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December 4, 2007
LADERA RANCH FIELDS – FINAL: En Fuego 28, Stac Pac 20
To win their 20th league championship in team history En Fuego
had to go through rival Stac Pac once again. It was the third
straight season in which Stac Pac and En Fuego faced off in the
title game. En Fuego won the 2007 Spring Tuesday night
championship 15-11 in comeback fashion. Stac Pac then stunned En
Fuego 22-5 in the 2007 Summer Tuesday night championship game.
In their quest for the win in the rubber match En Fuego (11-1)
out-performed Stac Pac en route to a convincing 28-20 victory.
In order to get the chance to play Stac Pac, En Fuego needed to
get by Win or Lose (3-7-1) in the first round game. They did
just that, outlasting Win or Lose 18-13. Outfielders
Jerry Langner and Vince Petruzzi led the way for En Fuego in the game.
Langner homered, went 4-for-4, and drove in a team high five
RBI. Petruzzi doubled twice and went 3-for-3 at the plate with
one walk in the opening game win.
Stac Pac (8-4) got a mercy win against the Dirtbags (6-5) in
their first round game. They continued their hot hitting scoring
six runs in the top of the first inning of the final game versus
En Fuego. Ready for the challenge En Fuego answered with five
runs in the bottom half of the first inning. After holding Stac
Pac scoreless in the top of the second inning, En Fuego exploded
for nine runs in the bottom half of the inning led by team MVP
Corrie Willkie who blasted a home run to get En Fuego going. In
the inning there was some confusion about a ruling on base
runners. According to Rule 3 Sec. 3A on page 32 of the SCMAF
rulebook: ‘a courtesy runner may be used for the same regular
runner each time said regular runner is on base in the same
inning.’ When En Fuego batted around in the inning this actually
occurred. Stac Pac did not protest the ruling, but heavily
disputed it with the umpire. The umpire allowed En Fuego another
courtesy runner the second time around for the same runner. The
ruling, which was actually correct, and the heated dispute with
the umpire seemed to fuel Stac Pac’s fire as they stormed right
back scoring nine runs in the top of the third inning to regain
the lead 15-14.
Again, En Fuego rallied back as they have done so often the past
few years in these types of back-and-forth playoff games. With
five consecutive hits to start the bottom of the third inning
from the top of the order En Fuego scored four runs to regain
the lead. After three innings of play they took the lead for
good 18-15. En Fuego pitcher Craig Watkins and the defense held Stac Pac from the big inning late in the game. Watkins allowed
only five runs over the next four innings as the En Fuego
offense continued to pour it on scoring ten runs in their final
three at bats. Outfielder James Verdi connected for a monster
grand slam in the bottom of the fourth to put En Fuego up 26-18.
Verdi drove in nine RBI in the game and went a perfect 4-for-4
in the championship game. Willkie went 4-for-5 and belted two
home runs and a triple while driving in six runs. Infielder
Jason Hogan added a solo home run in the sixth as En Fuego went
on to win by the final of 28-20.
En Fuego needed a huge offensive game against Stac Pac and they
got it. With big time contributions by many, En Fuego was able
to win their fourth championship out of the last five seasons in
the SVUSD Tuesday night league at Ladera Ranch. Hogan went
5-for-5 with a home run, three RBI, and three runs scored.
Newcomer Jon Petke went 4-for-5 and scored five runs. Leadoff
hitter Kevin Lorton got things started for En Fuego going
5-for-5 and scoring five runs. Langner and
Ryan Sauers each went
3-for-4 in the championship game. |
