IRON MEN OF CHARLOTTE TAKE 18A CITRUS CHAMPIONSHIP

The Charlotte Astros of the NABA’s Charlotte, North Carolina league came to South Florida with only ten players, but won the 18A championship in the seventh annual Citrus Classic Wood Bat Tournament.

The Astros out slugged the Dutchess Dodgers, made up primarily of players from the NABA Palm Beach, Florida league 17-13 at the Santaluces Complex in Lantana, FL on Martin Luther King Jr Day, January 21.

After nipping the Dodgers 6-5 in their final pool game, the Astros took pool championship honors. The Astros, Dodgers and Culver City Leones (Palm Beach league) all had 2-1 records. The Leones were eliminated because they allowed the most runs (20) among the three teams, and the Astros won a head to head meeting over the Dodgers to clinch the top seed and home advantage in the title game.

In the championship, Charlotte scored four runs in the second inning, three of them on a bases clearing double by Jeff Ronan, to take a 4-1 lead. After the Dodgers tallied twice to make it 4-3, the North Carolinians exploded for five runs in the fourth, three in the fifth and five more runs in the sixth to take a lead 17-6 after six innings.

Key hits included Ryan Pflum’s two run double to highlight the Astros’ fourth. Charlie Pflum had an RBI single in both the fourth and fifth innings, then a two single in the 6th. Jim Berger also had a two run single in the fifth. Charlie Pflum and Berger led a 17 hit attack with three hits apiece.

The Dodgers made the score respectable by scoring seven runs in the last two innings. Manager Rob Wiley, who walloped a two run homer in the sixth inning, drove in another with a single in the 8th, and added a third hit in the ninth. Wiley and Perry Menschel had three hits apiece, as the Dodgers collected fifteen in a losing cause.

Ryan Pflum earned Most Valuable Player honors and earned the victory in relief of starter Ronan in the third inning. Brian Fitzsimmons was tagged with the loss. Dodgers’ left fielder Cody Lei won the Gold Glove Award with a diving catch of a line drive headed for extra bases in the sixth.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME BOX SCORE
123 456 789 R H E
DUTCHESS DODGERS 012 012 034 13 15 4
CHARLOTTE ASTROS 040 535 00x——–17 17 3

DODGERS (13) AB R H BI BB SO ASTROS (17) AB R H BI BB SO
Max Johnson 5 1 1 0 1 2 Jason Love 5 1 1 1 0 2
Billy Brescia 5 2 1 1 1 0 Bill Maslin 4 1 2 0 0 0
Brian Fitzsimmons 4 3 2 2 2 1 Atsushi Suyama 4 1 1 1 1 0
Rob Wiley 5 3 3 3 1 1 Anthony Gardzielik 5 1 2 0 0 3
Perry Menschel 5 0 3 3 1 2 Jim Berger 5 2 3 2 0 0
Dwayne Cabral 3 2 2 0 1 1 Mike Riley 3 4 1 0 2 1
Marty Breeden 2 0 0 0 0 1 Ryan Pflum 4 3 2 2 1 1
Keith Buck 5 0 1 0 1 0 Charlie Pflum 5 2 3 4 0 1
Cody Lei 5 0 1 0 0 2 Matt Flanagan 4 2 0 1 0 2
Pedro Medina 2 0 0 0 0 1 Jeff Ronan 4 0 2 3 0 0
Alex Palayo 1 2 1 0 0 0 TOTALS 43 17 17 14 4 10
TOTALS 42 13 15 9 8 11

Left-Dodgers 12 Astros 7 2B-Brescia, Wiley, Ronan 3B-None HR-Wiley (one on, 6th)
Hit by Pitch-Riley (by Brescia), Palayo (by Ronan)
WP-Jiminian 2, Prieto 2

Dodgers IP H R ER BB SO TIGRES IP H R ER BB SO
Fitzsimmons (L) 4 9 9 3 1 4 Ronan 2 2 3 3 5 1
Brescia 4 8 8 8 3 6 Ryan Pflum (W) 7 13 10 9 3 10

Managers-Rob Wiley (Dodgers); Bill Maslin (Astros)
MVP-Ryan Pflum (Astros) Gold Glove-Cody Lei (Dodgers)
Umpires-Pat Nie (P); Victor Cruz (B) Time: 3:04
 

Reported by Lou Palmer