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EN FUEGO WINS 500TH GAME
THEY TAKE DOWN RIVAL STAC PAC FOR MILESTONE VICTORY
May 22, 2007
LADERA RANCH FIELDS – FINAL: En Fuego 11,
Stac Pac 8
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En Fuego continued their winning ways in the Tuesday night
Ladera Ranch league with an 11-8 victory over Stac Pac. This
time the win was more than feeling good about beating your long
time rival. It was also the 500th win in En Fuego team history.
It was fitting that they faced Stac Pac in their attempt to win
their 500th.game. Overall it was the 74th meeting between the
two teams. En Fuego has played more games versus Stac Pac than
any other opponent over the years. The way En Fuego approaches
each opponent and each game is no different. They respect their
opponents and want to win every game. This game there was a bit
of a difference. “There’s no question we wanted to get the 500th
win against them.” Said Manager Craig Watkins
En Fuego never trailed in the game, but typical of the Stac Pac
and En Fuego match up the game was very close. Outstanding
defense and solid pitching by En Fuego helped them get the
milestone win. That combined with some timely hitting enabled En
Fuego (1-0) to get by Stac Pac (0-1) for their fourth
consecutive victory versus their league foe. After three innings
and the game tied 3-3 En Fuego rallied for four runs on six hits
in the top of the fourth to take a 7-4 lead. Trailing 8-4 in the
bottom of the sixth Stac Pac scored three runs to come within
one run of En Fuego with the score 8-7. In the final inning of
play En Fuego added three huge insurance runs to go ahead 11-7.
Stac Pac scored once in the bottom of the seventh, but that was
it as En Fuego held on for the three-run victory. |
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Led by Cesar Reyes, playing second base, En Fuego came
up with big plays in the field allowing only the eight
runs in seven innings. On offense Corrie Willkie led the
way with a 4-for-4 night with four runs scored.
Following Willkie’s lead Jason Santoro went 3-for-3 with
two doubles, two RBI, and two runs scored. Reyes went
3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs. Outfielder Steve
Rooten went 3-for-4 with four runs driven in. Rooten who
played with En Fuego in 1996, 2000-2001, and 2004 has
been out of the game for awhile, but came up big to help
lead En Fuego to victory.
The 500th win came in En Fuego’s 736th game. Their
overall record since their first game played on
September 12, 1995 is (500-225-11 .687). En Fuego has
won five out of their last six games versus Stac Pac and
is now (38-34-2 .527) against them all-time. “Five
hundred is a lot of wins, and with virtually the same
guys week in and week out makes it that more special,”
said En Fuego outfielder Vince Petruzzi.
Petruzzi who played in En Fuego’s first win back in 1995
was unable to play in the historic 500th win due to
injury, but thought it was fitting the win came against
long time rival Stac Pac. |
Manager/pitcher Craig
Watkins holds up the game ball from 500th win.
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When the team was established in 1995 by then manager Jason
Teague there was no telling that En Fuego would enjoy so much
success over the years. After Teague moved to Arizona in 1996,
third baseman
Jason England and Watkins took over the team and haven’t looked
back. Entering their 49th league overall, En Fuego is
(390-154-11 .713) in 555 games. They have won eighteen league
championships and have been runner-up eight times. In 43
tournaments En Fuego is (110-71 .608) and have won ten
tournament titles and been runner-up twelve times.
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EN FUEGO SOFTBALL
CLUB MILESTONE VICTORIES
DATE MILESTONE
OPPONENT SCORE
LOCATION
5/22/07 500th
WIN STAC PAC
11-8 Ladera Ranch Fields
9/27/05 400th
WIN BEER THIRTY
22-10 Ladera Ranch Fields
3/20/03 300th
WIN SPRING TRAINING
19-4 Laguna Hills Field
12/07/00 200th WIN
SOFA KINGS
17-8 Trabuco Hills HS
4/20/98 100th
WIN BOTTOM DWELLERS
26-15 Oso Viejo Fields
9/12/95 1st
WIN DITTO HEADS
21-8 Oso Viejo Fields
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Notes: The win
over Stac Pac made it four straight for En Fuego and five out of
the last six…After not playing each other in all of 2002 and
2003 En Fuego and Stac Pac have played 20 times since the
beginning of 2004 with each team winning 10 games…En Fuego first
played Stac Pac in the 1996 winter league at Chapparosa Park…En
Fuego won an epic battle 22-21 for only their 16th win as a
franchise…Days prior to the 500th win En Fuego played in the
27th Annual Catalina Island Bash - Am Com tournament on Catalina
Island…En Fuego went (3-2) and finished runner-up to Dawgtown
from Redlands…Corrie Willkie, James Verdi, Jason Santoro and
Mike Kerr were all named to the all-tournament team.
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Batting
Order:
1. Kevin Lorton
RF
2. Jeff Johnson
LC
3. James Verdi LF
4. Corrie Willkie
2B
5.
Cesar Reyes
SS
6. Jason Santoro C
7. Steve Rooten
RC
8. Ryan Sauers
1B
9. Craig Watkins P
10. Jason England 3B
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500th WIN:
EF 300-410-3---11
SP
201-103-1---8
Records: EF (1-0), SP (0-1)
Score
Sheet
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Santoro, Verdi, and
Lorton enjoy the 500th win. |
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EN
FUEGO SOFTBALL CLUB
500TH
WIN IN TEAM HISTORY
Top Row (L to R): Corrie
Willkie, Steve Rooten, Jeff Johnson, Jason Santoro, Cesar Reyes,
Craig Watkins.
Bottom Row (L to R): Kevin Lorton, Jason England, James Verdi,
Ryan Sauers. |
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