Vranich Tosses Two-Hitter in Finale, while Hanker, Lopes and Otte Power Offense

In So Cal ASA Alliance play May 21-22, 2005 at Lancaster, California, the Long Beach Black Sox scored 38 runs in 4 games Sunday including 8 in the title game against Primetime., an 8-0 shutout for winning pitcher Chuck Vranich. Chuck Vranich surrendered just two hits to Primetime. Fred Hanker and John Otte drove in two runs each, while Damian Guerrero, Chris Minogue and Dan Fleming added one RBI each, as the Sox pounded out 10 hits. The momentum swung to Long Beach early, as Joe Nuanez was called out for leaving third on what otherwise would have been a sacrifice fly off the bat of Rick McCarthy, to end a Primetime scoring threat in the first.

Scoring Recap:

Black Sox Third: Benny Guerrero got things started with a single to left; Chuck Chaple walked, followed by a single by Andy Martinez to load the bases. Fred Hanker singled to right field to bring home Guerrero and Chapel, sending Martinez to third. Damian Guerrero followed with a line drive RBI single to left, perhaps the hardest hit ball of the game, scoring Martinez, before a double play ended the inning. Three runs, four hits. (Score: 3-0 Black Sox)

Black Sox Fourth: Dale Lopes opened the inning with a triple to the left centerfield gap, a ball that went to the fence. John Otte hit a towering fly ball that carried over the right fielder’s head, scoring Lopes and Otte. Two runs on two hits; (Score 5-0 Black Sox)

Black Sox Fifth: Chuck Chapel opened the inning with a walk, and scored when a ball hit by Andy Martinez was thrown wide of first, Martinez advancing to second. Chris Minogue singled to left with two outs, scoring Martinez. Two runs on one hit, and one error. (Score 7-0 Black Sox)

Black Sox Sixth: John Otte reached on an infield error at first on the throw. Marcel Bernal singled to center, Otte stopping at second. With one out, Dan Fleming singled to center field, scoring Otte, and ending the game. One run on two hits and one error. Final Score, 8-0 Black Sox.

Primetime could not get untracked offensively, mustering only two hits in the game, a single by Jimmy Buentello in the first and a single by Brian Webb in the third. Meanwhile, the Sox defense was stellar, with Otte running down a long fly off the bat of Johnny Nuanez, five putouts by shortstop Andy Martinez, including a web-gem back hand play in the third, and a gem by third baseman Dan Fleming on a hard hit ball by Jimmy Buentello in the 6th. The breaks and bounces seemed to go Long Beach’s way. Even a line drive hit by Joe Nuanez in the sixth that richocheted off of Chuck Vranich took a Long Beach bounce to second baseman Chuck Chapel for a 1-4-3 putout. Vranich was not hurt on the play. Aside from a one-out walk to Joe Nuanez in the first and single by Buentello that put Nuanez on third, Primetime did not have another runner reach second base.

The Black Sox became the first team in the Alliance to win two tournaments in the 2005 season. They opened the season with a tourney win at Palm Springs, then suffered two Sunday morning eliminations before bouncing back to go 6-1 on the weekend. Their only loss on the weekend was to RAW on Saturday afternoon.

The Sox started the day with a 4 to 1 win over the Masters, followed by a wild, 11-10 extra inning win over the Latin Heat. In the semi-finals, the Sox routed the Panteras, who had eliminated the Rounders, with a come-from-behind 5-4 in a quarterfinal. The Sox scored 14 runs off three Panteras pitchers, though the Panteras refused to quit, scoring 6 runs in their last inning, for a 15-6 final.

Click here to visit Fred Hanker’s Long Beach Black Sox website for a recap of the weekend. Sunday’s game recaps are being posted as we speak.

Santana Concrete and the Panteras were the other “Final Four” teams, with Santana eliminating the Hustlers in their quarterfinal game. A new Santana addition, Roman Lara (photo at left) had a phenomenal tournament, hitting an Alliance record seven (7) home runs on the weekend — with five of them coming in six at bats, before dislocating a knee and having to leave Santana’s final game. Lara is certainly a player who will garner a lot more attention when Alliance teams return to play in June, at Rancho Bernardo, California (San Diego County).

Scores from all games below.

Alliance standings saw the top three spots remain relatively constant (Primetime, Amigos and Rounders, first, second and third, respectively, with the champion Long Beach Black Sox making the biggest jump, to get back into the race for a National tournament Berth, catching the Panteras for fourth place, five points behind the Rounders. Santana’s final four finish helped them stay close, just three points behind the Sox and Panteras. Click here for the full set of standings at the So Cal ASA website.  The Alliance's second place team, the Amigos, extended their lead in the standings over the third place Rounders, with a 5-1 win Saturday morning, and finished with a 3-0 record on the day to grab the top seed in Pool A.  The Panteras, Rude Pac and RAW also finished 3-0 for the top seeds from the other pools Saturday at Lancaster, CA