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In
the bottom of the fourth the Bull Dawgs scored seven runs to get
within three 17-14. In the top half of the fifth En Fuego again put
four runs on the board to extend the lead to 21-14. After shutting
out the Bull Dawgs in the bottom of the fifth, En Fuego scored one
run in the top of the sixth to go ahead 22-14. Again the Bull Dawgs
offense rallied to score seven times and pulled within one run 22-21
after six innings of play.
In
the top of the seventh En Fuego proved they wanted to win.
After
scoring a run to go up 23-21 with two outs and two on they got a
walk from third baseman Jason England
to load the bases. Leadoff hitter Kevin
Lorton then singled to start a string of seven hits in row and
eight more runs. “We wanted it more.” Said Lorton
The
nine run inning put En Fuego up by ten again 31-21. In the bottom of
the seventh inning En Fuego could smell victory after the Bull Dawgs
went scoreless. In the eighth and final inning En Fuego failed to
score for the first time of the night but heading into the bottom of
the eighth they led comfortably by ten runs. The Bull Dawgs would
rally in their final at bat scoring seven runs to come within three.
With the tying run at the plate and two out En Fuego got the final
out to clinch the victory. “It was another great team effort and
win for En Fuego.” Said Watkins “This was a game where you
don’t realize how good of a game it was until it’s over and you
look back on it.” Added Watkins
A
few of the many players contributing big for En Fuego were
outfielder James Verdi who went
4-for-4 with four RBI and four runs and first baseman Ryan
Sauers who went 3-for-5 with three RBI in the final game.
But
collectively it was the best team that beat perhaps the best
players. With solid all around play on defense and timely hitting
when they needed it En Fuego became champions once again.
Notes:
The championship victory was the seventeenth in team history for En
Fuego…En Fuego has now won more Thursday Laguna Hills league
championships than any other team…It was their sixth overall
championship in the Thursday night Laguna Hills league surpassing
Spring Training who has won five titles since the inception of the
league in the spring of 2001…It was the fifth appearance in seven
seasons in the Thursday night Laguna Hills league championship game
for En Fuego…They have won two championships out of the last three
leagues and four out of seven since the spring of 2005…For the
first time all season En Fuego had all thirteen players in the
line-up…with a full line-up they still managed five at bats each
and 31 runs in the championship win…Outfielder Vince
Petruzzi of En Fuego returned after being sidelined for a month
with a dislocated and broken finger to give the team a boost on
defense as well as coming up clutch at the plate in the championship
win…There were many milestones and records during the season…On
January 25, 2007 Cesar Reyes collected his 300th career hit with En
Fuego and Ryan Sauers scored his 300th run with the team…On March
1, 2007 Jason England and James Verdi each collected career RBI 500
in a 24-5 win over the Zephyrs…On April 5th in the first round
playoff game versus Spring Training Ryan Sauers played his 300th
game with En Fuego…He became the 9th player in team history to
have played in 300 games...Catcher Jason
Santoro walked in his first at bat in the second inning…the
base on balls was the 48th of the season for En Fuego breaking the
team record of 47 walks during the 1996 Fall Chapparosa
League…Also on April 5th in the championship game versus the Bull
Dawgs James Verdi singled in the first inning to collect his 600th
career hit with En Fuego…In the seventh inning Reyes singled in
his 300th career RBI…Craig Watkins walked twice in the game…the
first which gave him 11 on the season tied Jason Santoro’s single
season En Fuego team record for walks established in the 1997 Summer
Chapparosa League…the second walk in his final plate appearance
was the 12th and new single season team record…En Fuego amassed 59
total walks during the season to establish a new single season team
record.
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