Championship Game

San Diego Fastpitch 9, Edge 2

WP- Dan Zupp LP- Bobby Lara

[Palm Springs - 4/25/04] - In their semi-final game against the Rounders, Dan Zupp and Gerald Pyle battled in a 0-0 pitcher's duel for 4 innings.  In the fifth, the San Diego bats came alive as they batted around, scoring 6 runs in the fifth inning for the win. 

Against the Edge, in the championship game, the San Diego bats stayed hot, as they scored four in the first and three more in the second, to put this one away early.   

The game started out with a bit of a ruckus, as a force out involving an Edge runner sparked an exchange of words between the two teams which led to both benches emptying.  As order was restored, the banter continued, leading to the ejections of The Edge's Rick McCarthy and San Diego's Johnny Nuanez.

In the first inning, after Bobby Lara retired the first two San Diego batters, Terry Brightwell drew a walk.  First baseman Joe Fernandez followed with a single and both scored on a double by San Diego shortstop Mike York.  York played a big role in both the semi-finals and championship game wins with stellar play at shortstop.  Brian Webb walked.  Singles by Joe Crawford and Jaime Nuanez produced two more runs.

In the San Diego second, Joe Nuanez led off with a double, scoring on a single by Terry Brightwell.  Joe Fernandez walked, and both Brightwell and Fernandez scored on a triple by Brian Webb..

The Edge scored their only two runs in the fourth, on a leadoff single by Robert Aragon, who scored on a double by "The Legend", Jerry Hoffman, who entered the game for first baseman Rick McCarthy when he was ejected.  An error and base hit by Raul Ramirez brought home Aaron Sepulveda, who entered to run for Hoffman (as many know, Sepulveda's father was a teammate of Hoffman's, both playing on the 1983 ISC World Champion Lancaster Chameleons.)

Brian Webb added one more for San Diego, leading off the fifth with a solo homer to left field, while Terry Brightwell came home on a throwing error for the final San Diego run, and the 9-2 margin of victory.   Webb's home run went over the left fielder's head, rolling all the way to the (slow-pitch) fences, some 300 feet away.

The game marked the second So Cal ASA Alliance tournament in a row that pitted San Diego and the Edge in the championship game. Last time, the Edge roughed up San Diego for a 10-0 win.  This time, it was ace Dan Zupp holding the Edge in check, while the San Diego offense pounded out nine runs in support.  Workhorse Zupp was masterful on Sunday, defying fatigue and the heat that claimed others.  

The loss was the first for The Edge since their loss to Valley Lyons in the first So Cal ASA Alliance tournament of the year, coincidentally, also at Palm Springs.  Since that loss, the Edge had reeled off a very impressive seventeen wins, including two perfect 6-0 weekends at Santa Fe Springs, and 5 more at Palm Springs II, before falling to San Diego in the title game.

The standings tighten up a bit at the top spots, but the Edge will retain their two point lead over San Diego, as the Edge tallied 14 points on the weekend (11 plus 3 Saturday wins), while San Diego's tournament victory gave them 14 points as well (12 plus 2 Saturday wins).

More details on the tournament games on Monday.

Saturday night report, 4/24/04

Edge Raymar and Black Sox Grab Top Pool Seeds and Sunday Byes

Only two of the 12 teams competing in Palm Springs II went unbeaten Saturday, first place Edge and third place Raymar, finishing as the top seeds in the A and C pools, respectively, while the Black Sox, Santana Concrete and San Diego all went 2-1 in Pool B.  The Black Sox had the best run differential with a +13, and won the tie breaker, making them the #1 seed from the B pool, and getting the other first round bye.   In the final game of the day, the Black Sox trailed Santana 2-0, but caught them at 3, and went on to win 7-3 behind the pitching of Chuck Vranich.   Palm Springs and the El Segundo Rounders also went 2-1 and will face each other in a first round match up Sunday, a rematch of their game played just two weeks ago, won by Palm Springs.

Click Scoreboard for Saturday's scores.

This league tournament is the fourth of eight So Cal ASA Alliance events on the year.  After this one, we'll be at the halfway mark of our season.

Looking for the coverage from this year's "Palm Springs I" tournament held March 6-7, 2004?  Click "Up", then the menu button for "Palm Springs I"  Want to read about prior Palm Springs tournaments? Click menu buttons at upper left.

Editor's Note:  See the "Travel Resources" menu button at left for more information.

The photo below was taken with a "cell phone camera" from the balcony of one of the rooms there during the last tournament in March. Nice eh?  Robert, Lou, Spanky and the folks at So Cal ASA arranged the deal, which dropped the rate in March from $170 rate to just $70 per night. This one's sold out this time around, but check the So Cal ASA website for other special deals.