Mo Partee delivers a 3-run blast in the tenth
Angrey Beavers 8
Hitchcocks 9 (10 innings)
For the third season in a row, the TNB Fall Ball Championship Game was decided by one run, with Morriss Partee’s 3-run walk-off home run leading the Hitchcocks to a thrilling 9-8 victory over the Angry Beavers in 10 innings. The game featured lead changes, clutch hits, epic squanders, scintillating defense, costly errors and gutsy pitching.
This was the third meeting of the season between the two teams, a Hitchcocks 16-4 win followed by an Angry Beavers 8-3 victory, and each team felt confident that they would come out on top. Both teams were missing key players – two of the Hitchcocks top pitchers, Jeff Whitehead and TJ Hillard, and the Beavers hurler Jesse Higginbotham and valuable lead-off hitter/outfielder Nolan Anaya.
The Hitchcocks sent Bill Evans to mound to face off against the wily Beaver Ken Sloat. After a scoreless first, the Beavers drew first blood in the 2nd. With one out, Pat Olearcek was plunked, forced at 2nd by Tony Maspo, and then Stu Clark lined a single to CF which bounced off the finger of CFer Micah Winston who was trying to get the force out at 2nd, allowing Maspo to take 3rd, and then score when Ron Totten lined a single to RF. The Hitchcocks tried to answer by getting the first 2 batters on in their half of the inning, but Sloat was able to induce 3 consecutive infield pop-ups to escape without any damage.
In the top of the 3rd, the Beavers plated 3 with timely hitting and a little luck. With 1 out, Sloat, Gary Webber and Diego Ortiz singled to load the bases. After a pop out, Marin Goldstein drove in a run with an RBI single, and 2 more scored on a bases-loaded walk to Olearcek and a wild pitch.
Down 4-0 in the bottom of the 4th, the powerful Hitchcocks bats finally came to life. Bruce Hunsaker led off with a single, Winston doubled down the RF line, and both scored on Miguel Ringler’s single. John Malikowski then singled, Evans followed with a 2-run triple that got by the left fielder, and Partee’s RBI ground out gave the ‘Cocks a 5-4 lead.
The Beavers went down quietly in the 5th, and the Hitchcocks put the first 2 batters on and loaded the bases with 1 out versus new pitcher Olearcek, but couldn’t score.
Partee came on to pitch for the Hitchcocks in the 6th and shut down the Beavers thanks to a nifty 6-3 double play by SS Ringler. Olearcek had an easy inning, as well, thanks to a Major League grab by Ortiz on a screaming ground ball to 3B by Malikowski, and punctuated by his third strikeout in 2 innings.
In the top of the 7th, the Beavers tied the game. Totten took a lead-off walk, Rob Hyde fouled off bunt attempts twice and then singled to RF. With one out, Sloat lined a single to CF on which Totten had to hold up at 2B to see if it was caught, but the throw from CF to force him at 3B went high and out of play allowing him to score. However, Partee settled down, inducing an infield pop fly, walking Ortiz intentionally and then getting an inning ending force out. Webber relieved in the 7th for the Beavers, allowed a lead-off single to Partee, but then fanned 2 of the next 3 batters.
In the top of the 8th, the Beavers looked sure to take the lead when Marin Goldstein led off with a triple to left-center, but Partee bore down, inducing a ground out to himself for the first out. Maspo then shot a low liner to RF, where Tom Sebastyn, made a spectacular sliding catch to save a run. After walking Stu Clark intentionally, Partee got Totten to fly out to CF.
In the top of the 9th, Partee allowed only a 2-out single to Sloat, hoping his teammates could send him home with a victory, however, Webber had an easy 1-2-3 inning to send it to extras.
With Webber starting the 10th on 2nd base, Ortiz lined a single to RF, but Scott Dunaisky threw a seed to 1B Paul Iellamo, who fired it home to catcher Stephen Higgins, who applied the tag on Webber with plenty of time. Ortiz took 2nd on the play, so Hitchcocks manager Winston elected to walk Adam Rodrigues intentionally, a strategy that had worked out for him 4 times in the past 2 games…but not this time. Goldstein singled to load the bases, and then Olearcek’s grounder to 3B that would have been a sure force out at home, was bobbled, and everyone was safe. Maspo followed with a line drive to RF that Dunaisky unsuccessfully tried to dive to catch, and the ball bounced by him for a 2-run double. Partee was able to get the next 2 outs to hold the damage at 3 runs: 8-5.
Having only scored in 1 inning in the game, the Hitchcocks felt they were due, and liked their chances with the heart of the order coming up. Ringler began the inning at 2B, and immediately scored when the throw on an infield single by Malikowski went off the 1B glove and out of play. Dave Dean followed with another infield single, and then advanced to 2B on a ground out to first by Evans. Up to the plate strode Morriss Partee, who didn’t even expect to be playing in the Championship, but for the rainout, as he was out of the country for the last two weeks. Partee waited on a curveball from Webber and blasted a long, high drive to deep left field, just off the line. Left fielder Maspo raced after it, but with the dry earth and the decline in left, the ball rolled right down the hill, and Partee was able to jog the last 60 feet to greet the yellow jerseys of his jubilant teammates.
Game photos courtesy of Stu Clark
Bobcats 14
Holyoke Millers 15
The 2024 Fall Ball consolation game felt like anything but that, as the Bobcats and the Millers fought for over three hours with the game decided on the final at-bat for a fitting season finale. The Bobcats sent skipper Lundy Bancroft to the mound against the Millers innings eater Steve "Bass" Ostrowski. The Bobcats displayed their claws and their guts, going 9 innings with exactly nine players and held their own the whole way.
Each team struck in the first innings, with the Bobcats scoring twice and the Millers scoring three times. The Bobcats took the lead in the 4th inning with a one out rally started by Mike Dietlin, Jack Wiliden and Lundy Bancroft. Dietlin and Wileden were driven home by Chad Walker and Jon "JR" Ross, respectively. The Men in Red added two more runs in the 5th with RBI singles from Bancroft and Don Edwards. It was 6-3 Bobcats after 5 innings.
The Bobcats continued to pile on runs with RBI singles from Dietlin, Matt Witek, Bancroft, and Edwards in the 6th. The Millers were able to respond in the bottom frame with an RBI triple from Mike Arbour and Bryan Krylowski driving in a run, but it was still all Bobcats 10-4. And just for fun the Bobcats added four more runs in the top of the 7th with a sacrifice from Bancroft and singles from Edwards and Chad Walker. After 7 1/2 it was all Bobcats 14-5.
Somehow the Millers started to get back into the game, getting five runs on the board in the 7th courtesy of timely hits by Andy Klepacki (2 RBI), Jeff Cabana (1 RBI), and Chris "Chaka" Scanlon (2 RBI). Super sub Jon Adolph (who had relieved already once in the game) came back to spell the iron armed Ostrowski, who pitched the majority of Millers innings this Fall Ball with vigor. Adolph got the Bobcats to go down 1-2-3 in both the 8th and 9th, backed by some heads up defense, giving the Millers a chance to catch up.
This set up a dramatic bottom of the 9th. With the score 14-10 in favor of the Bobcats, the Millers kept getting on base. Matt Boulanger reached on a single and was driven in by a Cabana double. Scanlon, in a long battle against relief pitcher Mike Dietlan, finally reached on a single and drove in Cabana. Krylowicz walked and Ostrowski reached on a single. Then Adolph whacked a double that scored two runs and it was all tied up. With the bases loaded JW Wills singled, Ostrowski scored, and the ballgame was over. Final score Millers 15, Bobcats 14.
Shout out to Bobcat hitters Lundy Bancroft (3-5, 2 RBI), Chad Walker (4-6, 1 R, 2 RBI), and Matt Witek (2-4, 2 BB, 4 R, 1 RBI), as well as Millers hitters Chaka Scanlon (3-4, 1 R, 3 RBI), Jon Adolph (3-3, 2 BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI), and Andy Klepacki (2-4, 1 BB, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 2B)
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