Sand Gnats Shrug Off Deficits, Win Championship

The Sand Gnats celebrate their championship victory at Bartholomew Park.

By Michael Steele

Down early on a brutally hot Saturday morning, the One-on-One Judo Club Sand Gnats could easily have folded. As a wild card team that slipped into the postseason in their final weekend, just reaching the Elk Grove Babe Ruth championship game was an achievement in itself. But, after falling into an early hole, the Sand Gnats rallied, taking advantage of defensive mistakes to come back twice and win the league title 8-6 over the Routt Roofing Owlz.

Gale pitches in the 1st inning

Coming back at all seemed like a long shot three innings into the ball game, as the Owlz pitching and hitting both looked sharp. After starting pitchers Peter Sprague and Andrew Gale traded scoreless frames through two, the Owlz rallied in the third. With two outs, Jose Robles reached on an error, and the visiting team made the miscue hurt. Leadoff hitter Ethan Moreno singled sharply to left, Austin Archuleta hit an opposite-field double to right to plate Robles, and  Tyler Lantsberger put an exclamation point on it with a two-run single up the middle that made it 3-0 Owlz.

With a chance to answer back, the Sand Gnats could not steal any momentum against reliever Austin Archuleta, who set down the side in order with two strikeouts. And, going in to the bottom of the fourth inning, it looked like the Owlz had a firm grasp on the game.

Sprague pitched 2 scoreless innings

But the Sand Gnats’ bats would not be denied for long. After a strikeout to start the inning, twelfth-place hitter Garrett Bray and leadoff man Kevin Brase both singled band Ricky Van Houten was hit by pitch to load the bases. Poised to score, things suddenly looked bleak when the Sand Gnats’ Nicholas Henderson hit a ground ball to third that Lantsberger threw home for the force to keep the home team scoreless. But, looking to turn a 5-2-3 double play, the Owlz threw to first but the ball was off target, flying into the vast foul territory of Bartholomew Park and allowing all three remaining runners, including Henderson, to score as a simple fielder’s choice became a three-run, three base error that tied the game and ignited the Sand Gnats’ dugout.

Not content, the Sand Gnats kept going when Tanner Smith singled and three teammates drew walks, with Gale’s base on balls plating Smith to give the Sand Gnats an slim lead. By then, lefty Jack Roselli had relieved for the Owlz and, although he escaped the mess, the damage was done: the Owlz were suddenly trailing.

Down—but not out—the Owlz came back themselves in the sixth with a rally of their own. After Moreno and Archuleta drew walks to start the inning, reliever Nick Pruitt bounced back by recording strikeout and inducing a weak pop out. But, after falling behind in the count, Owlz catcher Ryan Ames kept his team’s hopes alive with a clutch single to right field that scored both runners and gave the Owlz a 5-4 lead.

Just as before, though, the Sand Gnats refused to stand down, mounting a furious four-run inning in which their bats took the lead for good. With one out, Brase and Van Houten singled and Henderson hit a fly ball into shallow right field. But the ball not only got down but bounced past the right fielder, rolling to the fence and turning a blooper into a two-run double by Henderson that stole back the lead. With Henderson then on third, Smith walked to put runners on the corners, but Roselli immediately picked off Smith. In the interim, though, Henderson raced home for another run and Smith took second. Although Smith would be thrown out at the plate on Pruitt’s single, the Owlz misplayed Joe DeSoto’s deep fly to center, allowing Pruitt to score one more run. With the score at 8-5, Sand Gnats stood three outs from victory.

“We’ve got to catch and field,” said Owlz manager Rick Venegas. “And we didn’t. Credit to [the Sand Gnats]. They took advantage and believed they could win.”

The Sand Gnats and Owlz shake hands.

In the seventh, the Owlz tried to fight their way back in, with Zach Aquila stealing home on the back end of a double steal. But, down to their final out, a grounder to short by Robles was easily corralled and, with a perfect throw to first basemen Devin Ashley, the Sand Gnats’ were champions.

After celebrating and posing for photographs, the team faced one final challenge. Wanting to provide their coaches with a celebratory Gatorade bath, the Sand Gnats found no orange jugs available. But, just as they had responded to every Owlz charge during the game, the Sand Gnats found a way, borrowing two nearby ice chests and dumping their contents over their coaches, Rich Henderson and Eric Van Houten.

“It feels great,” said Henderson in a sopping wet shirt of his team’s victory. “Today was a lot of fun.”

Saturday June 16 at 10 am Bartholomew Sports Complex Babe Ruth field the Elk Grove Babe Ruth League presents the 2012 Championship game.  The Rick Venegas Coached Routt Roofing Owlz play the Rich Henderson/Eric Van Houten coached One on One Judo Club of Wilton Sand Gnats.  The Owlz were the AL winner for 2012 and defeated the NL wild card team, the Palermo Thunder on Thursday night.  The Thunder were short a few players but put up a good fight against the #1 AL team.  The Sand Gnats were the 4th seed in the AL but had two close wins to make the Championship game.  They beat the NL champion Iron Birds in a one run extra inning thriller on Thursday night at Jones South. The Gnats closer, Nick Pruitt came in to close the game out with a 5 run lead but the Iron Birds would not quit and tied the score in Regulation.  There were some walks and hit batters in the Iron Birds rally, but Coach Henderson stuck with his ace pitcher.  In the top of the next inning Nick drove in the go-ahead run and then went back out to the hill. With one out an Iron bird reached 1st on an error and stole second then a balk sent him as the tying run to third.  After a squeeze attempt went foul Nick took matters into his own hands and struck out the next 2 batters for the win.

The Last game of the Week for 2012 is Saturday night June 9 starting at 7pm. this game features The Sports Shop Beavers at the Knights. The Usual Saturday night announcer, Mike Steele, Mr Saturday night, will be joined in the booth by the Beavers broadcaster, Lynn Tetlow.  Lynn is the sister of Beavers Coach Brent Tetlow. Larry Stone will have the snackbar open.  come out and enjoy the game! 

the Beavers feature some real talent in the league. Leading off is Anthony "Sparky" Rivett batting .538 he is a 14 year-old all star.  Batting second is Tanner "Slick" Morrison, smooth fielding shortstop, with an on base average over .500.  batting 3rd is Blake "Shark" Lewis 550 average and a 15 year old all star along with Slick. Batting 4th one of 3 13 yearold all stars Tony "Rocky" Anguiano, followed by 2nd 14 year old all star Ryan "Rocket" Sutherland .444 average.  The other 13 all stars are Derek "D-Buzz" Dokter .350 average, who will miss this game and "Woody", Wes Trejo.  The other outstanding members of this team include: Magic Joe Oto, Michael "DynoMike" Jorrin, Max "Pill" Huscher; Tyler "Shamrock" Kelly, Tyler "Smiles" Buck and last but not least our fastest player 15 year-old Christain "Sticks" McElroy, playing his last 13-15 Babe Ruth game. 

Saturday May 19,2012- The Cendana Keinath Inc. Threshers visit the One on One Judo Club of Wilton Sand Gnats at Bartholomew Sports Park for a 7pm Game of the Week contest featuring those two American League Clubs.  The visiting Threshers come in off a 23-4 crushing of the MudCats on Wednesday night.  Coach Wackman expects the Club to continue that hot hitting and good defensive play on the "big stage" Saturday night.  The Sand Gnats started the season well with big wins and had an very good battle with the RiverCats this week for 7-7 tie against that elite club from the National League.  The Sand Gnats now feature their supplemental player, Nick Pruitt (COHS) and expect that he will give the Gnats a 2nd half boost.  There will be a Snack Bar run by Board member Larry Stone

This should be a great rematch of this years earlier game where the Sandgnats beat the Threshers by one run in a back and forth game with a wild finish.  Should be fun! 

Threshers Coach Mike Wackman

This Saturday May12, 2012, The Gormley's Retirement Home Red Wings host the Salazar Heavy Haul River Dogs at Bartholomew 7pm is game time. The River Dogs at 6-3-1 will be playing the second game of their double-header. Redwings at 1-8-1 are in every game they play and pledge to give the River Dogs all they can handle.  Note that, Larry Stone will be operating the Snack bar behind home plate for both the 4pm and the 7 pm games.  The Red Wings feature a number of good players including Willie Gormley (a Tyler Routt All Star) pictured here. According to Coach Gormley, their record indicates they have been snake bit, but these kids play with a Spartan attitude. They play each game with a No Retreat, No Surrender style of play. The team has had injuries and this great group of kids has filled in where needed, learning as they go.  The team has been thin on pitching depth but is led by the power pitching of Robert Espinosa who has 23 strikeouts in 15 innings of work and the control of Willie Gormley who issues few walks and relies on his defense in 24 innings of work.  The offense is improving each week and is powered by the lefty trio of Espinosa who is batting .500 with a .710 OBP; Anthony “Teixeira” Gentile batting .319 and leads the team with 2 triples; and David “Cubbie” Bustamante who has a .410 Avg. and 7 RBI’s.
The River Dogs have a formidable line up including Sam Splinter another Tyler Routt All Star this year.  Donny Penney has been booked to provide what Red Wings Coach Scott Gormley describes as the Irish tenor approach to the National Anthem and Mike Steele  has been asked to provide his consistently outstanding approach to announcing and score keeping.

Ironbirds Try to Shoot Down Mudcats

The 2012 Ironbirds are lead by veteran manager Chris Allen.  He is supported by assistant coaches Robert Ortega and Larry Stone. 

The Ironbirds (4-2-1) currently lead the 'National League' by percentage points over the Thunder.  Close behind are tonights opponents, the Mudcats. 

Like many teams this season, the Ironbirds have had moments of brillance and others where humility is quickly reinstilled.

The starting pitcher for the Ironbirds tonight will be #6 Matt Flores who has been a reliable arm all season and leads the team in innings pitched.  After Matt, several players including Ben Ortega and Yoseph Tadesse will handle mid-relief and left Joel Barragan will serve as the closer. 

The Ironbirds bring a lot of speed to ther offense attack and some thump to back that up.  Dominick Babich and Joel Barragan are always threats to steal a bag once on and Matt Flores, Yoseph Tadesse, Bobby Koehn and Ben Ortega have been reliable RBI men.   In the most recent come from behind victory over the Galt Rockies, the bottom of the order including Victor Ventura, Matt Moberly, and Maurice Brewster helped fuel an 8 run rally which sealed the 12 - 8 win.

The Mudcats are formidable opponent and this looks like a 7 inning battle ahead. 

APRIL 28 GAME OF THE WEEK

WEEK 2 GAME OF THE WEEK: SATURDAY, APRIL 28 AT BARTHOLOMEW SPORTS PARK AT 7 PM FEATURES THE PALERMO'S THUNDER vs. THE 3 BLIND BROTHERS MUD HENS.

THUNDER TEAM RECAP FROM COACH CAREY WOLF .... 

Tryouts – “Wow, what a good looking pool of candidates!”

Drafts – “Coach are you as excited as I am?”

Team Meeting – “Sure feels like a nice group of players and parents”

First Practice – “Are you kidding me, I don’t think I have ever had a group look this strong from the very first practice.”

First Scrimmage – “They did what we asked, had fun and looked like they were in mid-season form.”.

3^rd Rainout – “Are you kidding me, we literally have a black cloud over our heads! Are we ever going to play?”

Even though the rains subsided and we played our first game, went down in defeat; the dark clouds were still there for the Thunder.

Unfortunately, early in our first game our “Rookie – 1^st year player” Chaunce Chaney had a collision and fall in left center field.

The result of that collision was a season ending hand fracture. 

We wish Chaunce a speedy recovery and hope that he will still come out and support his teammates.

Tuesday the 24^th – Thunder sit @ 2-1, now that the clouds had finally gone away, the sun continued to prevail and we played some baseball.

Thunder have a full week of baseball with back to back games on Tuesday & Wednesday and playing in the “Game of the Week” on Saturday the 28^th.

In just a few short weeks we have watched our players gel and consistently improve. 

They have decided to make life difficult on themselves and start each game by getting behind early in the first 3 games.

What they have done with this strategy is learned that the game is not over until the 3^rd and final out and that they know how to come back from a deficit.

Hopefully they can reverse this trend soon, and start to come out of the gate strong, and keep Coach Carey from graying anymore, than he already is! J

The Thunder pride themselves on having players that can play multiple positions on the field and hit from any spot in the batting order.

All of this versatility has already been a significant contributor to our first 2 victories.

Another strong characteristic of this group is that they all believe in each other and there is not that “1 Super Star”, that the team relies on.

As Coach Stone shared with us after our last game; “You scored 10 runs from the bottom 5 of your line up, that just doesn’t happen!”

Like I told the players, “That is because we do not have a bottom 5, we have Ball Players up and down our line up!”

We are all very excited about this week, this Saturday’s feature game and our entire season. 

We look forward to continuing our climb up the standings; and most of all having an outstanding EGBR 2012 experience.

Continued Success to all the coaches, except when they meet the Thunder, of course!

Let’s Play Ball!!!

Coach Carey, Stefan & Johnny

MUD HENS TEAM RECAP FROM COACH ERIC SARAGOZA ...   

2012 Mud Hens – Coach Eric Saragoza and Jess Marquez               

The 2012 Mud Hens started with 3 teammates from the 2011 Storm - Nick Cooling, Miguel Saragoza, and Denis Vajraca, and new pickup Anthony Alves. After the draft, the Mud Hens were rounded out with 15 year olds - Christian Janini, and Chris Winn, 14 year olds – Nick Bernett, Tyler Newbold, and Malik Williams, and new to EGBR 13 year olds – Nate Cornell, Stephen De Herrerra, Jacari Hudson, and Ian Madison.

The Mud Hens offense his highlighted by three players hitting over .300 – Tyler Newbold @ .500, Miguel Saragoza @ .400, and Malik Williams @ .444.  Right behind them are Ian Madison and Christian Janini, both hitting .286.  The Mud Hens have 8 extra base hits in the first four games, coming from Tyler (two 2B), Miguel (3B), Ian (2B), Christian (2B, 3B), Denis (2B), and Nick Cooling (2B).  RBI leaders for the Mud Hens are Miguel Saragoza and Malik Williams with 4 each, and Christian Janini and Nick Cooling with 3 each. As a team, the Mud Hens have an OBP of .445.  The Mud Hens ability to score runs have resulted in 35 runs scored in the first four games.

Pitching is led by Anthony Alves, Nate Cornell, and Miguel Saragoza.  All three pitchers have opponent batting averages below .300 with Nate Cornell holding his opponents to 0.231.  Miguel Saragoza has 15 strikeouts with only 4 walks, giving him a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.75.  Anthony Alves has pitched a solid 7 and 1/3 innings.  Ready to jump on the rubber, if necessary, are Tyler Newbold, Jacari Hudson, and Nick Bernett.

The Mud Hens go into the game of the week at 2 – 2, but could easily be sitting at 4 – 0 had it not been for 1 bad inning in each of the first two games.  In both of those games, the Mud Hens had a commanding lead, but free bases due to walks, hit batters, and errors led to 8 run innings in each of those games.   Coaching is a duo of head coach Eric Saragoza and coach Jess Marquez.  Both coaches are having a great time watching the Mud Hens play solid baseball, with a lot of heart, enthusiasm, and teamwork.  Go Mud Hens!!

Head Coach Eric Saragoza

Owlz, What a great game, especially for the first four innings.  You guys are a class act and a good baseball team.  Your going to win a bunch of games this season.  What a fantastic play at SS early in the game; definitely the highlight of the game.  Good luck this season!  Coach Kurt & the River Bandits

haha, you  guys didn't know Coach Kurt was also a comedian, I can't help it.  It comes naturally!

Funny Coincidence - What's the only word in the Owlz vocabulary, Hint- it's the same word that everyone uses when looking for them in the standings. ............WHO?

Kurt Thornton-  Let the smack talk begin!

Coach Thornton (River Bandits) on 4/21/2012 game

The 2012 River Bandits Sponsored by Mazda of Elk Grove have grown up a bit since last season.  They are led by 14 & 15 year old returners, Tanner Adams, Eric Inouye, Jake Lopez, and Tucker Elliott.  With new additions from the draft in Julian Boskett, Darius Fleming, Eric Olsen, Carlos Garcia, Jordan Driebe, and Logan Camp; along with 15 year old Ben Pigg, Anthony Garcia, and Supplemental player, Eric Gerdin, the River Bandits are guided by returning Coaches John Inouye, Scott Bowers and Manager Kurt Thornton.

Unlike last year's team, whose strength was "speed on the bases", this season's team is extremely strong and deep in pitching!  Eleven of the 13 players for the Bandits have pitching experience, with 8 of those players pitching every season they've played in recent years.  This year's River Bandits are also stronger offensively with 11 hits already recorded in the first two games.  The offense is led by Jake Lopez and Ben Pig, each with a slugging % of .800 after two games.  Defensively, the infield is anchored by Eric Inouye at Catcher, Tanner Adams at 1B, Tucker Elliott at 2B, Jake Lopez at SS. and Anthony Garcia at 3B.  The outfield is locked down by Ben Pigg at CF, Eric Olsen at LF, and Logan Camp in RF.  Julian Boskett, Darius Fleming, and Jordan Driebe could be the team MVP's by the end of the season with their versatility, ability to pitch, play the middle infield, as well as, all of the outfield positions.   

"This is a very interesting team.  A lot of the reasons that I coach are therapeutic and the fact I love being around the kids, but this team has reminded me why I love the sport of baseball.  In 26 practices and two games, I haven't heard a single player bad mouth or use a nasty tone towards a teammate!  They are passionate about baseball.  They respect the game of baseball and love to be on the field.  This team definitely has the attributes that you can't coach, and when that happens, good things usually follow for the season.  It's made me focus more than in years past and reminded me why I love coaching baseball so much.  I look very forward to our practices and games everyday, so that I can hang out with such competitive, respectful and fun kids." 

According to Manager, Kurt Thornton, "Like most of the other Babe Ruth teams, expectations for the season are high.  We should be one of the top teams in the league with our depth and balance of skill in all areas; but if the rain keeps us off the field and from practicing, or injuries start to take a toll, or the plays just aren't properly executed, none of the depth and skill really matter.  The facts are that we're still dealing with 13, 14, and 15 year old boys, so who knows what's going to happen from play to play & game to game."  Stay tuned!  It's going to be a fun season!  Go Bandits!

See you on the Diamond!

Kurt Thornton

Manager

River City Bandits

Elk Grove Babe Ruth  Baseball

Coach Venegas (Owlz) on the Saturday Game of the week

The Routt Roofing Owlz Coach Rick Venegas writes:

Two teams that made it to the playoffs in 2011 square off this Saturday in the first Game of the Week at Bartholomew Sports Complex. The first pitch  will be at 7 p.m. The Owlz, Division Champs last year are off to a good start in 2012. With Michael Chappelle and Jack Roselli, leading their pitching staff and starting catcher Austin Archuleta they will no doubt keep the Owlz in every game this year. Early in the season, the bats are thumping the ball well, with Andrew Jones, Ryan Ames, Ethan Moreno each having extra base hits and driving in runs in the clutch. Youngster Jesse Eckley is roaming the outfield and made a sliding game saving catch in the season opener against a tough River Dogs team. Young ss/catcher/pitcher Josh Caldwell is a defensive star early in the season. With leadoff batter Zach Aquila getting on base, he is setting the table for the big bats including Tyler Lantsberger, Jack, Austin and Andrew to bring them home. Jacob Peak, Mike E. and James Shurtz have all have made contributions on the field and at the plate.

The Owlz coming off a win over the Rvier Dogs in the firrst game of the season, they had a last inning comback scoring 5 runs against the Beavers to take a 9-6 lead before the game was postponed due to darkness. According to Coach Venegas, "We are a young team with five returning players who are learning new positions but have a lot of heart and confidence in there abilities. I know the kids will only improve over time, as our system works year in and year out." "With so many games being piled together each week, the key is to try and avoid injuries with my pitchers." Combining non-baseball injuries along with tired arms, the first few weeks will no doubt be a challenge as the team learns the fundamentals and gels as a team.

Look for a scrappy team ready to do battle with a lot of pop in the bats! Coach Venegas, Kennicutt and Roselli are very impressed with the athleticism seen so far.

Routt Roofing Owlz vs. River Bandits

The first game of the week this Saturday April 21, 2012 will be a "Barn Burner"  the Game kicks off at 7pm at Bartholomew Sports Complex on the Babe Ruth Diamond.  Below we post the comments of Coach Rick Venegas of the Routt Roofing Owlz and then the comments of Mazda of Elk Grove River Bandits Coach Kurt  Thornton.  Pictures are being gathered at this time and will be posted with the Coach summaries.  Your Announcer for this first game will be long time Elk Grove Babe Ruth Manager, and a former player, Mike Steele.  Singing the National Anthem will Be Beavers Assistant Coach Donny Penney, also a former EGBR player.