2008 Palm Springs I

Long Beach Black Sox and Flor de Cana take the crowns!

On a chilly, windy weekend in Palm Springs fourteen teams heading to Palm Springs for the first of two events.  Saturday's night clouds even brought a fresh dusting of snow to the Mount san Jacinto mountain range. 

Saturday round robin - in the upper division, Rude-Pac and the Long Beach Black Sox both came out of the round robin undefeated with the number one seed being awarding to Rude-Pac based on points allowed through the three games.  In the lower division, both the Panteras II and Flor de Cana went undefeated as well to earn the top seeds in their respective pools. 

Upper Division - Championship Game

by Fred Hanker

Ron Rupp did what he has so many times before which is pitch out of a jam with the game on the line. In the 1st, 4th and 6th innings Rupp stranded runners in scoring position making huge pitches when he needed them and holding The Panteras scoreless in those crucial innings. The Panteras pitcher Jesse Duncan also pitched very well in defeat. The Sox tallied 2 unearned runs in the 3rd which proved to be the difference in the game as the Sox prevailed 4-3 in what has proven to be a great rivalry between the two teams. The game was tied 0-0 thru 2 innings. In The Panteras third Anthony Rocha hit a long home run to straight away center field giving The Panteras a 1-0 lead. Rocha was 3-4 on the day continuing his ownership of Sox ace Ron Rupp. The Sox countered in the third inning when Chris Martinez singled and Andy Martinez singled. With one out Fred Hanker lined out to third and Chris Minogue followed with a long fly ball to left which was misplayed and fell for a error scoring the Martinez brothers. The score was now 2-1 Long Beach after 3 innings.

     In The Panteras 4th Rod Rainey singled followed by another single by Mike Mangalis giving The Panteras runners on first and second with no out. Ron Rupp proceeded to retire the next 3 hitters with no further damage. In the 6th inning with the score Long Beach ahead 2-1 The Panteras rallied again. With 2 outs Mike Mangalis singled his second hit of the game. Dee Neebles followed with a single. Ron Rupp than struck out Tony Acedo on a disputed third strike call to end the inning. In the bottom of the 6th inning Long Beach threatened. Andy Martinez singled his 3rd hit of the game. Fred Hanker followed with a double down the left field line putting runners on second and third with no outs. Chris Minogue than rapped a clutch single to score Martinez and Hanker giving Long Beach a 4-1 lead.

      In The Panteras 7th they once again rallied with 2 outs. Anthony Rocha doubled to right. Jesse Duncan homered to deep center making the score 4-3 Long Beach. Rupp than reached down and struck out Eli Salazar on a questionable called strike on a 3-2 pitch to end the game giving the Sox the championship and a perfect 5-0 record. Ron Rupp led the Sox going 7 innings allowing 3 runs and striking out 7. He also was 1-1 at the plate with a sacrifice bunt. Andy Martinez was 3-3 with 2 runs scored and Chris Minogue was 1-3 with 2 RBI’s. Fred Hanker was 1-2 with a run scored as was Chris Martinez. For The Panteras Anthony Rocha was 3-4 with a home run and 2 runs scored. Jesse Duncan went 7 strong innings allowing only 7 hits and 2 earned runs with 3 strikeouts. He also was 1-4 at the plate with a home run and 2 RBI. Mike Mangalis had a solid day going 2-3 in the loss. The game marked another in the many close contests the two teams have played in their friendly rivalry.  

A-Division Championship Game: Flor de Caña (10) – Panteras II (6)

By David Carrillo

The A-Division Palm Springs Championship Game saw the collision of 2 undefeated teams.  Both Panteras II (PII) and Flor de Caña (FDC) played extremely well the entire weekend so it was no surprise when the final game highlighted these 2 powerful squads.  It would ultimately come down to the pitcher that could best withstand the other’s offense.  In the end, FDC’s Cecilio Smalling, Sr. held on long enough to best PII’s Joe Edwards.

PII struck hard in the top of the 2nd inning with 3 runs.  Brian Sepulveda singled and was followed by a Dustin Edwards walk.  Gabriel Toledo advanced both runners into scoring position with a sac bunt.  Roy Saucedo cashed in the runs with a 2-RBI single.  Saucedo himself later scored on a hard hit ball by Jason Obregon.

For years, Cecilio Smalling, Sr. has been the heart of the FDC squad and is his toughest when the team needs him most.  After a hard 2nd inning, FDC’s veteran leader Cecilio Smalling, Sr. came out in usual form and blanked PII in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th innings.  Having earned tiring wins in the team’s previous 3 contests, Smalling, Sr. had to dig deep to hold down PII’s strong lineup.  Meanwhile, FDC’s offense, trailing by 3 runs, would still have to find a way to respond.

A tough PII defense and crafty pitching by Joe Edwards kept FDC at bay until the FDC offense came alive with 2 outs in the 3rd inning.  Lou Enriquez came to the plate with 2-outs and Matt Bando on 2nd base.  Enriquez started the FDC momentum swing when he hit a towering double to left field.  Enriquez then scored on another double off the bat of David Carrillo.  Mike Thomas was hit by a pitch and Albert Garcia singled to plate another run.  The hit parade continued when Mario Ramirez hit a single to score Mike Thomas.  Cecilio Smalling, Jr. capped off the scoring when his single plated Garcia.  FDC strung together 6 hits to score 5 runs and take their first lead in the contest.

Lou Enriquez was back igniting the offense in the bottom of the 4th inning.  He hit another deep 2-out double and promptly scored on a Carrillo single putting FDC ahead of PII 6-3.

The 5th was more FDC.  Albert Garcia reached on a beautiful bunt single and Mario Ramirez hit a shot to right-center scoring Garcia and earning himself a triple.  Ramirez scored on a wild pitch to the next batter.  Later in the inning, Tom Dudley walked and would eventually make his way around the bases to score on a PII error.  FDC led 9-5.

FDC added a final run in the bottom of the 6th inning.  PII showed that its lineup has no quit as they plated 3 runs in the top of 7th.  FDC ended the game 10-6 en route to their first SCIFL Championship of the 2008 season.