GYBA Angels Win Mustang League Championship

The Mustang League Championship game started out as a pitchers duel, but went to the Angels as their hitters took over against the Marlins. The Angels Manager Ryan Legg submitted this detailed game summary:

Rain was threatening in the forecast on June 24, 2012, but the baseball gods ultimately smiled upon Grayslake on a very warm Sunday to allow the Mustang Championship Game to commence between the Marlins and the Angels.

What an experience for these kids as GYBA made this a special event. To start off, both teams were introduced player by player by their coaches as they each heard the roar of the sellout crowd cheer as they were introduced. Smiles could be seen from ear to ear on each and every Marlin and Angel as their name was called. This was followed by a beautiful performance of our National Anthem and then we were ready to play ball.        

The Marlins took the field first with one of their star hurlers on the mound, Robert Porter. Robert held to his reputation as a very tough pitcher by retiring the first two Angel batters with first a strikeout and then a ground out by a great defensive by SS Chris Duran. Then one of the great Angel hitters, Jack Bank stepped to the plate and blasted a double into Center Field to start of the hitting for the Angels. No runs were meant to be for the Angels in the first though as Robert struck out the next batter to leave Jack stranded at 2B.

The Angels had a star pitcher of their own on the mound with southpaw Jack Bank getting the start. Chris Duran led it off for the Marlins with a tough at-bat following off 5 or 6 pitches to stay alive with two strikes. Finally he hit a sharp ground ball to 2B, but Angels second baseman Brendan Parmer was up to the task and handled the play for a 4-3 groundout. Jack Bank was firing nothing but strikes in the first inning and came up with two strikeouts on the next two batters to retire the side. The tone was being set for a good old-fashioned pitchers-duel.

Brandon Legg led off the top of the second for the Angels and after getting behind in the count 1-2 to Robert he hit a sharp ground ball down the third base line to lead off with a single for the Angels in the 2nd. Robert was battling hard though and came up with strikeouts on the next two Angel batters. Then Jd Loden stepped to the plate with a tough at-bat fouling Robert off with two strikes and ultimately drawing the Angels first walk. With runners on 1st and 2nd Base, Brendan Parmer stepped to the plate and after getting behind in the count 1-2 he blasted a base hit for the Angels and with aggressive base-running Brandon Legg scored the first run of the game all the way from 2nd base to give the Angels the 1-0 lead. Jd and Brendan advanced to 2nd and 3rd base on the play and the Angels had an opportunity to open up the inning. Once again Robert Porter came through with clutch pitching for the Marlins though striking out the next batter to leave two Angels stranded.

Charlie Marisca led it off for the Marlins in the bottom of the 2nd by hitting a fly ball which Nick Fish made the call for at SS and made the catch for the first out. Jack Moran was then able to draw the first walk for the Marlins. Robert Porter then stepped to the plate hitting a fly ball in the infield which looked like it might drop between players, but Jack Bank made a great catch running backwards from his pitcher position. Jack Kempf then reached on a hit-by-pitch and the Marlins were threatening with a runner in scoring position. Jack Bank came through in the clutch though and struck out the next batter after going all the way to a full count. Still 1-0 Angels after two.

Robert Porter finished off his pitching duty in style by striking out the first two Angels batters in the 3rd followed by a ground out by Jack Bank to Marlins third baseman Josh Voss. Once again great pitching and great defense.

Now Jack Bank would take the mound for his 3rd and final inning. Alex Phillips led off with a grounder to Angels third baseman Chris Brown who made a great play for the first out. This was followed by Jack Bank striking out the next batter. With two outs the tough leadoff hitter for the Marlins, Chris Duran was not giving up on their inning. Chris came through with a first pitch hit and reached first base. This would be all in the inning though as Jack Bank struck out the next hitter to end the inning.

This was an absolute incredible display of superb pitching for three innings by Robert Porter and Jack Bank to shut down two very good hitting teams. They were also backed up by great defense for both teams. It was still a 1-0 game after 3 complete innings.

Then came the 4th inning for the Angels. A few walks were given up complimented by a smash double by Angels power hitter Jason Marcus, a single by Luc Rochelemagne, and a double by Jack Bank. Ultimately it turned into a seven run inning for the Angels who now had an 8-0 lead.

The Angels knew from past experience though to not consider an eight run lead safe against a strong team like the Marlins.

Chris Brown took the mound for the Angels in the 4th and started strong with a strikeout followed by Charlie Marisca hitting a sharp ground ball down the first base line which looked like trouble for the Angels. Once again great defense came in to play though as Jack Bank snatched up this hot grounder at first base to make the second out of the inning. Just because there are two outs though the Marlins certainly do not stop hitting.

Back to back hits followed by Jack Moran and Robert Porter to score the Marlins first run of the game. The Marlins were looking to match the Angels 4th. Jack Kempf stepped to the plate for the Marlins and hit a shot towards the Angels SS Brandon Legg. Brandon was up to the task though fielding the ball cleanly while his middle-infielder partner Jd Loden made the smart play to cover 2B and Brandon threw it to Jd for the force out at 2B to halt the Marlins drive. It was 8-1 after 4 innings.

Jack Moran was now on the mound for the Marlins. Brandon Legg led off the inning for the Angels with a single and advanced to 2B after the ball got by 1B. The power hitting Jason Marcus stepped to the plate and hit a rocket into Center Field but the great defense of Robert Porter turned Jason's smash hit into a fly out to Center. Alex McCumber then stepped to the plate for the Angels and drove a hit up the middle only to be fielded on a great play by Charlie Marisca at SS for the ground out. This, however, advanced Brandon Legg to 3B on the play. Jack Moran came through with a strikeout next to end the inning stranding Brandon at 3B for the Angels.

The Marlins then came to the plate in the bottom of the 5th, but the pitching of Chris Brown finished the inning 1-2-3 with two strikeouts and a groundout from Alex Phillips of the Marlins to Angels third baseman Brandon Legg. Still 8-1 after 5.

Brendan Parmer led off the 6th for the Angels with his second hit of the day. This was followed by a walk to Logan Lenz. Luc Rochelemagne then hit a shot to third but the Marlins Josh Voss made the smart play by getting the force out at 3rd for the first out of the inning. Chris Brown then smashed a double for the Angels to drive in another run. Now it was Jack Bank's turn and Jack got his second hit of the day with a base hit driving in another run.

The Angels' bats were coming alive again as Nick Fish blasted a double, however a great defensive play with a throw from Josh Voss at third to Charlie Marisca at Catcher by the Marlins had Jack Bank thrown out at the plate for the second out of the inning. Jack Moran put an end to the Angels inning then with a strikeout to the next batter. The Angels added 3 more though to give themselves an 11-1 lead going to the bottom of the 6th.

Chris Brown took the mound once again for the Angels in the 6th. The Marlins leadoff hitter Chris Duran who had been hitting the ball all day made no exception here by leading off the 6th with a base hit. On the play the throw got by Angels first baseman Brandon Legg and Chris aggressively went after second base. Brandon was quick to retrieve the ball though and fired a strike to second base where Angels SS Jack Bank caught Brandon's throw to tag Chris out for the first out of the inning. Chris Brown took the rest of the game into his hands by striking out the next two Marlin batters.

On that final strike, all of the Angels jumped into the air in joy as their coaches ran out to meet them on the field. The next thing you knew it was a pile of Angels players and coaches hugging and jumping on top of one another in celebration of their incredible season.

Let us not forget the Marlins though who handled themselves with absolute class and style. They are an incredible team who had an incredible season.

Thank you also to our Mustang League President Jim Fitzgerald who did an excellent job managing the entire Mustang league this season.

While the Angels usually shouted the word HITS in between innings, on this day they changed this word to BELIEVE......and they did just that.

Their coach could not be more proud of them and he is going to miss all of them very much. He BELIEVES though that the memory of this wonderful season will carry on with them for a very long time and has taught them the true meaning of teamwork and NEVER giving up at anything no matter how tough things may seem.

         

Team Rosters:

2012 GYBA Marlins - Mustang League

Manager: Ashton Rotman

Coaches: Kevin Sloan and Jim Tiffany                          

• Bret Christopherson #1
• Robert Porter #2
• Alex Philips #3
• Josh Voss #4
• Maggie Rutkowski #5
• Chris Duran #6
• Charlie Marisca #7
• Jack Kempf #10
• Jack Moran #11
• Tyler Tiffany #12

2012 GYBA Angels - Mustang League

Manager: Ryan Legg

Coaches: John Bank and Mike Marcus

• Brandon Legg #1        
• Mitchell Garcia #2        
• Jd Loden #3
• Alex McCumber #4
• Brendan Parmer #5
• Logan Lenz #7
• Chris Brown #8
• Nick Fish #9
• Jack Bank #10
• Luc Rochelemagne #11
• Jason Marcus #12