10 Innings To Win 10th Title

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and now, for the 10th time, I give you the Cecil Cup Champions... The Seattle Monarchs!

The Seattle Monarchs captured their tenth Cecil Cup with a 3-2, come-from-behind, 10 inning victory over the Shackamaxon Lenape.

The Lenape drew first blood in the third inning on a lead-off triple by pitcher Bartolo Olivarez, a walk to Steve Keo and an RBI single by Jose Molina.  However, with one run in the bank and runners on first and second and no one out, Shackamaxon lost the chance to score additional runs.  David Seibel flew out to right, allowing Keo to advance to third.  Tomas Kalakay then flew out to left.  Keo, a good baserunner, tagged up from third, testing the strong arm of LF Lucio Muniz.  However, Muniz's throw beat Keo, for the third out of the inning.

Seattle had a chance to score in the fifth against Olivarez.  With one out Masahide Ueda doubled to right center and, after another out, advanced to third on Terry Hubbard's single.  However, with the tying run on third, Olivarez struck out Jonathan Anderson to end the inning and preserve the 1-0 lead.

Shacakamaxon managed to get a runner on third in the top of the sixth with two out, but Seattle starter Bruno Talamantez struck out veteran John Grondin for the third out.

Seattle managed to tie the score in the bottom of the sixth.  Bas Bijkerk led off with a double.  Dewey Watson then walked.  Talamantez laid down a sacrifice bunt, sending the runners to second and third with one out.  Lucio Muniz then flied out to center, allowing Bijkerk to score.  However, Steve Jones then grounded out to end the inning with the score tied.

Shackamaxon retook the lead in the top of the seventh on a one-out double by George Robinson, a single by pinch hitter Santiago Salazar and a single by pinch hitter Gan Mah, making the score 2-1.  However, with runners at first and second and one out, Talamantez managed to stop the bleeding. He got Steve Keo looking and then induced a first-pitch groundout from Jose Molina.  Yet, still, the Lenape had taken a 2-1 lead.

The score remained 2-1 as the game entered the bottom of the ninth.  With Carlos Arias on the mound, the Lenape were hoping to close out the series.  Arias retired the first two batters - Maximo Rodriguez flew out to right and Lucio Muniz grounded out to second.  That brought up the ever-dangerous catcher Steve Jones.  Arias missed on the first three pitches.  Taking all the way, Arias threw the next one over the plate for a called strike.  He fouled the next one behind the plate for strike two.  With defeat only one strike away, Jones managed to foul another pitch behind the plate.  On the seventh pitch of the at bat, Arias missed, sending Jones to first.  The Seattle manager sent up backup catcher Lonnie Draeger to hit.  On a 2-1 pitch, Draeger hit a line drive double to right-center, sending Jones home and tying the score at two apiece.  With the series winning run only 180 feet away, Norman Kuhn came up, but he flew out to center on the first pitch, ending the frame and sending the game into extra innings.

Seattle closer Pat Carmichael worked the tenth inning, his second of the game.  He retired all three Lenape batters in order.

In the bottom of the tenth, Seattle started off the inning with a groundout by Terry Hubbard against Arias.  The next batter was pinch hitter Ivan Castillo, hitting for the pitcher, Carmichael.  With a 2-2 count, Arias hit Castillo, sending him to first.  The next batter was pinch hitter Javier Chalen.  Chalen fouled off five pitches in the at-bat before finally grounding out, sending Castillo to second.  With a 2-2 count, the next batter, Dewey Wilson hit a single up the middle. Castillo raced around third and came home with the winning run, giving the Monarchs their tenth Cup.

Congratulations to Mack on a well-played season.  We'll let you bask in the glory of your victory for a few days before advancing.