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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Titans Win on a Coin Flip

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
       The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the grass was green.
    The concession stand could hardly keep up with the demand for hot dogs.
    Little kids were frolicking in the shade as their 9- and 10-year-old big brothers played America’s past time in an idyllic setting at Moriarty’s sports complex on Saturday afternoon. All seemed right in the world.
    But in the end — wouldn’t you know it? — some of the players’ parents got mad. A couple of them flipped out with at least one of them cursing loudly.
    The Moriarty Baseball League 10-and-under title was ultimately determined by a coin toss.
    The reaction from the folks in the stands, many of which were more stupefied rather than angered by the turn of events, didn’t seem to faze Torrance County coach James Giron and Estancia coach Frank Cantu one bit. They resolutely stuck with their mutual decision to determine the MBL’s Willie Mays-division, 10-and-under championship by a flipped coin.
    “We’ve had some of the parents mad at us all year,” Giron said. “That’s just the way it goes.”
    The Bears had just edged the Titans 21-20 during an error-filled slugfest in the first game of the local tournament’s title round when the opposing coaches’ plan was announced by Rhett Butler, the league president. Normally, a deciding rubber game — an “if” game was on the schedule for Sunday — would have been played because the teams both had one loss with the Titans having beaten Estancia’s Bears 13-6 in the second round of the double-elimination competition on June 19.
    The Titans, formerly the Moriarty Dodgers, would have earned the title outright if they would have won Saturday’s rematch of last year’s 8U championship game. The Dodgers won in 2007.
    With Butler doing the honors, Cantu’s call for “tails” garnered Estancia the trophy. Giron was subsequently asked to explain the coaches’ logic.
    “For one, we’re going to combine the two teams to go to state,” said Giron, who indicated the fused squads would play under the Titans’ moniker. “For another, we didn’t want anyone else to get hurt before state.”
    Torrance County catcher Tarren Sandy was injured in the top of the sixth inning. Giron said the boy was hit in the nose and was taken to the hospital to be checked out by a doctor.
    MBL’s state-bound representatives have chosen to play in the 9U American Amateur Baseball Congress Jackie Robinson state tourney, one of the so-called “single-age,” odd-year divisions that reappears during the postseason. Moriarty will host the state competition, which starts today and continues through Saturday, Sunday if necessary.
    The situation, other than the game of chance, isn’t really all that different from what usually transpires after the league tournament, Butler said.
    “The Titans will represent the league at state,” he said. “They will add Bears to their roster for state.”
    Torrance County, which had 12 players in its lineup, are allowed to have up to 20 on its roster for state, Butler said. Estancia had suited up 10 players.
    Although neither coach used it as a reason, the decision avoided what could have been a marathon “if” game of walks. The Bears and Titans used up much of their pitching to get through the five-day tourney.
    The game, the one that was played, was a hard fought battle throughout.
    “That’s the way a championship game should be played,” Giron said. “It was a great game by both teams.”
    Estancia scored four runs in the top of the sixth for the winning tally. Bear Matt Urban scored the 21st run from third base on an error, one of 13 miscues by Torrance County.
    Titan pitcher Zack Martinez, who got on base with a triple via a fly to deep center field, scored on a wild pitch to close within one.
    But Bear reliever Elijah Tapia followed with two strikeouts, two walks and then another K to ice the victory.
    Titans 7, Yankees 6
    Torrance County scored back-to-back runs, on a wild pitch and a passed ball, in the bottom of the sixth inning to garner its third-round victory over the Moriarty Yankees on Saturday morning.
    “They just played with heart,” James Giron said. “They put everything into it. That’s true for both teams.”
    The deciding plays came three batters after Yankees starter Cody Cunningham threw one pitch too many — with the count at 1-0 — against Martinez. Martinez was his team’s first batter in the sixth.
    Giron promptly noted that Cunningham, who had earned nine strikeouts and gave up three hits and eight walks in five innings of work, had entered his seventh inning of play in two days. The Titans skipper was pushing for a Moriarty forfeiture due to the rules infraction.
    Pitchers at 10U are limited to six innings in two days, Butler explained later.
    After a lengthy discussion between the plate umpire, the coaches and Butler, Giron pulled his call for a Moriarty forfeit. Cunningham left the mound and play resumed with Seth Castillo in relief.
    “They (the Yankees) earned the right to play,” Giron said. “They deserved to be able to finish it.”
    With the Titans/Bears advancing to the 9U state tourney, the Yankees qualified for the 10U state tournament, which is being played this week in Las Cruces. The Moriarty Vipers will also represent the league in Cruces, Butler said.
    “I think they played as well as they have all year,” Yankees coach Tebby Castillo said. “We just had some calls not go our way, and that was the difference in the game.”
    The Bears defeated the Yankees 11-4 in the first round on June 18.
    Yankees 15, Outlaws 9
    Moriarty scored six runs in the first and fourth innings en route to its second-round victory over the Estancia Outlaws on Friday.
    Yankee Jeremy Brant, as the game’s leadoff batter, zipped a grounder down the first-base line for an inside-the-park home run.
    “We had a lot of new kids, some that had never played baseball before,” Outlaws coach Chris Rhoads said. “We came a long way from the beginning of the year. The kids had fun, and they learned how to play baseball. That’s what we’re here for.”
    The Titans beat the Outlaws 12-2 in the first round June 17.