Minor League Championship Game Red Sox vs Yankees
The Peter J. Foley Minor League Championship was played Saturday
night before a large and enthusiastic crowd. The game pitted the powerful
Yankees squad against a well-balanced Red Sox team. It promised to be an
exciting match-up and the two teams provided everyone in attendance with
an entertaining evening of baseball.
Starting on the mound for the Red Sox was Jon Brelsford with Dan Ruocco
behind the plate. Battery mates for the Yankees were Matt Marchant and
John "The Cat" Payne.
The fireworks started in the top of the 1st inning when, after 1 out,
the visiting Yankees put together a four-hit, three run outburst capped
by an RBI single by Brian Downey and an early 3-0 lead. The Red Sox answered
in the bottom of the 1st with 5 runs of their own. Doubles by Jon Brelsford,
Dan Ruocco and Mark Onofrio inflicted the damage.
The second inning started where the first inning left off. Three walks
sandwiched around a bunt single by Adam Blanchard and a single by Tim Fleck
along with aggressive base running netted three more runs for the Yankees
and a 7-5 edge. The Red Sox hitters came to the plate in the bottom of
the second and did just that, Hit. Singles by Matt Bouteiller, Jon Dias,
Jon Brelsford and Mark Onofrio's second double of the night along with
5 walks added up to 5 more for the Sox. Red Sox 10 Yankees 7 after
two Innings.
The Yankees tallied 1 run in the third to close the gap to 10 - 8.
The Offensive show continued in the bottom half of the inning for the Red
Sox as they pushed across 5 runs for the third consecutive frame led by
doubles for Matt Bouteiller and Jon Brelsford and singles by Dan Ruocco
and Mark Onofrio.
Trailing 15 - 8 starting the 4th inning, the Yankees weren't about
to quit. Adam Blanchard's RBI single capped off a three run rally and the
Red Sox lead was cut to 4. Matt Zahornasky singled and eventually scored
the lone red Sox run of the fourth inning to push the lead to 16 - 11.
A relatively quiet fifth inning resulted in just one run for the Yankees
making the score 16 - 12 going into the final stanza.
The final inning of the championship game is the best time for dramatics,
and that is what happened on this warm, muggy night. The Yankees, down
by 4 and near desperation, rallied for 3 runs. Thanks to base hits by Scott
Reding, Adam Blanchard, John Payne and Tommy Payne. With base runners at
second and third and nobody out, the Yankees were poised to take the lead,
but it was not to be. Jon Brelsford, who had taken up the catcher's position
in the fourth inning, tagged out the two Yankee runners at the plate attempting
to steal. A hard line drive to shortstop was snagged by Joe Verrastro to
end the game.
Final Score Red Sox 16 Yankees 15
The Championship game was the culmination of hard work by everyone involved
with the minor league this season. We would like to thank all the coaches
that gave countless hours of their time, the team parents that went that
extra mile to help out the coaches keep everything running smooth, the
parents, for showing their support to ALL the players and the volunteers
that "chose" to umpire these games (It's a Thankless Job). Most of all,
we would like to thank all the players for making this season a success.
We hope you all had fun and we hope to see you next year.