[Alsfastball] Aurora Leghorns Win Oshawa CIty and District League Title

[Al Doran]

To: fastball at pmihrm.com
Subject: Aurora Leghorns Win Oshawa CIty and District League Title
X-Mailer: Lotus Notes Release 5.0.11   July 24, 2002
From: paul.papulkas at cantire.com
Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2004 10:24:20 -0400



Aurora, Ontario

In nearly perfect playing conditions (especially considering the time of 
year) the Aurora Leghorns swept the Claremont Rebels 3 games to none in the 
final of Oshawa City and District League by the score of 1-0.

Todd Martin and Paul Koert engaged in their third head-to-head battle that 
was not decided until a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th by 
first baseman George Karkambasis.   Martin gave up two hits and walked two 
in his 10 innings of work and Koert gave up three hits and walked two, one 
intentionally, in his 9+ innings.  Although there was limited scoring and 
the strikeout totals were still high (Martin 11, Koert 12) this game had a 
lot of action and many hard hit balls.
The smooth-fielding double-play combination of Chris Jones (Team Canada) 
and Evan Boyd made every play effortlessly for Claremont while 3rd baseman 
Steve Kouleas made some great diving stabs for Aurora.  Outfielders Ed Hare 
and Kevin Brown also used their leather to corral hard hit balls that could 
have changed things had they not got up and made their leaping grabs.

The game almost ended in regulation when Karkambasis reached on a 1 out 
walk in the 7th.  Pinch-runner Mike Dambrosio
then took off and tried to score on a flare to short right-field by Rino 
Dambrosio.  Right-fielder Brian Mather threw a perfect relay to 2nd baseman 
Boyd who then threw a bullet to the plate where catcher Kevin Gibson placed 
the tag on the younger Dambrosio.  In a cloud of dust and with great 
anticipation from the Aurora players and fans, the umpire called Dambrosio 
out.  Hence the extra-innings drama.

Stephen Paul had the other Aurora hit while Chris Jones and Scott Goff had 
the Claremont hits.

The Shoeless Joe's Chicken Wing Award for MVP of the Final Series (and of 
all the play-offs) goes to ...

Todd Martin, who went 3-0 in the final series with no runs allowed in 24 
innings.  Martin finished the play-offs with a 6-0 record and a minuscule 
0.14 ERA.  He struck out 78 batters in 48 innings and finished the season 
without giving up a run in his last 45 innings.

The Aurora Leghorns would like to congratulate the Claremont Rebels on 
their great season and for this terrific series.
This was fastball at it's finest and both teams should be commended for 
their sportsmanship.

On behalf of the team from Aurora, I would also like to thank the Executive 
of the OCDSA for their tireless efforts throughout the season.  Kudos to 
Ken Leonard, Mal Swift, Sylvia Ryan, and Jim Spiers for a job well done.
I hope you all really understand how much the 200+ players in this league 
appreciate and value your work.

On an unrelated note, but based on some discussion in this forum, the 
Aurora Leghorns FULLY endorse the use of the play-off series system versus 
the tournament format.  I understand that logistics in some situations does 
not make it doable but in a league as large as ours (16 teams) the regular 
season only permits 1, maybe 2, games per year against each 
team.  Rivalries can not be created playing a team once a year.  In the 
play-offs, fans were treated to multiple game matchups between Martin and 
Koert, Martin and Patterson/Berube, Koert and Evans/Baranieski, Patterson 
and McBratney, etc.

Have a great off-season everyone,
Paul Papulkas

From: paul.papulkas at cantire.com


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