Warriors Lose Chance at League Crown

The Resurrection Life Warriors split a doubleheader this week and lost any chance at a league title for the 2010 season. The 13-3 defeat to Wooddale Classic gave Classic a three-game lead in the loss column. The Warriors did bounce back with a resounding 17-1 victory over St. Andrew Red in game two to salvage a split.

The bats just couldn't get it going in game one as Classic did what it does with two runs here and three runs there, eventually ending the game on a three-run walk-off homerun in the bottom of the fifth via ten-run rule.

Rez scored two in the first as Tim Jandro reached on an error and sub Jason Merritt singled to put two on for Austin Colby who flew out to the wall advancing both runners. Eric Johnson singled to plate Tim and Adam Hey lofted a sacrifice fly to score Jason. Logan Brincefield singled to keep the inning alive but Aaron Beintema grounded into a forceout to end the frame.

Classic tied it up in the bottom of the first with two runs. Classic had just one hit in the inning as three walks and an error allowed the two runs to score.

In the top of the second Rez scored one more as Lee Valle singled with one out, advanced to second on a throwing error and to third on Bryan Christensen's groundout. Tim lifted a sac fly to plate Lee. Classic had its only scoreless inning in the bottom of the second so the Warriors took a 3-2 lead into the third inning.

The third inning started promising as Austin and Eric both reached to start things. With one out, Logan singled and pinch-runner Jason nearly scored on the play but was narrowly gunned down at the plate. A flyout ended the inning. Classic pounced on the momentum and put three runs on the board to take a 5-3 lead after three. Two walks and three singles pushed the runs across.

Things got worse in the fourth as Rez went down in order and Classic had its biggest inning of the night with five runs to push its lead to 10-3 after four frames. Classic's bats finally got going in the fourth, ripping out seven hits and using one error to plate the runs.

The Warriors continued to struggle offensively and went down one, two, three again. The bats made seven consecutive outs to end the game. Wooddale made quick work in the fifth to end the game going single, double, three-run homer to end the game.

Logan Brincefield earns Player of the Game honors with two of the team's six hits. He also chased down both flyballs hit his way in left field.

Game two was a complete turn-around for the Warriors' bats. Of course, playing against St. Andrew Red's defense certainly helped. Manager Colby shuffled the game two lineup quite a bit putting Lee and Adam in the one-two holes. They responded as Lee reached base and scored all four times in the game. Adam roped out two extra-base-hits and drove home five runs. The two of them shared Player of the Game honors for their top-of-the-order efforts.

Rez scored five runs in the first inning to start things. Lee singled and after Adam's groundout, Logan singled to push Lee to third base. Jeff Johnson got in on the action with an rbi single and Aaron followed with a walk to load the bases. Bryan lined out to the pitcher for the second out and Tim laced a two-run single. Eric followed with two-rbi double to clear the bases and Austin flew out to right to end the inning.

Red's offense was pitiful the entire game and the Warriors' defense was solid and Red managed just one run, occurring in the final frame on an error and a couple of singles.

Rez added to its five-run lead in the second with two more runs. With one out, Lee walked and jogged home on Adam's big two-run homer. Jeff and Aaron both reached base later but were stranded. After Red's quick inning, the Warriors had another five-run outburst in the third. After one out, Eric, Austin and Jason all singled to score one. Lee hit a sac fly which was dropped allowing him to score while plating Austin. Adam followed with a sac fly to score Jason. Logan tripled to plate Lee and Jeff followed with a double to the wall to cap the scoring.

In the top of the fourth, Rez Life scored five runs for the third time in the game to push its lead to 17-0. Bryan walked to start the inning and moved to third on Tim's double. Eric flew out and Austin doubled to score Bryan. Jason doubled to score Austin and Tim to make it 15-0. Lee singled and Adam lined another deep blast, this one off the wall, to score Jason and Lee and end the scoring.

The split put Rez's record at 9-5 going into its last doubleheader of the year against EPAG and Immanuel. Rez needs a sweep to keep its hopes of second place alive. The games are at 5:50 and 6:50 on field #2.