The Albany Braves showed the entire MSBL 55+ what kind of baseball is played in the CDMSBL!
I am always proud to be a member of this league, wherever I go, but never have I been more proud than I was, in Arizona last week, for the 55+ World Series!
This group of 17 men were a tight knit, well prepared group, that only lost 2 of the 9 games they played, against teams from large cities like San Diego, Dallas, Los Angeles, and the host city of Phoenix.
Even in those two losses, the opponents came away with a healthy respect for this team from little Albany, NY.
Most of the teams competing in this series picked up pool players from all over the country. I believe that we were the only entry to have 100% of its roster made up entirely of league members.

The Braves showed off spectacular defense, competitive pitching, and a batting order that was unrivaled all week.
Let's start with the defense: Randy Craft at shortstop is always an attention getter! This tournament was no exception, even though Randy hadn't played a competitive game in two years.
He continually made plays that had the opponents asking "who is this guy?!" Dean Little and Ralph Caputo made all of the plays at third base, ranging from the routine to the extraordinary.
TJ Scorsone and Ron Massaroni were stellar sharing the chores at second base. Mike Girard, Doug'OBrey, and Dave Mitchell shared time at first, and did a great job tracking down the throws from the infielders, especially after the arms got sore and the throws started to go off target a little.
Scott Ross, Jim McQuade, Doug O'Brey, Wayne Newcomb, and Tom Maney patrolled those huge outfields and did a great job in each and every game. Dave Mitchell, and Mike Labarge picked up the slack and caught way too many innings in the desert heat, after Jim Wing was injured before game 3. They called great games and held the running games at bay for most of the time, while catching 8 different pitchers. Remarkable.

...and those pitchers. I can't say enough about those pitchers: Jerry Solomon led the way with 3 wins, logging 17 innings in just 4 days. Jerry continually struggled with his command, but never gave in, and always made the pitch he needed, when the situation was at its toughest. Jimmy Konstantakis threw 18 innings in 4 days winning one game in a 9 inning stint, and helped steady the ship in two other appearances. Ron Massaroni was masterful, in his two appearances (both wins), throwing 13 total innings, while only giving up just 5 earned runs. Wayne Newcomb earned the staff's other win, in his heroic effort against the tough San Diego Pirates, in our final round robin game. Mike Girard ate up 14 innings in three appearances, the most notable was his effort in the championship game, holding the Las Vegas bats quiet for 8 innings (allowing just 4 hits) before he ran out of gas in the 9th. TJ Scorsone, Doug O'Brey, and Ralph Caputo were solid in their appearances, all in high stress situations.

Most impressive were the Albany bats. Seven of Albany's hitters topped the .400 mark for the week, led by Mike Girard's 21 for 35 performance (.600). Girard scored 19 runs and added 9 RBI's, while hitting in the 3 hole. Mike Labarge hit .500, in limited action, but was dependable when called upon. Scott Ross was a terror at the top of the order all week, hitting .472, with two walks and 8 stolen bases. Scott scored 11 runs in 9 games. With Randy Craft, in the 2 hole, hitting .389, the meat of the order seemed to always be coming to the plate with the table fully set. Dave Mitchell filled the clean up spot admirably with 16 hits, four of which were booming doubles. Dave drove home a team high 14 runs and hit .429 for the week. Doug O'Brey was money in the 5-spot all week, as he hit .452 and drove in 10 runs. He was followed in this murderer's row of a line up by Dean Little, who was 12 for 36 (.333), with 8 RBI's of his own. Jim McQuade and Wayne Newcomb both hit exceptionally well (.421 and .429 respectively). Ron Massaroni (.389); Jerry Solomon (.333); and TJ Scorsone rounded out the 12 Braves hitters to record an average over .300 for the week. Hall of Famer, Tom Maney recorded a .289 average for the week.

This is a very long way to tell you a very short story: These guys represented your CDMSBL very well. Albany will never again be taken lightly in this age division of the World Series. Any future teams from Albany will be seeing nothing but the best pitchers and the top efforts from their opponents, as this team got noticed for their effort and abilities by all 19 entries in this 2016 World Series. It is a week that I will never forget! I just wish that we could have written a different ending!

-- Edited by mgirard11 on Monday 31st of October 2016 04:48:13 PM