Las Vegas Tourney, finishing in a 2nd place tie in pool play. For standings/scores, visit the NABA website.
Game Recaps
Games 2 and 3 had some of the most exciting finishes I have seen. In the second game vs. the SoCal Indians, we gave up 8 runs in the top of the 9th to turn a 6-2 lead into a 10-6 deficit. The team rallied in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game 10-10. The winning rally: Donavan (hit), Jim (hit), Dan (hit), Gus (BB), Lance (hit), Art (2 RBI hit). Had Terry not been called out on a close play at first on an infield chopper (replays show he was clearly safe), there’s a good chance we would have won the game with the bases juiced and Zoo in the on-deck circle. Aside from the finish, the highlight of the game was a towering grand slam by Ruppert in the 4th inning. Depending on who you talk to, the shot either landed on the street 50 feet beyond the fence or bounced off the top of it… regardless, it was a monster shot.
The comeback in the third game was equally amazing. In the top of the 9th, the Sox rallied from a 9-4 deficit to punch across 6 runs vs. the Orange County Cubs. The winning rally: Bruce (hit), Ruppert (hit), Jim (hit), Mo (hit), Zoo (hit), Regan (hit), Dan (BB), Bob (E6), Gus (BB). The last 7 ABs and all 6 runs took place with 2 outs. Bob finished a complete game gem (8/9 of the runs were unearned), retiring the side, in order, to close out the game. Bruce threw a 2-hit gem in the final game and the bats came alive for a lopsided 17-0 victory. The defense also came together (finally) with just one error on a tough chance at first. It was a solid team effort in a game we knew we needed to have a chance to advance to the final. The big shot of the day was a monster home run by Regan.
Unfortunately, we lost the tie-breaker to the SoCal Indians, giving up 4 more runs for the tourney. In the end, we paid the price for too many defensive lapses in the infield.
Pitching/Defense
We got excellent pitching all weekend from our starters: Bruce, Bob, Art, and Regan…. I figure that maybe 8-10 of the 33 runs we gave up were earned. We also had excellent work behind the plate by Bob, Bruce, Lance, and Mo. Despite too many, uh, defensive lapses, we had quality outfield play all weekend (just one error and a couple of web gems) from Donavan, Regan, Terry, Lance, myself and a couple others who filled in. We got strong utility play from Jim (no errors) and Lance, who played every field position except first base.
Hitting
I figured this team would hit, and we did, top to bottom. As a team, we hit .376 and had a .478 OBA. In all, 10 players reached base at a better than .400 clip. Ruppert Rosas led the team with a .635 On Base Average and tied with Gus and Bob with a .500 batting average for best of the tourney.
Player AVG OBA Hits BB HR (sorted by OBA)
Ruppert 0.500 0.625 6 4 1
Zoo 0.444 0.583 4 3 0
Dan 0.400 0.571 4 4 0
Gus 0.500 0.538 6 1 0
Bob 0.500 0.538 6 1 0
Art 0.364 0.500 4 3 0
Regan 0.364 0.500 4 3 1
Mo 0.385 0.467 5 2 0
Jim 0.462 0.462 6 0 0
Lance 0.333 0.429 4 2 0
Mike also reached base in 2/3 chances before being sidelined by injury.
Rubio’s Most Valuable Player
In a photo finish, Bob Ambrose takes home MVP honors with a strong complete game win on the hill, outstanding work at shortstop and behind the plate, and a .500 batting average for the tourney. Honorable mention goes to Ruppert Rosas with his grand slam and team leading OBA, and Regan Furcolo for his outstanding bat, pitching, and defensive play. Thanks to Jim McGaha, I’ve got $50 worth of Rubio’s gift certificates for Bob and $20 each for the runner ups.
Additional Notes from Las Vegas:
Closing Thoughts
Finally, I’d like to prop myself for putting together a “dream team” of outstanding men and ballplayers and having enough sense to just roll out the ball and let you play the way I know you can. As always, my goal in these things is to get the best players I can who fit into the system. In other words, I try to compensate for a profound lack of managerial brilliance by getting quality guys and staying out of the way. As much as I would have liked to bring home the hardware this weekend, and as sure as I am that we could have, I am proud of the effort put forth by this team, the camraderie on and off the field, and pleased with our play. We can all feel good about the way we represented the SDABL 28aa division this weekend. I look forward to seeing you on the field soon.
Dan Darrin, 5/30/06