Cyclones and Longshoremen Engage in Nail-Biter

[Jason]

Game Voted Best PEBA Game Ever by 9 Out of 10 Dentists!!


Omaha, NE – On June 7th, 2007, two struggling baseball teams took the field for what looked to be a fairly inconsequential game and proceeded to put on one of the longest and most entertaining games in PEBA history. The Omaha Cyclones played host to their arch rivals, the Longshoremen of Canton. Kisho Ageda made his Cyclones debut but that story was overshadowed by an old-fashioned barn burner between the opposing squads.

The Cyclones struck first in the bottom of the 2nd inning off an RBI double by George O’Rourke. However, in the top of the 3rd, Ageda surrendered his first run as a Cyclone as Lee Ritchie knocked home George Riley. The teams exchanged 2-run 5th innings, with Eric Morse connecting for 1 of his 5 hits for the visitors and Jose Ávila driving home his first run of the night. After scoreless 6th and 7th innings the stage was set for a thrilling – if not drawn out – finish.

Ageda bowed out mid way through the 7th and gave way to the middling Omaha bullpen. Tom West was the first of many to get the call and “poured gas on the fire” in the words of Cyclone manager Julio Carrillo. A 2-run single by Jack Campbell in the top of the 8th was followed one batter later by a 2-run double by Canton hero Eric Morse. Grant Mullen finished out the inning and the Cyclones were faced with the task of putting 4 runs on the board in 6 outs.

The fans in attendance should have known that it was a special night when the Junior High-girlish Miguel Angel Hernandez led off the bottom of the 8th with a double. “That was the craziest thing I have ever seen!” raved Carrillo. “I mean the guy has a worse gap power rating than our closer! [Canton pitcher] Carlos Antonio had to have been on the take… that is the only explanation that makes sense to me.” However, after an intentional walk to stud Third baseman Ollie Morris and an unintentional walk to Narahiko Imada, Jacques Fillion drove home Hernandez and the Cyclone rally was on. Two batters later the diminutive Shimpei Adachi drove home Morris and, after a fly out, Bryan McMillan laced a single which brought the lumbering Imada home from 3rd and the downright sloth-ian Jacque Fillion home from 2nd. “I may never know how we got Jacques in from 2nd there on a single,” said McMillan of his heroic knock. “That guy is painfully slow.”
After a 1-2-3 top of the 9th, Omaha had a chance to win it in the 9th but Fillion – possibly still stinging from McMillan’s dig about his speed – ended a 9 pitch at-bat with a swing and a miss, stranding the game winning run 180 feet away and sending the game in to extra innings with the score knotted at 7-7.

Once again the Omaha bullpen cam up little, this time with Bill Goff surrendering back-to-back 1 out hits to Jack Campbell and Eric Morse. David Bell brought Campbell home with a sacrifice fly and Morse scored on a Lee Ritchie single before Goff could stop the bleeding. However, the Cyclones once again faced a multiple run deficit with very few chances to make it up.

This time it was Canton’s closer Julio Pagan who would be called on to silence the bats of the home team. After getting 2 outs in rapid succession, it looked like Pagan would finally bring a victory to the Longshoremen with the number 9 hitter, Javier Martinez, stepping to the plate for the ’Clones. Martinez had other plans, however, and smashed a 1-2 pitch into right field to turn the lineup over and grant the Cyclones new life. Bryan McMillan worked a full count before he launched a single into left and the speedy Martinez went 1st to 3rd. Jose Ávila strode to the plate with men on the corners and Cyclones play-by-play announcer Bryan Dobney delivered this call:

“The 2-2 pitch by the overrated-but-still-quite-talented-Pagan. Ávila swing and drives one into the gap in right center… this ball is down, Martinez will score easily, here comes McMillan around 3rd, here comes the throw from Ritchie… the slide… the call… SAFE!!!! Omaha has tied it in the bottom of the 10th with an improbable 2-run double by Jose Ávila and we may be headed for 11 because Hernandez is next up.”

As the announcer – genius that he is – predicted, Hernandez did send the game to the 11th inning and the fans back to their seats. Innings 11-16 had very little to offer in the area of real baseball action, with no team collecting 2 hits in the same inning. Hilarity ensued when David Bell led off the top half of the 15th with a triple and was stranded by his mates.

The game came to a climax in the 17th inning. After rotation reject Flobert Hoeks sat down his 9th Longshoreman in a row, it was once again time for the Omaha “offense” to take center stage. Shimpei Adachi led off the bottom of the 17th with a single and proceeded to 2nd on a wild pitch by Tsuneo Oyama. Canton elected to walk Javier Martinez intentionally to keep the double play in order. “Why would they walk me?” raved a clearly exhausted Martinez after the game. “I am practically a guaranteed out. I suck.” After a ground out by Bryan McMillan moved the runners up it was Jose Ávila’s turn to once again break the heart of the Canton ball club. With 14 people remaining in the stands, Ávila laced a base hit in to center and sent the Cyclones home happy. “I think we had more people on the field than were in the stands at that point,” quipped the player of the game Ávila. “Even a couple of the umps had gone back to their hotel… it was exhausting but we don’t win that often so it was worth it.”