Winning a tournament is no easy feat. It's a two-day war of attrition, physically and mentally demanding, against opponents who are progressively more formidable. The most strenuous aspect of double elimination tournament play is that dreaded abyss known as the "losers' bracket". A team advancing through the bottom bracket does so without much of a break between games, and as the team progresses, with no break at all. Sunday in the losers' bracket is a marathon dance in cleats, and only the strong survive. However, on this arduous weekend the boys of AWA survived the test to win it all.
Tournament host Badsticks was established as the team to beat, and they lived up to their top billing by rolling over the field with four straight wins, advancing to the finals as the representative of the winners' bracket. AWA got off to a good start Saturday morning, winning its opener 14-10. But the second game, a mistake-filled 9-7 defeat to the Phantoms of the Opera, dropped the team into the losers' bracket.
That loss ended AWA's day for Saturday, and the journey through the losers' bracket began early Sunday morning, an 8:00 AM first pitch. The guys nearly got themselves eliminated in that first game, but despite trailing 7-5 in the sixth inning, AWA rallied for four runs and a 9-7 win over the Shady Oak Bombers. We then followed that up with an impressive 9-3 decision over Foxworthy Bottle Shop.
As the afternoon heated up, injuries started to kick in. A couple of players had to drop out, and others had to play through their particular ailments. And the bats were getting stale. AWA struggled in its next game against DeAnza Lounge, trailing 5-2 going into the sixth. But the team again found life in the sixth inning, scoring four times to take a 6-5 lead. DeAnza Lounge tied the game in the top of the seventh, but AWA won it in the bottom of the inning when Tom Sukup's two-out single drove in the winning run for the 7-6 victory.
That put AWA into the finals against the well-rested Badsticks, who were anxious to get on the field and to put this tournament on ice. Oh, and there was one more wrinkle about playing from the losers' bracket. As the team with one loss already, AWA would have to beat Badsticks twice to claim the championship, a feat that didn't look too promising.
But Earl Yagi was terrific on the hill, as he had been all weekend, giving up only two runs through six innings, while the AWA bats responded with a 16-hit attack enroute to a 12-6 win. Badsticks scored four times in the seventh to upset Earl's dominance, but the game was never in doubt. Now,with one loss apiece, and as dusk closed in on the afternoon, the teams prepared for the rematch that would crown a champion.
AWA was truly feeling the effects of the long weekend and playing with a short bench. John Koeplin had been a busy guy out in left field, and his throwing arm was practically falling off. Tony Franklin's hamstrings were bothering him, and the fleet-footed second baseman was playing at half-speed. Everyone else was just plain worn out. Although the bats had risen up against Badsticks in the first game, the offense had been struggling most of the day. Plus, no one was ignoring the four runs the Badsticks' hitters put up in the seventh inning, and they were openly declaring that they had finally figured out Earl's cagey pitching.
Earl was eventually named MVP of the tournament, and he saved his best stuff for when the team needed it most. Tom was named to the all-tourney team, as much for his thrilling play in center field as for what he did at the plate. And the AWA outfielder was nothing short of brilliant in the field for this game, as AWA kept Badsticks off the scoreboard for the first three innings while the team was putting up six runs of its own.
Mike Applegate opened the second with a line drive out to left field. The ball struck a sprinkler head and bounced high over the outfielder's head, allowing Mike to race into third with a triple. One out later Steve Barrett singled him home. After another out, James Key whacked a single to center, sending Steve to third. As the relay from the outfield came into the plate, James broke for second, sliding in ahead of the throw from the catcher. Steve then caught everyone by surprise as he broke for the plate, beating the return relay with a nice slide. Earl then shot a hard grounder to the second baseman, who booted the ball into shallow right field. James raced all the way home, giving AWA a 3-0 lead.
In the third, with one out, Tom beat out an infield hit to deep short. Dave Jackson then popped one behind first base. The beleaguered second baseman got to the ball, but he dropped it for an error. Tom raced to third while Dave alertly scooted into second. That brought up Mike, who lofted a high fly to left. The left fielder drifted back at first as if he had it all the way, but then realized his mistake too late as the ball carried over his head. Both runners scored easily as Mike legged out his second triple of the game. That brought up Pat Koeplin, who drove one deep to center for a sacrifice fly. Mike trotted home for a 6-0 lead.That was it for the offense in this game, and it was left up to Earl and the AWA defense to finish it off. Badsticks was a good hitting team, and they finally broke up the shutout in the fourth with three runs, adding one more in the fifth to cut AWA's lead to a very slender 6-4 count. Earl regained the upper hand in the sixth, as Badsticks went down quietly 1-2-3. AWA similarly failed to score in the top of the seventh. It was all going to come down to Earl and the defense in the bottom of the seventh.
Neil Christie had entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the top of the seventh, and then took over at first base for Dave. But that move backfired as the first hitter of the inning hit a routine grounder to second and reached safely when Neil dropped the throw from Tony. It was type of blunder that usually signals disaster, but Earl managed to get the next two hitters, the first on a come-backer that Earl turned into a force play at second, and the second on a popout to short. He appeared to have the game won when the next hitter chopped one wide of third. But Mike bobbled the short hop, and all hands were safe on the error.
Now the tying runs were on base and the potential winning run stepped to the plate in the form of the Badsticks' leadoff man. The infielders all gathered around Earl, who cooly advised everyone that he had this. The team had played so well and was now so close. AWA's ace was not going to let this one get away. Swinging at the first pitch, the hitter lofting a towering fly to John in left. The AWA outfielder glided to his left and easily put the ball away for the out. He then raced in to celebrate with his mates with his tired arms held high in victory.
AWA had battled through the long weekend and now the championship trophy was ours!
