It had been a seven-year drought for AWA, who last played a league championship game in 1978. The team had been so successful during its first few years, and with the subsequent addition of some new, young talent, we felt sure we would have a good sustained run of success. That didn't happen. But in 1985 AWA put it all together again, combining a high-scoring lineup with a standout defense to capture its fourth league championship.
The team stampeded through the first half, going 6-0 and completing its first undefeated half of play. The winning streak included impressive wins of 19-6 and 21-4, but it was a dramatic come-from-behind 11-9 win over second place Delta Star Electric that put the team on top to stay.
Guaranteed a spot in the league championship game at the end of the year, AWA turned its attention to a stint in "B" League for the second half, compiling a respectable 3-3 record. Meanwhile, Fiesta Lanes and Mariani's finished the second half of the "CC" League in a dead heat, which meant a playoff game between those two to determine the second half champ, with the winner facing AWA for the overall title.
Fiesta Lanes was having a fantastic year. They started the season at the "C-1", going undefeated in the spring. Moving up to the "CC" Division, they proved it was no fluke by recording a 5-1 record, and finishing tied for first. Clearly this was a team that was fully confident of their chances, and they looked real good in whipping Mariani's in the playoff game for their spot in the "CC" finals. On closer examination, we could see that Fiesta Lanes was pretty much the same bunch of guys who made up a Straw Hat Pizza squad that AWA had battled against in the early '80s. While AWA had taken three of the four games played between the two during those years, each contest was a close, heated affair with no love lost among the players. This added dynamic created an extra layer of intensity that grew as the game wore on.
AWA struck in the first inning when Bruce Christie sliced a double to right center and then scored when brother Brian Christie singled through the middle. In the second, singles by Mark Christie and Steve Barrett, followed by an error, loaded the bases. Earl Yagi lifted a sacrifice fly to right to make it 2-0.
Fiesta Lanes had threatened to score in each of the first two frames, but they came away empty, stranding a runner at third each time. However, in the third inning, Fiesta Lanes finally got their offense going. A double and three consecutive one-out singles had two runs in and runners at first and second when Bruce turned in an outstanding play at shortstop. Charging a well-hit grounder, in one motion Bruce fielded the ball, tagged the runner from second, and then made an off-balance throw to first to complete the double play to kill the rally.
In the top of the fourth AWA broke the tie with Greg Brown's agressive baserunning providing the spark. After opening the inning with a hit, Greg surprised the Fiesta Lanes defense when he tagged and moved up to second on Joe Sammut's fly to right, sliding in safely just under the tag on a very close play. The Fiesta Lanes dugout howled its disapproval over the safe call, but video replays showed the call to be correct. That bit of daring on the bases paid off as Greg scored on Mark's single to center.
Runs had been kept to a minimum due to some brilliant defense on both sides, but the best was yet to come as AWA took its tenuous 3-2 lead into the last of the fifth. The situation did not look good when Fiesta Lanes opened the inning with a couple of hits, putting runners at first and second. Working carefully to the next hitter, Earl fell behind two balls and no strikes to the next batter. With the top of the order coming up, Fiesta Lanes was poised to take the lead.
Then -- in an instant -- it was over. Earl came in with the 2-0 pitch, and the batter smoked a one-hopper down the third base line. Played out as if it had been rehearsed dozens of times, Mike Applegate dove to his right and snared the ball at the base, slapping the bag, jumping to his feet, and wheeling a throw to second. Gary Matsushita made a terrific pivot, and rifled the throw to first, where Dave Jackson gave it the big stretch, completing the triple play. Screams resounded from the AWA faithful. High fives abounded in the dugout.
But this game was far from over. Both teams traded zeros in the sixth, and AWA continued to hold its very frail 3-2 advantage heading to the top of the seventh. In AWA's final at bat, Mark stung a one-out single and moved to third when Barrett's drive to right barely eluded the diving outfielder, putting Steve at second with a double. Steve Sammut was then intentionally walked to load the bases with the hobbled Earl coming up. Fiesta Lanes was hoping to set up a possible double play as Earl was not moving well. But Coach Applegate crossed up the move by sending Neil Christie in as a pinch-hitter, who promptly drilled a hit to left, scoring one run. Mike then shot a single to center, good for another run, and Gary's long sacrifice fly to left scored the thrid run of the inning. AWA went into the seventh with a much more comfortable 6-2 lead.
Earl was reinstated into the lineup so he could take the hill for the bottom of the seventh, and only three outs remained for the celebration to begin. After a leadoff single, the next hitter hit a grounder wide of third. Mike had a shot at starting a double play, but he double-clutched the ball, and all he could get was a force at second. That's when Fiesta Lanes brought out the hitting sticks. Three consecutive line drive hits to center had one run in and the bases loaded. The next guy ripped a shot down the left field line. Two more runs came in, and with the score now 6-5, the Fiesta Lanes' fans were delirious. But amidst the celebration was Joe at catcher, who cooly called for the ball and tagged home plate, appealing that the runner from second base had failed to touch the plate. The umpire also saw the missed touch of home, and the player was emphatically rung up. The cheers of joy turned to cries of outrage, and an extended argument ensued.
The score was amended to 6-4 and, more importantly, the outs were extended to two. The attention now turned to the Fiesta lanes hitter at the plate -- the very same player who had bounced into the triple play two innings before. Swinging at the first pitch, he drilled a liner to left center. Tom Sukup, who had cheated in a bit, was in perfect position to make the play.
It was over. The Boys of AWA, after a six-year drought, finally got to hold up the league championship trophy again.
