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The California A’s lost to the # 3 ranked team in the world, the Kitchener Hallman Twins, on Friday afternoon, 7-2 and were eliminated from competition at the double elimination ISC World Tournament.
Kitchener jumped out to an early lead on a 2 run homer by Brandon Horn, off starter Tony Mancha. The A’s scratched for a run in the second on a Nate Devine walk, and two throwing errors on the same play by Twins pitcher, New Zealander Jeremy Manley. That was as close as the A’s would get as Manley racked up strikeouts against the California squad.
Mancha gave way to Derek Mayson when Horn came to bat the second time, with two men aboard. Horn greeted Mayson with a three run blast, and the Twins never looked back.
Kris Waverick singled home a run in the 6th to trim the lead to 7-2, but the A’s were never really in the ballgame after the first couple innings.
The California squad finished in a tie for 5th* place in a field of 48 teams, and notched a huge upset win over the # 2 ranked team in the world, the New York Gremlins. Both teams that beat the A’s are in the Final Four who will play Saturday on the final day of competition.
(* The A’s and Scarborough Force of Ontario were both eliminated at the same level of the bracket. Both went 3-0, and played in the winner’s bracket semi-finals, then lost their next game, finishing 3-2. Official ISC “time of elimination” rules may place the A’s in 6th place, because their elimination occurred 2 hours before Scarborough, but for practical purposes, the teams tied for 5th)
The Top 5 finish for the A’s is a great accomplishment for the club, the majority of whom are home grown talent. All of the roster is from “out west” while all of the other top 5 finishers are based back east, and import pitching from overseas. (#1 Hill United and # 2 NY Gremlins have pitchers from Australia, # 3 Kitchener ON has a pitcher from New Zealand. Scarborough has an Argentine, while PA Power has pitchers from Venzuelan and Argentina.) In past year,s the A’s had imported pitchers, including two of the best in the world Canadian Sean Whitten and Argentine Lucas Mata.
But for the 2014 season, the team scaled back and retooled. Manager Dave Weldin and coaches Jason Porto and Greg Hicks went to work after the 2013 season, first to keep the squad together and then, to keep them competitive with the best in the world.
They replaced Argentine Lucas Mata with New Mexico’s Tony Mancha, who was recently added to Team USA’s roster as well, a key signing for the team to anchor their rebuilding efforts.
The A’s had to replace nearly their entire infield, and three of their best position players and hitters from 2013. Team USA third baseman Matt Palazzo moved on, as did second baseman New Zealander Nate Nukunuku. Canadian shortstop Kevin Schellenberg was lost for the season due to an injury.
In their place, the A’s elevated utility player Kevin Castillo at third and signed local California shortstop Jenner Christiansen, both of whom rose to the challenge as first year starters. Bryan Villanueva emerged as a talented spot starter and key utility man.
The A’s kept four other key Team USA players, catcher Bob Rosthenhausler (who some say is the best defensive catcher in the game), infielder/outfielders Marcus Tan and Nate Devine (who they talked out of retirement). Tan was stellar as always and Devine turned in one of his best seasons ever.
Pitchers Derek Mayson and Josh Johnson were two of the games most underrated pitchers, and, along with Devine, also provided much of the offensive firepower for the 2014 squad. The trio, along with ISC veteran catcher/DH Kris Waverick of BC also provided leadership for the young team.
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