Dodging rain was a major component of this year's MSBL Holiday Classic at Disney's Wide World of Sports. First, Friday morning rain forced cancellation or major disruptions of the first 10 games on the 45+ schedule. Then steady overnight rain on Saturday caused a delayed start to the schedule on Sunday. But this is "Where Dreams Come True," so somehow the full schedule of games got played within the allotted time. The Albany Capitals finished 1-2 (as did the other two teams sporting CDMSBL players -- DC Mustangs and Maine Diamond Dogs). The last of 8 playoff spots went to a 1-2 team, but we narrowly fell short on the tiebreaker.
In game 1, the Capitals fell to a seasoned All Star Baseball Academy team from the Delaware Valley. It seems that we needed an inning to shake the winter cobwebs off our gloves, as we fell down by 10 before we came to bat. We then began to settle in, but had dug too deep a hole and lost 17-3. Greg Witalec, Mark Denicola, and Greg Gougler shared pitching duties and all deserved better support. The Capitals had base runners in all but one inning off a tough lefty, but didn't string together many rallies. Greg Gougler's hard line drive base hit got us on the board, driving in two.
Game 2 brought last year's runner up, the Miami Marlins, at Disney Stadium for an 8:15am game. We played better in the field, but two more tough lefties combined to throw a 2-hitter against us. After two scoreless innings, Miami's big bats came alive, scoring 2 in the 3rd, 4 in the 4th, 2 in the 5th, and 2 in the 6th. Down, but not out, we looked to game 3.
Because of a rain-delayed start, game 3 was given a 2:20 time limit. The Westchester Pirates were also 0-2 with a couple big losses. Like finishing a round over 100 with a par on 18, a solid win in our last game sent us out with a smile and thoughts of "next time." We were batting in the bottom of the 7th, with the bases loaded, up 8-3, when we reached the time limit and the game was ended. It was a nice team effort played in very windy conditions, which made for adventurous play on balls in the air.
This was the first out-of-town tournament for some of our Albany guys. It probably won't be the last, as playing in this environment with a good group of guys, especially as a break from upstate NY winter, is hard to beat, regardless of the scores. And when all was done, I could hear more than one guy exclaim, as if they had won the Super Bowl, "I'm going to Disneyworld!"
This was the best time - great group of guys and great baseball at a great venue. I can't wait to come back!
A big thanks to Curt for taking the reigns and organizing this group and getting us all on the same page.
And a huge shout-out to the folks that work grounds crew at Disney World for getting those fields ready in short order on some very tough field conditions. We showed up for our first game at 2:45 pm. on Friday after all the early games had been rained out and the field was under water. They sent a crew around with enough Diamond Dry to cover an entire season in Upstate NY and had each field ready to play in about 15 minutes. The outfield grass was dry and firm and the infield puddles were completely dried up and we went off within 10 minutes of our scheduled game time. Same for Sunday's 8:15 a.m. game. They had us ready to play within minutes of our scheduled time again after an unbelievable amount of rain fell the night before. Top-notch service.
Thanks to the Albany folks: Curt Tucker, John Cortese, Mark DeNicola, Greg Gougler, Greg Witalec, Dave Plew, Steve Hutchinson (Now a Florida transplant); Saratoga's Ken Banker; Staten Island's Anthony Barletta, South Jersey's Greg Balin; Chicago's John Colon and Ernie Trujillo; and Atlanta's Dennis Taylor. Great bunch of guys and hope we can all do it again sometime!
We won 8-3 in a 7-inning time-shortened game. We took a 2-0 lead in the first. They scored single runs in the 2nd and 3rd to tie it. But with 4 in the 4th, we went ahead for good. We had the bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th, when umps called the game.
