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Sun Devils Win Original
Division Crown
September 1, 2004 (Federal League Wire Service)
The South Florida Sun Devils
captured their first ever Original Division championship with a
10-8 win over the defending champion DAS Enterprises Black
Diamonds in Game 4, Tuesday night at Pompano Municipal Stadium.
Scooby Morgan went the distance for the Solar Satans,
withstanding a five run Diamonds' rally in the eighth. Morgan
wound up permitting eight runs on 14 hits, but had just enough
left in the tank to pitch the Devils to victory.
Karl Ruf started for the Gems and took the loss after allowing
seven earned runs on 13 hits in seven innings.
The Sun Devils methodically built an 8-1 lead, scoring three in
the first, one in the second, one in the sixth, and three in the
seventh.
In the top of the first, Matt Stubbs singled with one out to get
the Devs going. Ruf walked Jeff Wenger and Ryan Stuart to load
the bases and then Sean Grove blooped a single to short right
field to score Stubbs. Mike Kyger was hit by a pitch to force in
Wenger, and Corey Gleichenhaus flared a single to short center
to score Stuart, giving the Sun Devils a 3-0 lead.
A Scooby Morgan single, an infield ground out, an a costly Black
Diamond error allowed the Devils to take a 4-0 lead in the
second.
The Diamonds got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second
as Dave Shmueli led off with a single and later scored on a
single by Chad Peters.
The score remained 4-1 until the sixth. Matt Stubbs led off with
a single and scored two batters later on a single by Sean Grove.
A sacrifice fly by Morgan, an RBI single by Stubbs, and an RBI
double by Wenger in the seventh gave el Diablos an 8-1 lead.
With their chances almost gone, the Diamonds mounted a five run
rally in the eighth to pull within 8-6. Jim Eddy led off with a
double and scored on a single by Brian Freivogel. Freddie Case
sliced a double to left that advanced Freivogel to third. After
Chris Sowa flew out for the first out, Shmueli was hit by a two
strike pitch to load the bases. Jose Morales came through with a
two run double and, after Morgan fanned Brant Spring for the
second out, Peters singled in Shmueli and Morales.
The Sun Devils provided the tiring Morgan with some insurance in
the top of the ninth against Spring who had relieved Ruf in the
eighth. Morgan himself got the rally started with a two out
double. After Stubbs was walked intentionally, Wenger was hit by
a pitch, loading the bases. Ryan Stuart delivered a two run
single up the middle, giving the Devils a 10-6 lead.
The Diamonds did not go quietly. Eddy led off with a single and
went to third on a one out double by Case. Both runners scored
on a single by Sowa, making the score 10-8 and bringing the
tying run to the plate. But Morgan got Shmueli on a sharp
grounder to short and induced Morales to pop out to Stubbs at
first to end the game and the series.
As the ball settled in Stubbs' glove, the Sun Devil rushed the
mound and lifted a tired, but triumphant, Morgan on their
shoulders. No Sun Devil was grinning any broader than manager
Jon Simon.
After the game, the editors of South Florida Baseball
Report voted Scooby Morgan as the winner of the Original
Division Playoff MVP Award.
The plans for the Sun Devils' victory parade are being withheld,
pending the news on Hurricane Frances.
Original Division Finals-Sun Devils Take Game 3, Move One Win
From Title: The South Florida Sun Devils
registered an inspired 4-1 win over the DAS Enterprises Black
Diamonds in Game 3 of the Original Division's Championship Final
Series to take a 2 games to one lead in the best of five series.
Saturday's game at Fort Lauderdale Stadium featured a brilliant
pitching performance from Mike "Boots" Kyger who pitched eight
innings of brilliant relief. For the second straight game Matt
Stubbs started for the Solar Satans only to have to relinquish
the mound duties due to arm pain. In Game 3, in stepped Kyger
who scattered three singles and allowed only one run. Kyger, who
got off to a shaky start after taking over for Stubbs at the
beginning of the second inning, hit the first two batters he
faced before settling down to strike out six, walk two, and hit
four.
Chad Peters started for the Dark Gems and took the loss despite
an almost equally brilliant performance. Peters was charged with
three runs on four hits in seven and a third innings.
The Sun Devils scored first when Stubbs singled in the first,
stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a
double steal. Jeff Wenger, who had walked, comprised the other
half of the twin theft.
The Diamonds tied the score in the fifth as Karl Ruf walked and,
after moving to third on a single by Eddie Sanabria, combined
with Sanabria on a double steal.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Sun Devils broke the tie. Ryan
Stuart got aboard with a one out single and then scored from
third as Kyger beat out a two out infield roller to third.
After Wenger walked with one out in the eighth, the Diamonds
brought in Adam Lopez in relief of Peters, but Stuart slammed
Lopez's first pitch into the right field bleachers to give the
Devils their final margin of victory.
Kyger, who has seen his role as a pitcher decrease steadily over
the past few seasons, handled the Gems without incident in the
ninth to record the victory and put the Sun Devils one win away
from their first title.
After the game, the league announced that the Sun Devils'
protest from Game 2 had no basis for being upheld and that the
Black Diamonds' win would stand. The series will continue with
Game 4, scheduled for Tuesday night.
Original Division Finals-Diamonds Square Series With Win In
Game 2 The DAS Enterprises Black Diamonds evened the
Original Division's Championship Final Series with a 5-3 win
over the South Florida Sun Devils at Pompano Municipal Stadium,
Thursday night.
Brant Spring tossed a complete game for the win, scattering 13
hits. Spring walked two and struck out six.
Matt Stubbs started for the Sun Devils and took the loss after
allowing four runs, one earned, on two hits in just two innings
of work. Sean Grove came on in relief of Stubbs in the third
inning, leading to speculation that Stubbs was injured.
The Dark Gems opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when
Karl Ruf led off with a single and then scored, thanks to two
Sun Devil miscues.
The Solar Satans tied the contest in the top of the second.
Grove singled, advanced to third on a single by Mike Kyger, and
then scored when Anthony DeFilippis grounded out.
In the bottom of the second, the Gems poured across three more
runs to take a 4-1 lead. Dave Shmueli led off with a walk,
Spring reached on an error, and Chris Sowa singled to score
Shmueli. After two were out, another Sun Devil error handed the
Diamonds two more runs.
The Sunny D's got one run back in the top of the third as Corey
Gleichenhaus singled and later scored on a single by Jeff
Wenger.
The score remained 4-2 until the bottom of the seventh when
Eddie Sanabria led off with a walk and then scored four batters
later when Grove hit Spring with a pitch. It was the second
consecutive batter that Grove had hit.
A Diamonds' error and an RBI single by Jon Simon in the eighth
closed the scoring.
The Sun Devils played the game under protest. In the second
inning with Mike Kyger on second, Jon Simon hit an apparent
single to right field, but home plate umpire Jerry Giroux
signaled catcher's interference, but instead of allowing the
play to continue as he should have, Giroux called the ball dead
and awarded Simon first base. League officials were reviewing
the rules to see if this is a call that can be legally
protested.. A decision is due by Friday afternoon.
In either event, the series is scheduled to continue with Game 3
on Saturday.
Original Division Finals-Sun Devils Rally Past Black Diamonds
In Game 1: A two run rally in the bottom of the ninth
enabled the South Florida Sun Devils to post a 4-3 victory over
the DAS Enterprises Black Diamonds in Game 1 of the Original
Division's best of five Championship Final Series.
Scooby Morgan earned the win for the Solar Satans, pitching a
complete game four hitter in which he did not allow an earned
run. Morgan walked one, hit two, and struck out nine, and, for
good measure, stroked four singles, and scored the game winning
run.
Jim Eddy started for the Dark Gems and was almost as impressive
as Morgan, allowing one earned run on seven hits in six innings.
The Sun Devils reached Eddy for an unearned run in the third
when Matt Stubbs reached on an error and later scored on a
sacrifice fly off the bat of Corey Gleichenhaus.
The Diamonds answered in the top of the fourth when Eddy reached
first on Gleichenhaus' error at second. Two batters later, after
a walk to Ray Pereira, Freddie Case drilled a three run home run
to right to give the Gems a 3-1 lead.
Neither team threatened again until the top of the seventh when
the Diamonds loaded the bases with one out. The Compressed Lumps
of Coal failed to increase their lead as Morgan got out of the
jam by striking out Chad Peters and Karl Ruf.
The Sunny D's halved the Black D's lead with a run in the bottom
of the seventh. Rob Gleichenhaus opened the inning by drawing a
walk. Dave Perry went in to run for Gleichenhaus and moved to
second as Morgan singled.
At this point, Adam Lopez relieved Eddy and proceeded to strike
out the side, but not before allowing a wild pitch that sent
Perry to third which enabled Perry and Morgan to execute a
delayed double steal that scored Perry and made the score 3-2.
That's the way the score remained until the bottom of the ninth.
Sean Grove lead off the ninth by flying out to right for the
first out, but Perry drew a walk to put the tying run aboard.
Morgan slapped his fourth hit of the ninth, a single to left, to
move Perry to second.
Lopez's first pitch to Matt Stubbs hit Stubbs on the knee to
load the bases. Jeff Wenger battled back from a no balls, two
strikes count to draw a walk to bring in Perry with the tying
run.
After Lopez fanned Ryan Stuart for the second out, Lopez's first
pitch to Corey Gleichenhaus got away from Pereira and bounded
toward the Sun Devil dugout along third base, allowing Morgan to
trot home with the winning run.
The win was the Sun Devils' first ever in Championship Final
Series play.
The defending champion Black
Diamonds will be looking to even the series in Game 2, scheduled
for Thursday.
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