We had another great Sunday of LMBL Championship Final baseball at Dan Pulham Memorial Field on Sept 21.
The tunes were pumping, grill was churning, and the action was fast as all six teams contending for their respective title came to play on this day!
With the pending weather forecast predicting some late day
dampness - the start times of all three finals were moved up in order to avoid
any issues. This meant some special
beverages were on hand to help the BBQ crew through the early rise. Let's get 'er going!
Kicking off the day was my favorite matchup - and the newly
minted Tigers team - who were comprised of 12 new-to-the-league players with 3 returnees - taking on last years B Consolation Champion Mets. Both teams pulled out underdog semi-final
wins to arrive on Championship Sunday - and they didn't disappoint. The upstart Tigers jumped out to a 7-0 lead
in the 3rd inning, but in true LMBL fashion - no lead is safe! The Mets put up 5 runs in the bottom of the
third to climb back into it. The Tigers
continued to put pressure on the Mets, extending their lead to 9-5 in the 6th,
but again the resilient Mets didn't give up, and clawed to within one run by
scoring 3 in the bottom of the 6th. The
Tigers were unable to tack on any runs in the top of the 7th, which left them
heading into the bottom of the final inning clinging to a 1-run advantage. In the bottom of the inning, the lead-off
hitter was retired - leaving the Mets down to their final two outs. The next batter was Super Serge - who hit a
hot shot to third and was able to hustle it out to reach second on a throwing
error - the tying run was in scoring position!
Next up, the veteran Jeff Green was able to reach safely on a ground
ball to 2nd base, advancing Serge to 3rd on the play. Next up was league newcomer Jared Vint - who
promptly scorched a liner to right field - TIE GAME! Greener advanced to third on the play. Then up to bat came Jacob Keitel - who was
already having a hot day at the plate - so things didn't look good for the
fledgling Tigers! After getting in a
hole with a 1-2 count, Keitel managed to get a hold of a fastball that caught a
little too much of the plate - and stroked a solid single oppo to left field -
scoring Greener and handing the Mets their second B Consolation Championship in
as many years. Congrats - and enjoy another TShirt fellas!
Next up was the B Championship Final – which had the last
seasons basement dwelling Dodgers – who turned things around in 2025 – facing the
top-seeded B division contenders - the Brewers.
This was a back and forth affair for most of the day. This game ended up being a test of pitching
depth – and after 7 complete the game was deadlocked at 7 – meaning we were headed for extra innings! In the top of the 8th
– the Dodgers put up two runs on an error and hard-hit single by returning
veteran Mike Piccolo. But not to get outdone
– the Brewers didn’t roll over – and with two out in the bottom of the 8th,
Justin Diotte hit a single to centre that cashed Seed and Badder to knot things
back up at 9 after 8 complete. Brandon Campbell came in to toe the rubber in the top of the ninth for the Brew Crew, and was able to work some magic – not allowing
any runs while facing only 4 batters. In
the bottom of the inning, the Brewers were able to load the bases after a
couple of hits and a hit-by-pitch. With
arms becoming weary, and a 2-0 count – another pitch got away from Piccolo and
plunked Scott Dunlop – crediting Dunlop with the B Championship winning RBI
hit-by-pitch! A tough way to end a great
game – but hey – it’s an over 30 mens league game – what can we expect?!? 😊
Congrats to the Brewers on getting back to the podium!
And in the grand finale of the A Championship game, the Blue
Jays found themselves the number one seed in their return to the finals,
this year taking on the strong contending Expos. This was a pitching dual from start to finish. Workhorse Jordan Satchell got the start for the
Expos, while Ben Ficht got the call for the Jays. This was a well-played game, with the Jays having
a few more timely hits than the Expos – who couldn’t string together anything
on the offensive side of the ball on this day.
Some strategic pitching decisions by the Jays helped limit the Expos to
3 hits and zero runs, and allowed the Jays to walk away with a well-played 4-0
Championship Final win! Congrats!
Thanks to all who showed up, supported the BBQ, and caught
some of this fantastic action on the final Sunday of 2025.
As we packed up after another long and
successful day, we were reminded on what a great decision was made by our Executive
Leadership Group to adjust the final game schedules in consideration of the
pending rainstorm – as we NARROWLY avoided this catastrophe that opened up on the
drive home from the park! Whew!
See you all back for 2026!