Amigos Overthrow Monarchs, Win 2018 Cecil Cup

The Saskatoon Amigos are the champions of the Unofficial SDMB OOTP League for the second time.  They achieved the title by winning Game 6 of the Cecil Cup series, defeating Seattle 5-4 (yes, another one-run game) in 14 innings.

Seattle started things off with a bang in the bottom of the first when lead-off batter James Dodd stroked a single to left.  After Gregorio Reyna flied out and Bruce Frison reached first on a fielder's choice which eliminated Dodd, Alberto Granado hit a 380-foot shot to left field to give Seattle a 2-0 lead.

Saskatoon tried to get even in the top of the second, putting two runners on base against starter Ronald Placencia, but they failed to score when switch-hitter Timothy Mendiola flied out to center to end the inning.

Placencia finally did surrender a run to Saskatoon in the fourth, giving up a lead-off double to Rufus Murray.  Murray went to third on a sac grounder and scored when Johnny Dash hit a double to left.

The Amigos managed to get a runner on third with one out in both the fifth and sixth innings, but failed to score.

Seattle added another run in the seventh when Granado hit Brunton's first pitch to short and beat the throw for an infield hit.  Two pitches later, Richard Bender hit a triple to bring Granado home.  But with a runner on third and no one out, Seattle was unable to further capitalize on the situation.  Brunton buckled down and got center fielder Bas Bajkirk and right fielder Pedro Martinez to strike out.  He then got out of the inning by getting Toshinobu Mizutani to fly out to right on the first pitch.

The Amigos got back into the game in the bottom of the seventh when a lead-off single to Albert Peavey, a wild pitch, a double by Luis Ramon, a stolen base and a single by Rufus Murray put two runs on the board to tie the game at 3-3.

Seattle once again took the lead in the eighth.  Jose Guzman led off the inning with a double against Brunton.   Guzman.  After an intentional walk to James Dodd, Roberto Ferrer came up as a pinch hitter and laid down a sacrifice bunt.  Ferrer managed to beat out the throw, loading the bases.  The next batter, Granado managed to work the count full before finally drawing a walk to force in a run, giving the Monarchs a 4-3 lead.  Yet, once again, the Monarchs did not take full advantage of their situation.  With the bases loaded and only one out, they failed to score any additional runs.

The Amigos came up in the bottom of the eighth to face reliever Robert Riddick.  The first batter, Royal Wilson hit a fly ball to deep left center that wasn't caught.  When play stopped, Wilson was on second with a double.  A double switch by Seattle brought in lefty Josh Stoker to pitch to Johnny Dash.  Dash grounded out, advancing Wilson to third with one out.  However, Stoker managed to get out of the inning and hold the slim Monarch lead by striking out back-to-back pinch hitters Daniel Burdine and Santiago Salazar.

In the top of the ninth, the Monarchs brought in Dalton Davis to pitch.  Davis gave up a leadoff single to Peavy who scored two batters later when Marzanno beat out an infield single.

And then it went into extra innings.  From the 10th through the 13th, neither team got a runner past second base.  In the top of the fourteenth, Peavy led off with a single against Fai-hsien Bao.  Peavy went to third on a ground out and came home to score on a sacrifice fly by Billy Pla.

In the bottom of the inning, Seattle led off with an infield single by Steve Keo.  He was replaced at first on a fielder's choice by Frison.  But that's where it ended.  Granado flied out to center on the first pitch and Bender  grounded out to second to end the game and the season.

Congrats to Eric on winning his second championship!

Now it's on to the off-season.  Most (if not all) owners have decisions to make regarding option years.  Those choices must be made now.  The next sim will be on Wednesday night where we will advance one week.

Zev