CRUISERS PLAY BIG LEAGUE DREAMS
Feb. 25, 2001

Cathedral City, CA -The Madden Cruisers packed the sticks, loaded the bus, and headed on a roady to the desert this past weekend. This tournament was organized by Brian Killeen of PSTS in Huntington Beach. The Cruisers requested to play in the E-level rather than the Rec league, despite the fact they've never won a tournament. Was it to be???

FenwayPark - Game 1.

Game one saw the Cruisers take on a powerful team out of Los Angeles, by the name of Nobody's Biz. The squad had bombers 1-10, giving the Cruisers a run right from the beginning. Team Madden lost the toss and was forced to play on the road for this diddy. The team jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead courtesy of some Sac flies, and key singles. Nobody's biz quickly responded with four of their own after an error-filled bottom of the first. Uncharacteristically, slick fielding infielders Nick Cantu & Vinny Lauretta made errors.

Nobody's Biz took advantage and built a 13-7 lead through three innings. The top half of the 4th, the Cruisers began the tough road back. The team strung together a few five singles and some walks to plate five runs. The defense clutched up in the bottom half of the inning holding Nobody's Biz to one run.

With a tight game going into the 6th, The Cruisers stayed in the game, as Andy Solis broke out of his tournament slump and hit a two run home run to tie the game. Nobody's Biz retook the lead by plating a run in the bottom half of the inning.

The Cruisers were in the precarious position of needing to plate enough runs to not only take the lead, and hold off the top of a big hitting line-up. After a leadoff strike out by Chad Bickley, John Rodriquez & Jason Sullivan both got on via the Single. The clutch Nick Cantu stepped into the box and drilled a three run homerun to opposite field to give the Cruisers their first lead since the top of the first. The next two batters got out, making sure that the Cruisers needed to come up big.

After plating one run, on one out, Nobody's Biz was able to get the tying run to third base with one out, and the number three hitter up. Dude quickly lined out to cantu at third base, bringing up the cleanup hitter, who already had two home runs on the day. Sullivan proceeded to pitch around him, pushing the go-ahead run to second, but facing a much weaker left handed stick on deck. The strategy worked as the lefty grounded out to second base to end the game. "I was just happy to redeem myself. This game was huge!!!" said Vinny lauretta.

This win sent the Cruisers on to Yankee Stadium to face Sathers Insurance. The Cruisers have historically had a difficult time in tournament game two's. In the years 2000 & 2001, the Cruisers are 1-4 in tournament game twos. Obviously there is a curse that has settled on to the team, and this game proved that BIG TIME. Sathers quickly jumped out to a 7-3 lead through two innings. Andy Solis' two run home run in the bottom of the second provided some of the runs.

Three Big Sticks

In a low scoring affair, the Cruisers methodically cut at the lead, putting a few runs on the board at a time. Combined with some STELLAR defense, the Cruisers were able to take a 9-7 lead into the top half of the seventh inning. This, is when the curse decided to rear it's ugly head. Sathers was able to score a run, and also record the first out rather quickly. Sathers than had a runner reach first base via the single. The next hitter promptly grounded to SS Bickley who tagged second and tossed over to first to end the game. First baseman Tony Catania dropped the ball to keep the game rolling. Still, with the tying run stranded at first base, the Cruisers were not dead. The next hitter quickly hit a carrying line-drive to Left Field. Rodriquez, came in and snagged the ball, which the 'curse' quickly grabbed, and popped it ouf of his glove. This allowed the tying run to cross the plate... All was not lost, as the next batter popped out, giving the Cruisers a good chance at the win.

A bitter Catania came to the plate ready to make amends. He hit a sharp chopper over the pitchers head, that was gathered by the SS, and threw him out by a hair. Tim Wilson then stepped in the box and hit a POWERFUL line drive, right at the first baseman for the second out. Solis came up, and also hit a BIGTIME line-drive... but right at the Short Stop.

With victory in hand, the Cruisers were now flat as could be. Sathers took advantage, and the bats finally woke up. The team was able to plate five runs, and take a commanding lead. The bottom of the line-up stepped in for the Cruisers and could not deliver. Sathers walked away with a big 14-10 win... or maybe I should say they were GIVEN a big 14-10 win. Regardless, to the losers bracket the Cruisers went...

With the air out of the balloon, the Cruisers needed to regroup and focus back on the goal at hand. VICTORIES. With a game at Fenway, and a game at Yankee stadium, the team really wanted to complete the tri-fecta and play on Wrigley. A win here would do it. And a win is what they got. The team headed out on the road to play a minor league game at Des Moines Field. Clutch hitting by the club, headed by Soles von Soles himself brought the Cruises the W, and a trip to Wrigley. Soles belted two big home runs, and drove in 6 runs in a 3-3 performance vs. Jamaica Me Tan.

The Cruisers continued up the losers bracket, and got their wish to play in Wrigley. Low and behold, who was to be the opponent, but non-other than Nobody's Biz. This team just got down spanking Aupois, one of PSTS best E level teams, by a count of 33-12. Revenge was surely on the mind, as the Cruisers snuck out of the first game with a big victory. Both teams' bats started off cool, but the Cruisers were able to build an 8-3 lead through three innings.

The final inning was filled with controversy however, as Nobody's Biz was able to load the bases. The number nine hitter came up and BELTED what looked to be a grandslam home run that would have made it a one run game with no outs. However, the umpire called the ball live after he thought it hit the bricks rather than the crowd. The Cruises were able to get the ball back in, and hold Nobody's Biz to two runs. The next batter struck out swinging, for the first out. Then, the leadoff hitter came up and hit a BOMB to left-Center. Andy Solis, about charging the wall stuck his glove out, about a foot from the wall, opened his eyes, and saw that the ball was in his glove. He quickly relayed the ball back in to second base, where pitcher Jason sullivan threw it to first base for the game ending double play. The Cruisers held on to the slim 15-11 win.

This brought us to the 6pm game and a shot at redemption for Sathers Insurance. In an uncharacterisitc move, Sathers won the coin toss, but elected to take the sticks rather than the field. The move looked like it was going to backfire, as they were held to zero runs in the top of the first. The Cruisers then jumped on Sathers by plating four quick runs. With only one out, and men on second and third, Andy Solis came up and lined into a double play to the short stop to end the inning. "Damn line outs killed us!!" said John Rodriquez.

Sathers then responded with 9 runs over the next two innings to take the lead. With five runs of their own in the bottom of the 3rd, the Cruisers were able to tie the game.

Team Photo

The Game remained close going into the 6th inning at 13 a piece. However, Sathers bats continued to stay hot, and they were able to plate seven big runs. The hot hitting Cruisers tried to make a charge, but went down quickly. Sathers plated two more run s in the top of the 7th to take a big nine-run lead. The Cruisers could only manage three runs, and were sent home after a long day. Line-outs killed the ball club in this game, as nine of the 21 outs came courtesy of HARD line-drives. "What can you do? They flat out beat us. Usually we give away games when we lose... but on this night, they flat out beat us. Really, we gotta be happy with our showing. We came up to a tough level, as a fairly young tourney team, and played with the big boys. We'll give it a run next time. We are knocking on the door." said Manager Dan Romero.

Tournament MVP honors were shared by Andy Solis, John Rodriquez & Nick Cantu. The three players came up big on this day, helping the team stay alive through the day.