May 14, 2016 Game Recap

AGE GROUP: 7-9

Game: Tigers of Santa Matilde vs Indians of Candelaria

It was the Indians who got on the board quickly to start the game thanks to a three run home run by Jelson Mendoza and after one inning of play the Indians were leading 4-0. Over the next two innings the Indians would shut down the Tigers defensively and would score 9 more runs that pushed the lead to 13-0. It looked all but over but in the bottom of the third the Tigers gained some life with an 8 run explosion thanks to homeruns by Jimmy Garcia and Elio Rodriguez. It was a 13-8 game with two innings left to play. Unfortunately, the Tigers would not score any more runs and the Indians would add 6 more over the final two innings as the Indians won the championship by winning 19-8. It was a total team effort by the team from Candelaria as every player scored at least one time and all but one player had an RBI. The Tigers will look to regroup themselves over the next month or so and comeback with a fire in their bellies in July.

The Tigers came in with their game faces on!

The champs from Candelaria!

AGE GROUP: 10-11

Game: Braves of Candelaria vs Athletics of Quitanca

It was not a good start for the Braves as an error riddled top of the first helped Quitanca take a 6-0 lead. However, the Braves would get 2 back thanks to a 2-run homerun by Alexander Lopez as the Braves trailed 6-2 after one. The game would stay the same until the bottom of the third when the Braves would score 3 runs due in part to Ricardo Estrada who hit a 2-run home run and the game was close with the A’s leading 6-5. After two innings of being shut out the A’s found another run in the top of the fourth to extend their lead to 7-5. The Braves would answer and again it was the A’s holding on to a 1 run lead with two innings left to play. It was yet another error that allowed the Athletics to extend their lead to 8-6 in the top of the fifth. They would get more help as a misplayed ball by the center fielder allowed Julio Somarrilla to race around the bases for a 2-run homerun and the lead was 10-6 heading into the Braves final at bat. The Braves saw their 8^th and 9^th batters strikeout and they were down to their final out of the season. Missael Rivas hit a dribbler to the first baseman who somehow misplayed it as the Braves were looking to spark a miraculous rally. The next batter was hit and the Braves had hope as Alexander Lopez stepped to the plate and Ricardo Estrada was on deck. The crowd was alive as the pitcher, Bryan Sarria, was battling with the big man from Candelaria. With the crowd chanting his name the young left hander got a fastball by Alexander on a 3-2 count to give the Athletics the championship. It was an amazing season by the A’s who finished with an unblemished 15-0 record. The Braves will look to correct their defensive mistakes and come back ready to go in July.  

 

Walberto giving his pregame speech!

Although it doesn't look like it in this picture, they were happy to win!

 

AGE GROUP: 12-13

Game: Reds of Candelaria vs Red Sox of Quitanca

It looked as though we would be heading for another exciting game as the two teams each scored runs in the first inning, but that was not to be the case as it looked like the Reds were suffering a hangover from last week’s heartbreaking loss. The Red Sox would score a whopping 15 runs over the first 5 innings as they ran away with the championship by winning 15-4. The Red Sox were led by Jose Reyes and Edwin Perez who combined for 5 hits, 5 RBI’s and 5 runs. The Red Sox only suffered one loss and were dominant all year. The Reds will look to their last couple of games to end the season as hope that they can compete and beat anybody come July. 

 

The champs of the oldest division!

Game Recap May 7, 2016

AGE GROUP: 7-9

Game: Tigers of Santa Matilde vs Indians of Candelaria

The championship games got started off right as these two teams battled it out for five thrilling innings. The Tigers got things going early as Elio Rodriguez and Eliseo Rodriguez both scored to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead. In the bottom half the Indians would rattle off 3 runs of their own thanks to a 2-run double by Kevin Montes, he was eventually brought home by a Jelson Mendoza single as the game was 3-2 after one inning. The Tigers found some magic in the bottom half of their lineup as their 9^th and 10^thbatters found base, which setup a 3-run homerun by Sander Garcia and the Tigers retook the lead 5-3. Norlan Trana would open up the bottom of the second with a solo homerun but that would be the only run of the inning as the Indians went into the third inning trailing 5-4. The Tigers would not be able to get anything going in the top half and the Indians took advantage as they would score 2 in the bottom half as the game saw its fourth lead change of the game. The Indians would once again shut down the Tigers in the top of the fourth and added another run in the bottom half to give themselves a two run lead at 7-5. The first runner for the Tigers would find base and eventually find home as Justin Somarilla hit a slow dribbler to second base, but the Tigers were down to their final out and still trailed by 1. It was Jose Flores who stepped into the limelight and shined the brightest when his team needed him the most as he hit a game tying homerun. The Indians would retire the next batter and go into their final at bat with a chance to win the game. The Indians had their dynamic duo, Ruben Calero and Norlan Trana, leading off the inning. Ruben would hit a hard ground ball to shortstop but the Tigers’s shortstop, Sander Garcia, made a great play to get the out. Norlan Trana then hit a shot to left center as he raced around first for a standup double. The next batter, Cesar Vega, hit a grounder to second that was enough to advance Norlan to third, but the Indians were down to their last out. Martin Rosales who was 1-2 on the day came up to the plate looking to give the Indians a crucial game 1 victory, and that he did as he hit a hard ground ball between the third baseman and shortstop and Norlan raced home as the Indians took a 1-0 series lead with a exciting walk-off winner. Norlan Trana and Kevin Montes were the stars at the plate for the Indians as they combined for 5 hits, 4 RBI’s and 4 runs. 

This team was estatic to take game 1!

Poor Belen was in shock after the game!

AGE GROUP: 10-11

Game: Braves of Candelaria vs Athletics of Quitanca

The Braves looked to do something they had not done in any of their four previous games against the Athletics and that was score early. They had a great chance in the first as they got the bases loaded with two outs. Jose Luiz was battling Carlos Mesa and after three foul balls, he finally hit a shot to third that was corralled and Julio Somarrilla calmly stepped on the third to get the Athletics out of the jam. After walking the first batter, Alexander Lopez struck out the next two batters he saw but due to passed balls the runner had advanced from first to third. A misplayed ground ball by the shortstop would allow Luis Ramirez to score as the A’s took an early 1-0 lead after one inning. In the second the Braves once again would find themselves with a two out opportunity as they had runners on second and third, but Carlos Mesa struck out Kenner Gomez to once again get the Athletics out of a jam. An error filled second inning by the Braves would allow the Athletics to open up their lead to 4-0. In the top of the third, the Braves would go three up three down and the Athletics headed into the bottom half looking to end the game early. That is exactly what they did as their first four batters would come around to score and Braves found themselves down 8-0. Carlos Mesa would strike out all three batters in the fourth and the Athletics added 2 more runs in the fourth and the game would end in a 10-0 victory for the undefeated team from Quitanca. Carlos Mesa dazzled again as he would only allow one hit and struck out ten. At the plate Evert Somarrilla and Luis Ramirez both went 3-3 and each score three times to lead the way for the Athletics.

That's how an undefeated team takes a picture!

Carlos Mesa was channeling his inner Hideo Nomo with that windup!

AGE GROUP: 12-13

Game: Reds of Candelaria vs Red Sox of Quitanca

After upsetting the Yankees the week before to advance to the championship the Reds looked to do it again against the Red Sox. Neither of the teams did anything in the first inning, but in the top of the second Alejandro Melendez and Luiz Santana hit back to back doubles to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. The score stayed the same through three innings of play. In the fourth it was Luiz Santana once again sending Alejandro Melendez, this time it was off a single to centerfield. The Red Sox once again could not do anything in the bottom of the fourth as you could sense their frustration as they trailed 2-0. The Reds went three up three down in their half of the fifth and the Red Sox were desperate to try to get something going. They would use a two out rally to score 3 runs thanks to an error by the Reds that would have ended the inning with only 1 run, but instead the Red Sox found themselves with the lead 3-2. In the top of the sixth, the first three batters for the Reds all reached base and the Reds had the bases loaded with no outs and Alejandro Melendez at bat and Luiz Santana on deck. Alejandro hit a grounder to short, and Jean Carlos made a tremendous throw to get the runner at home out. Luiz Santana would strike out and the Reds’ runner at third inexplicably though the inning was over as they wondered off the base and the alert Red Sox tagged them out to end the inning. As somehow they escaped without surrendering one run. The Red Sox would score another 2 runs in the bottom of the sixth as another the second baseman for the Reds committed another crucial error. With the Red Sox leading 5-2 you could tell the Reds had lost hope and it showed as they went three up three down in the top of the seventh to give the Red Sox the first game of the three game championship series.

Walberto giving Jean Carlos some advice a crucial at bat!

Game Recap April 30, 2016

AGE GROUP: 7-9

Game: Pirates of Nuevo Amanacer vs Indians of Candelaria           

The playoffs got started with the Pirates looking for a big upset. Unfortunately they did not have much of a chance. After surrendering one run to the Pirates in to the top of the first inning, the Indians put up a five spot thanks to a grand slam homerun by Ruben Calero and that was followed up by a solo home run by Norlan Trana. The Indians never looked back as they would score 8 more runs and easily win 13-2. Ruben and Norlan once again led the way as they combined for 7 of the 10 RBI’s by the Indians. 

Game: Tigers of Santa Matilde vs Padres of Quitanca

These two teams have had some good games against each other over the course of the season, but nothing came close to what happened on Saturday. They went back and forth to the final out in what was the most exciting semifinal game. Yelkel Martinez got things going in the top of the first as he hit a 3-run homerun to give the Padres a quick 4-0 lead. Not impressed by Yelkel's efforts, Elio Rodriguez, Justin Somarrilla, and Jose Aranda all hit homeruns in what was a 6 run inning for the Tigers. Using the momentum from their bats, the Tigers shut down the Padres in the second and then put another 4 runs through as it looked like the Tigers were going to pull away with a 10-4 lead after two innings of play. The Padres would halve the lead in the top of the third to 10-7 only to see the Tigers respond with 2 more runs of their own and the Padres continued to trail 12-7 after three. In the fourth inning, realizing they were looking at only two more innings to extend their season, the Padres came alive. The first six batters amazingly all reached base and scored as the fans from Quitanca were going crazy to see their little ones take the lead for the second time in the game 13-12. The Tigers quickly responded in the bottom half when Justin Somarrilla tied the game with another homerun, this time it was a solo shot. The Tigers would squeeze out one more run to retake the lead 14-13. Emotions were at an all time high as the Tigers took the field to try to win the game with their defense. That hope did not last long as the Padres’ second batter of the inning, Alexis Espinoza, hit a 2-run home run to give the Padres the lead 15-14. The Padres added two more runs and took an astonishing 17-14 lead into the bottom of the fifth. The Tigers were stunned but confident as they had the top of their order coming to the plate. The Padres retired the first batter and were two outs away from completing an amazing comeback. The Tigers’ next batter would reach base and then Elio Rodriguez went yard again with a 2-run homerun to bring the Tigers within one run. After another Tiger found a hit, Justin Somarilla would bring him home with a double and the game was tied. Two more batters came to the plate one was retired and the other hit a single that setup the Tigers with men on first and third with two outs. Rosita Garcia came to the plate and hit a dribbler to second base who looked to have easily controlled it and was on his way to stepping on second to force extra innings, but then somehow the ball popped out and the runners were all safe and the Tigers won on a crazy walk-off error.

Next Week:

The first game of the three game championship series will feature the Indians taking on the Tigers. The Tigers gave the Indians their only loss of the season in the final game of the regular season. The Indians will be looking to avenge that loss as the Tigers will look to try and beat the Indians two more times in what should be a very competitive championship.

Although they suffered a tough loss this little team will be geared up and ready to go again come July!

The Pirates were trying to sort things out defensively as they took the field

 

AGE GROUP: 10-11

Game: Athletics of Quitanca vs Cardinals of Santa Matilde

The Cardinals played admirably and fought to the bitter end but unfortunately the pitcher for the Athletics, Carlos Mesa, brought his Clayton Kershaw stuff as he struck out 12 of the 18 batters he faced. Evert Somarrilla struck out 3 of his own in the sixth and final inning as these two pitchers combined for a 15 strikeout no hit performance. Carlos Mesa walked three batters to give the Cardinals their only base runners on the day. The Athletics surprisingly only registered three hits one of which was a 2-run homerun by Bryan Sarria. It was their lowest hit total on the year but they took advantage of 11 walks and managed to score 6 runs to win 6-0.

Game: Braves of Candelaria vs Rangers of Nuevo Amanacer

The Rangers beat the Braves with a walk off hit the last time these two teams played. Needless to say the Braves were looking for revenge. Alexander Lopez wanted to show that his stuff was just as good as Carlos Mesa’s as he struck out 9 of the 14 batters he faced and only walked 2 in four innings of no hit baseball. The Braves put together their best hitting performance as all but one of their players reached base and they sent a message with a 13-0 win in a game that was called early. In the batting department the Braves were led by Kenner Gomez and Ricardo Estrada as they both went 3-3 and had 3 RBI’s each.

Next Week:

The Athletics have yet to taste defeat and do not plan on doing so. Meanwhile, the Braves after being embarrassed the last time they played the Athletics are looking to carry over momentum from their best game of the season and will look to surprise the undefeated team from Quitanca.

Pregame high five line!

The great Chepe Caballo, feeling pretty studly after hitting his first homerun ever!

AGE GROUP: 12-13

Game: Reds of Candelaria vs Yankees of Santa Matilde

This was suppose to be a formality for the Yankees as they have dominated the Reds the past two times they have played them and the Reds have mightily struggled over the last half of the season, but the Reds came to play when it mattered the most. They surprised the Yankees with 3 runs in the first inning and took a quick 3-0 lead. The score would stay like that until the bottom of the third when Crisanto Mesa hit a solo homerun and Josue Dolmos singled in another run to cut the lead to only 1 for the Yankees. In the following inning the Yankess would again score 2 runs as it looked like they would begin to take control as they grabbed the lead for the first time 4-3 after four innings. After the Yankees switched pitchers to start the fifth, the Reds quickly pounced and scored 3 runs to re-take the lead 6-4. The Reds would not look back as the Yankees could not buy a hit. The Reds would add a run in the sixth and seventh to give them a surprising 8-4 lead. Isiais Pereira was the player of the game for the Reds as he pitched six innings and went 3-4 at the plate.

Next Week:

Unfortunately the Giants did not have enough kids show up to the game and they forfeited to the Red Sox, which leads us with a championship series that will feature the Red Sox of Quitanca taking on the Reds of Candelaria.

 

The Reds were thrilled to have pulled off the upset!