Men's baseball: Ravens are champs

Thursday, 29 October 2009 11:33

A few adjustments to its lineup worked well enough for the Redding Raven’s baseball team in the Northeast Baseball Association’s Over 30-American Division championship.

The Ravens were missing their numbers three and five batters and had to make some changes when they faced the Brookfield Bulldogs. The moved worked, as the defending champs took the lead early and only built on it for a 7-1 win at Bethel High last Thursday, Oct. 22, for their fifth straight title.

“It’s hard to believe we’ve won this thing five years in a row,” said second baseman and team manager Kevin Ota. “Brookfield is by far the best team we’ve played in the playoffs since we started the Ravens. They’re all young with very good athletes. But we’ve got a great bunch of guys who play as a team, and we know how to win.”

The Ravens scored early. In the bottom of the first with one out, Ota hit a line drive down the left field line for what should have been a double. Ota stumbled while rounding the bag at first and started heading back when the left fielder overthrew second base, allowing him to advance. Jarod Smith hit a line drive to right, to drive in Ota for the first run of the game.

Mike Mora singled up the middle, moving Smith to third. After Rich Grayson struck out, Mora stole second to put himself in scoring position. Stan Partyka hit a single to drive in two runs.

Brookfield scored its only run in the top of the seventh on two hits and an error but the Ravens came right back in the bottom of the same inning to score four runs. Joe Macchio walked. Ron Berry singled to left.

Ota grounded out to move the runners to second and third. With first base open, the Bulldogs decided to intentionally walk Smith to load the bases. However, the strategy backfired when Mora walked to bring in a run. With the bases still loaded, Grayson hit a hard ground ball that was misplayed by the Brookfield shortstop, bringing in Berry and Smith. Partyka then hit a long fly ball to left. Mora tagged from third and scored to give the Ravens a 7-1 lead.

Pitcher Eric August threw all nine innings for the Ravens. He gave up only six hits and two walks, while striking out a season high 17.

“When we get pitching like that we can beat anybody, and we’re still hitting the ball well, too,” said Ota. “It’s funny because we’re getting older and slower, but we seem to get better as a team every year. We’ll see how long we can keep this going.”