Santa Fe Springs  - II

April 3-4, 2004

(For Scoreboard, Sunday bracket, Photos and Game recaps, click menu buttons at left)

[SANTA FE SPRINGS, CA, 4/4/04] - The Edge won their second So Cal ASA Alliance tournament Sunday, with a 10-0 5 inning run rule win over runner-up San Diego Fastpitch.  Bobby Lara was the winning pitcher, while Lee Thomas took the loss.  Rich Barnwell, Louie Sanchez and Darren Stiles homered in the championship game.  The Edge scored one run in the first, two in the third, three in the fourth and four in the fourth for the mercy rule win.  San Diego never got untracked.  Catcher Terry Brightwell missed the championship game after taking suffering a "catcher's injury".  San Diego pitcher Dan Zupp was pressed into service as the right fielder and performed admirably, with a base hit and nice play in right. 

The Edge has lost but one game in three tournaments, that coming in Palm Springs to Valley Lyons.  Since that time, they have gone 12-0, flattening the competition along the way.  They have won the championship games in the last two tournaments by run-rule scores of 18-5 and 10-0, clearly establishing themselves as the best Alliance team at this point in the season, and reminiscent to the 2002 season when they (formerly called the Kanakas) were in the championship game nearly every tournament.  The Edge has combined overwhelming offense with solid defense and good pitching from Bobby Lara, Gilbert Joiner and newcomer Billy Montana.  Lara has pitched the title game in the last two tournaments. 

San Diego reached the finals with a 2-1 win over Palm Springs in the semi-finals, after a 9-8 extra inning win over the L.A. Fear, and 6-5 win Sunday morning over the Panteras.  Meanwhile the Edge rolled over the Rebels 14-1, and eliminated the Long Beach Black Sox with a 7-1 win in the semi-finals with Billy Montana picking up the win.  The Black Sox continued to suffer the injury bug, this time, with Dale Lopes injuring a hamstring and out indefinitely. The injury marks the fifth player to go on the DL for player-manager Fred Hanker's young club.

Raymar, which held the top spot in the standings at the start of the weekend, fell in their first round game to the L.A. Fear, while the Rounders continued their struggles, falling to Palm Springs in their first game, 3-1.  Mark Manuelito picked up the win for the Express.  Darryl Goree had the big hit, a 2 run homer in the 2nd inning that proved to be the difference in the game.  The Rounders had the bases loaded in the fifth, two on in the 6th and two more in the 7th, but only one run to show for it.

For Palm Springs, it marked their first trip to the "Final Four", one they worked hard to achieve.  Palm Springs was winless in the tough "Pool A" on Saturday and entered the game against the Rounders as the A5 seed.  The Express led the whole way though, scoring a run in the first and two in the second.

Alliance Standings Rearranged

With the tournament win, the Edge climbed to the top of the standings with 46 points, while former league leader Raymar dropped their first game Sunday and fell to third with 40 points.  San Diego remained in second place, just two back of the Edge with 44, while the Rounders held onto fourth place, 8 points behind the leader. The fifth spot now belongs to the Black Sox, with 35 points, as they overtook the Amigos, which has 33 points.  For the official league standings, consult the posting at the Official So Cal ASA Website.

Final Rankings on the Weekend

Please note these numbers are unofficial, prepared using the numbers from the official standings.

The standings contained at these pages are not official.  For the official league standings, consult the posting at the Official So Cal ASA Website.  

Saturday Night Report Below

A Day for Comebacks

It was a day for comebacks, with three of the biggest turned in by the top three seeds, the Edge, Rounders and Black Sox.  The Edge and the Rounders both found themselves with their backs to the wall in their 9:00 a.m. games, barely escaping with come-from-behind victories.  Without those key wins, those two teams would not have secured the all important first round byes in Sunday's Championship round.  

Edge 8, Palm Springs 7   -  Rounders 9, Amigos 7

The Edge spotted Palm Springs 7 runs before rallying to win 8-7, while the Rounders surrendered 6 runs in the first couple innings to the Amigos, before tying the game at 7, and going on to win 9-7 on the strength of home runs by Mark Villalobos, Donald Jewett and Steve Tollington.  The Rounders got home runs from five different players on the day, for a total of eight.  It was safe to say that the Rounders were happy to see the fences back up this weekend.  Villalobos led the Rounders with three, Jewett had a pair, and Steve Tollington, John Simmers and Sean Lee had one each.

The Edge was coming off a perfect 6-0 weekend in Santa Fe Springs two weeks ago, capped with an 18-5 title game victory.  Like the Rounders, they were a little slow getting the engine started Saturday morning, but recovered in time to save the day, and go on for another perfect 3-0 Saturday and the tournament's top seed.  (The Edge lost their third game of the day, 7-4, to the Panteras, but the Panteras were using a ASA "A" pitcher, Lonnie Brooks, so they forfeited the game.  The forfeit helped the Edge edge the Rounders in the "runs allowed" category, 10 to 12, as they only played two games).  Had the Rounders not rallied, it would have marked the third time in three tournaments that they dropped their first game Saturday (Edge beat them in Palm Springs, while the Black Sox got them last time out in SFS).  It got a little dicey for the Rounders in their third game, as the Mets rallied from down 7-1 to 7-5 with the tying runs on in the last inning before Donald Jewett slammed the door shut.

Rounders 8, Primos 0

The Rounders won their second game of the day, 8-0 over the Primos.  Ron Kirby's squad scored 1 in the first on Mark Villalobos' second home run of the day, four in the third on a double by Eric Geierman, single by Gerald Pyle and home runs by Mark Villalobos (his third of the day) and Donald Jewett (his second of the day).  The Rounders added two more in the fourth on a double by Sean Lee and triple by Mark Villalobos.  (Lee's "ground rule double" actually cleared the fence, according to onlookers at the game).  Andy Lawry's RBI single in the fifth brought home the eighth run and ended the game, to the delight of his family which is out from Wisconsin and took in Saturday's games.

Amigos and L.A. Fear Turn in Winning Saturdays Again

The Amigos and L.A. Fear have been among the unsung teams this year, turning in 2-1 Saturdays once again.  The Amigos were within shouting distance of a perfect 3-0 day, with only the Rounders come-from-behind win standing in the way.  The Amigos knocked off league leading Raymar, 5-3 in one Saturday's more exciting games.  The Amigos jumped out to a 3-0 lead, before Raymar tied things at 3.  Johnny Rodriguez then hit a game winning home run, for the Amigos 5-3 win.  Raymar will now have to face the L.A. Fear in the first round on Sunday, no easy task.  The Fear was 2-1 on Saturday, including an 11-2 win over Palm Springs.  Their only loss was 4-3 to the Amigos. 

Statistical Trivia from Saturday's games

Fewest Runs Allowed:  Raymar surrendered fewer runs than any team in the tournament, with 5, while Cecilo Smalling's L.A. Fear was second with 7.  (The Edge surrendered 10 in two games, the Rounders 12, and Black Sox 13.

Most Runs Scored:   The Black Sox scored the most runs, 29, with Rounders using the home run ball to score 24 and the So Cal Masters 23.   The Edge scored 21 and the Fear 20.    The most runs scored in a game was 13, by the Panteras, with the Black Sox and Fear also in double figures with 11 each.

Runs Scored (Total):  The Alliance kept up its 10 run per game average, scoring 207 runs in 20 games Saturday (the Panteras/Edge forfeit was not counted)

Biggest Run Differential:  The Black Sox outscored their opponents by 16 runs, the Fear by 13, the Rounders by 12 and the Edge by 11.

Shutouts:  For all the runs scoring that goes on the Alliance, five of the 21 games played on Saturday were shutouts, two by Raymar, and one each by the Rounders, Primos, and Black Sox.

Flanagan's Jerseys:  Jim Flanagan's jerseys had a busy day on the basepaths Saturday (somewhat unfamiliar territory ;-))  Newly added Rounder Gerald Pyle wore Jim's #19, almost hitting for the cycle with a single, double and triple on the day, while Chris Minogue wore Jim's Artesia City league Black Sox #19 jersey, having a big day for the Sox, including a 5-for-8 outburst with a home run in the Sox last two games Saturday.

Game of the Day  (?)   Black Sox 11, So Cal Masters 9

The Black Sox also had a big comeback to save their 3-0 Saturday, with an 11-9 slugfest win over the So Cal Masters. The Black Sox took a 3-0 lead in the first on singles by Johnny Medina and Dale Lopes and a home run by Chris Minogue.  The Masters roared back with five of their own in the third to take a 5-3 lead.  The Black Sox then pounded out five of their own in their third on a triple by John Aspaugh, a long home run by Fred Hanker that cleared both fences, and singles by Dale Lopes, Chris Minogue, David Valdivia and a double by Dan Fleming, for an 8-5 lead. The Masters answered back with four in the fourth to take a 9-8 lead, before the Sox scored two more in the fourth and one in the fifth for the 11-9 final.  The Sox two runs in the fourth came on a Hanker fielder's choice, a Dale Lopes triple, and an error on a fly ball hit by Chris Minogue.  The insurance run in the fifth came on a walk to David Valdivia, single by Bobby Cole and RBI single by leadoff hitter Johnny Medina.  Randy Clay came on in the fifth inning to pick up the win for the Sox. 

Black Sox and San Diego Battle in Final Game of Day for Top Seed

This tournament, like the one two weeks ago in Santa Fe Springs had fourteen teams, translating to two first round byes.  The "battle for the byes" has been extremely competitive, with Saturday's coming down to the final game of the day between San Diego and the Black Sox, one of the most exciting on the day.   Both teams were 2-0 with 9 runs allowed, while the Rounders watched anxiously with a 3-0 record and 12 runs allowed.   If the winner held the loser to 2 or fewer runs, they would bump the Rounders to the #3 seed overall and steal the first round bye.  For five innings, it looked liked that was exactly what was going to happen, as San Diego's Paul Villalobos cruised into the fifth inning with a 4-1 lead, San Diego scoring all four in the first, keyed by a double by Terry Brightwell and two-run single by Jay Crawley. The Sox manufactured a lone run in the second.  But in the bottom of the fifth inning, the floodgates opened, in more ways than one.  With rain starting to fall, the Sox exploded for 8 runs, on singles by Brett Semans, John Medina, Fred Hanker, Dale Lopes, walks to Bobby Cole and John Aspaugh, a double by Chris Minogue and the big blow, a home run by David Valdivia for a 9-4 final score.  With still no outs in the inning, the clouds opened and the rain fell harder, forcing the umpires to call the game.   The win gave the Black Sox a perfect 3-0 day, but they narrowly missed stealing the #2 seed and first round bye from the Rounders by a lone run (13 runs allowed to the Rounders 12).  Randy Clay of the Black Sox notched all three wins for his team, going 3-0 on the day.

Going into Sunday, Raymar has sole possession of first place with 34 points, while the Edge and San Diego Fasptitch are tied for second with 29, and the Rounder are fourth with 25.

Postscript: We are pleased to report that Kenny "The Jet" Harley of the Black Sox appears to be OK after injuring his leg sliding at home plate in the Sox game against the So Cal Masters.  Player-Manager Fred Hanker who has lost two players recently, one to a season ending injury (John Otte, adominal muscle) was obviously concerned about Harley.   X-rays were negative though, so it appears to be just a bad sprain.  The FAA will ground "The Jet" for a few weeks, but Hanker hopes to have him back in the lineup by the next Alliance Weekend, in Palm Springs.