A group made up of predominantly 45plus Reds,Marlins and Yankees made our annual pilgrimage to South Portland,Maine for the 16th annual Classic, this past weekend.
We competed in a new 40 and over division, that featured an extremely competitively balanced 5 team pool featuring two Maine teams, a team from Medford Mass, as well as the Riptides from Rhode Island, who featured none other than former Red Sox hurler Dennis "oil can" Boyd, as well as our own Albany Mutts.
90 plus degrees and 3 nine-inning games in two days, left all teams either 2-1 or 1-2, at the end of pool play. The Mutts played 3, 1 run games, losing 4-3,and 2-1,before defeating our good friends the Maine Indains 8-7, which allowed us to advance to the playoffs.
In the semis, we fell to the Maine Diamond Dogs, who broke open a tight 3-2 game with a few runs in the bottom of the eighth.
The Mutts received OUTSTANDING pitching - Ron Massaroni and Chris Dunn shouldered most of the burden - Mazz pitched 6 innings friday, and pitched into the 8th on championship Sunday. "Dunner" pithched multiple outings, including a 3 inning save. Chris continues to get stronger as he works his way back from an extended layoff, which bodes well for the Cubbies and Reds!!
Darryl Duncan had an outstanding outing, going 8 strong in a tough 2-1 loss, surrendering a couple of unearned runs. John Kalinski thru 5-plus, before giving way to Pete Geannellis ,the eventual winner. Mutts pitching walked a TOTAL of 4 batters in 35 plus innings!!!
A few players stood out offensively, most notably was Ron Lochner, who terrorized opposing pitchers, as well as Jim McQuade, who had an unbelievable debut in Maine, and finished with a 700 plus on- base percentage. Mike Girard was his usual self, demonstrating why he continues to be one of the most outstanding players our league has to offer...
The reception we receive in South Portland, along with the outstanding restaurants, beaches and camaraderie, continue to make this one of the best baseball stops on the calendar!!
I'd like to put some numbers to Jonny Martin's wonderful summary of our weekend in Maine.
First the pitching:
Ron Massaroni pitched 12 plus innings, in 90 plus heat (with very high humidity), in less than 48 hours, against some very tough hitters and only surrendered 5 runs -- only one of them was earned!
Chris Dunn pitched 7 innings (over 2 games), under the same conditions and gave up just 3 runs, and only one of them was earned!
Darrell Duncan pitched 8 innings in game two and gave up just two hits and one earned run. He had the hitters on Oil Can Boyds's team mumbling to themselves about that damn knuckle ball.
John Kalinski started the "must win" game against the Maine Indians and left the game in the 5th inning with the game tied at 4, and was a big reason why the Mutts made the playoffs.
Next the hitting:
Ron Lochner led the way with a 8 for 15 (.533) performance and led the team in RBI's. Ron had 6 singles and two doubles against some top-notch pitching.
Mike Girard was next, hitting .467 (7 for 15), with 5 singles and two doubles. Mike led the team with 4 runs scored.
Jon Martin and Jim McQuade both hit .429 for the tournament. Jon was 3 for 7, and Jim was 6 for 14. Both of these guys are often under appreciated for their bats, but showed that they are quite capable against even the best pitching.
Tom Maney and Donnie Dunham both hit .375 (3 for 8) for the weekend and Ron McCarthy checked in at .300 (3 for 10).
A big thanks to Ron McCarthy and Pete Geanellis for shouldering all of the catching duties. It really takes the steam out of you when it is that hot and humid with the gear on. Great job!!!
Last but certainly not least, a big thank you to Rick Caruso for organizing and managing the team. It is a thankless job and a tough one to keep 15-16 guys happy when you have this much talent from top to bottom. Thanks Rick!!!
-- Edited by mgirard11 on Wednesday 10th of July 2013 08:44:10 AM
I would like to thank all of you that went to the downeast classic. It was a pleasure playing baseball with all of you. I would to also say how well the pitchers did.
It was a great trip. We played some good teams and met some very nice people.
I would like to thank Rick and Mike for inviting me and I look forward to the next trip. Oh ya, yes we went to Maine and Lori had chicken parm for dinner, REALLY!
