By Andrew
Struckmeyer
Clark Griffith League Staff Writer
Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Vienna Senators made it their mission this year to win the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kansas. They have picked up and dropped players throughout the season, trying to fit the pieces together to create a championship-caliber team.
With the NBC World Series only a week away, the Senators claimed to be using the Jacobs Cup as a "tune-up". If they won it, it would be a feather in their cap.
However, they had the crowd at Waters Field fooled Thursday afternoon. Trailing 9-7 in the bottom of the ninth to the upstart Beltway Blue Caps, the team was lined up along the dugout fence. Most of the players had positioned their hats backwards on their heads. They took their superstition to another level, rubbing their fingers against the brims, as if they were magic lamps.
Unfortunately for the Senators, their rally caps contained no magic. David Harris struck out to end their Jacobs Cup hopes, as they lost to the Blue Caps 9-7.
"We didn't prepare to win the Jacobs Cup this season," said Senators designated hitter Nick Kuroczko. "We prepared to win Wichita. So, we're still pumped and ready to go. We're going to have a good team going into Wichita. Yes, it would have been nice to win the Jacobs Cup, but it wasn't on the top of our list."
The Senators dug themselves a hole for the second consecutive day, as they fell behind 8-3 entering the bottom of the fourth inning. Starter Michael Graham allowed five runs in his three innings. Max Eckert and Derek Kline both homered off of Graham.
For a team playing only a "tune-up", the Senators didn't leave any pitching in reserve. Senators manager Chris Burr brought on Richard Cary, who started the all-star game for the CGL, in relief of Graham. Cary continued his second half struggles and allowed three runs in less than two innings of work.
Cary left the game in the fifth inning with runners on first and second and two outs. Burr turned to staff ace Eric Cantrell to put out the fire. Cantrell was facing the heart of the Blue Caps lineup, with Max Eckert, and Shane Brown. Cantrell walked Eckert, but was able to force Brown to pop out to end the inning.
The Blue Caps got some outstanding pitching, even though they had used seven pitchers over the past three days.
Max Langford, who recorded the save in the Blue Caps opening round upset of the McLean Raiders, started the game. Langford battled through four innings, but he allowed five runs to the Senators offense.
With their lead cut to 8-5, Blue Caps manager John Nolan turned to Brett Hammann, who also pitched in the opening round game.
Hammann, who missed the majority of the season with an injury, pitched extremely well in holding the Senators scoreless over three innings.
"He could have done that all season if he was healthy," said Nolan, "and it would have made a huge difference on our overall record."
Cantrell settled in for the Senators as he held the Blue Caps scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings. In the eighth, however, the heart of the Blue Caps order struck quickly. Shane Brown started the rally with a single up the middle. Robert Hays, the Triple Crown winner in the CGL this year, then laced a double down the left field line to score Brown.
In the bottom of the eighth, Nolan turned to Monday's starter and his best pitcher Jay Joines. Joines was pitching on just 2 days rest, and he was not his usual dominant self. However, he continued to battle throughout his outing.
"Jay has been our guy all summer long," said Nolan. "If the chips are down, and I need three outs, he's the guy that I want out there."
David Harris started a rally in the eighth off of Joines with a single to right field. Martin Parra then doubled to left field. Wes Joy singled into right field to score Harris from third. Joines appeared to get out of the inning, though, by getting Eric Walker to pop up in the infield. However, Eckert dropped the ball, allowing Parra to score. But, Joines rallied to strike out Kevin Hall and end the threat.
Joines came back out for the ninth inning, and had a much easier time. He struck out Blake Tagmyer to start the inning. Nick Kuroczko then singled, before Seth Henry flew out and Harris struck out to end the game.
The win gives the Blue Caps, who finished last in the Clark Griffith League this season, a berth in the Jacobs Cup championship. The feat is even more impressive, considering that just one year ago the Blue Caps finished their first season in the CGL with a record of 9-35.
"We're in our second year in the league and we were pretty uncompetitive last year," said Nolan. "This year we may have only won 17 games, but we were in every single one of them. It was just a matter of getting an extra arm, like a Brett Hammann. I knew that all summer long, and I lived through it, and here we are, finally with everyone healthy, and look what's happening."
As for the Senators, the team will have a much different look when it resumes play in the NBC World Series Saturday. The team will be picking up several players from around the CGL, so Burr was not too concerned about the team's Jacobs Cup performance.
"Obviously we're going to look a lot different in Wichita, so it's really hard to even compare what we did the last few days versus what we are going to look like," said Burr. "The big thing was we got down big and we came back, and had a shot to tie or win the game. We did what we did all year, and put ourselves in a position to win the game, so I'm not too discouraged."