[jaa36]

What was I saying about it being better to be lucky than good? Against all odds, the Bryant Warriors mounted a remarkable comeback from a 2-0 deficit against the Crestmont Bobcats to win the TBL Championship Series in six games. The Warriors were all over the place on the base paths, stealing 19 bases and getting caught only twice against hapless Bobcats catcher Hideaki Ando, a former Warrior himself. B.J. Pallister was named series MVP after collecting 11 hits in 23 at-bats.

Game one: Bobcats 4, Warriors 0. Aiden Montpetit held the Warriors just just five baserunners in a complete-game shutout. Meanwhile, the Bobcats scored a run in the third and three in the fifth to chase Nadif Awuah.

Game two: Bobcats 2, Warriors 0. This time it was C.J. Welch's turn to shut out the Warriors. Welch only went six innings, but he and three relievers again allowed only five baserunners. A single by Hideaki Ando and a home run by Randy Burton accounted for Crestmont's scoring. The Warriors headed back to Bryant in a 2-0 hole, having scored zero runs in two games.

Game three: Warriors 7, Bobcats 3. Former Warrior Tatu Niemela walked four and hit a batter in the third to stake Bryant to a 3-0 lead; Niemela ended up walking seven total before departing in the fifth. Home runs by Reiji Kono and Murtagh Pettijohn helped the Warriors tack on four more runs, and the bullpen helped Rocky Long complete a somewhat tough outing. B.J. Pallister had three hits on the day. At least the Warriors wouldn't be swept!

Game four: Warriors 2, Bobcats 1. Hideaki Ando doubled in a run in the third as the Bobcats took the lead off Kyoshi Anno. Colton Sapp singled in a run off Julen Flores to tie the score in the fifth, and a double by Kono put the Warriors ahead in the next inning. Anno provided five solid innings, and Braden Hammel, Roddie Tirado and Josiah Willis held the Bobcats scoreless the rest of the way as the Warriors tied up the series. Willis made things exciting in the ninth, allowing the tying run to reach third on a wild pitch before freezing Sebastien Paoli on a 97-mph fastball. Now all we had to was find a way to beat Montpetit and Welch!

Game five: Warriors 5, Bobcats 4. Nadif Awuah allowed three runs in the first, helped along by a crucial error by Luis Del Rosario, and things looked pretty bleak against the dominant Montpetit. But the Bobcats chipped away, with a solo homer by Del Rosario in the fourth, a single by Pettijohn in the sixth, and a game-tying homer by J.R. Cody in the seventh. With Montpetit gone, ace reliever Sherman Martin walked Pallister, who stole second, moved to third on a throwing error by Ando, and scored on a passed ball to give Bryant the lead! Del Rosario followed up with another walk, stole second himself, and then advanced to score on two fly balls. With Tirado gassed from his efforts the last two days, rookie Luka Polson came on with a two-run lead, and gave up one but struck out Burton to send the Warriors back to Crestmont needing only one win for the championship!

Game six: Warriors 5, Bobcats 1. Pallister started the game off with a solo home run, and Pettijohn and Colton Sapp drove in two more runs to put the Warriors up 3-0 after two innings. Al Rendon was terrific, holding the Crestmont bats scoreless over five innings. Pallister added two more hits and stole two bases as the Warriors added two additional runs. Tirado took the mound to squelch a rally in the eighth, and then struck out the final two batters in the ninth (Ando and David Merkel) looking to give the Warriors their second championship!!!