Los Angeles Baseball League

Tigers Shine in Field

In a game dominated by highlights for both teams, the Tiger defense turned out to be the key in a first-round playoff game at Roybal.

The Cats started master knuckleballer, Don Bixby, (creator of the Corkscrew Knuckler) and he knew he had to be good since the Sharks countered with ace Zach Reeder. Bixby did the job, the Tigers clinging to a 1-0 lead heading into the 5th. Stellar defense aided the Tiger hurler, highlighted by an incredible field and throw of a ground ball behind the second base bag by Brian Reaber, nailing Luis Meza by a step at first. Brian Vick also kept the Sharks at bay with a running grab at his knees of a sinking liner to right. Sean Donnellan made more than one tough dig at first to secure outs.

The Tigers finally broke through in the 5th, scoring four with an RBI single from Reaber, an RBI double from Marks and a two RBI single from Troy Combs.

They added to the lead in the 6th with RBIs from Allen Wilson, Rudy Beltran and Tim O'Hair, building the lead to eight.

But the Sharks launched their own attack in the bottom of the frame, knocking Bixby out of the box with 5 hits, a walk and Tiger error. The Cats summoned Rich Thorne to get them out of the jam. With the tying runs on for the Sharks, George Rannie (who'd already singled to start the rally) launched a bomb up the left center alley, sure to clear the bases and tie the score.

But centerfielder Chris Bishop made the most stunning catch that this manager has seen in his 10 years in the league, Bishop seeming to fly horizontally as he caught the ball fully extended before crashing to the turf--and holding onto the ball. The rally was stopped, but the Sharks were back in the game.

The Tigers pushed the lead to three in the top of the 7th on a clutch single by Jerry Aebi and another RBI double by Stefan Marks (who went 4/4).

Thorne worked well the rest of the game, refusing to let the Sharks get back into it. The 9th confirmed that it was the Cats' day... a lead-off pop-up popped out of Thorne's glove, right into the waiting hands of Vic Acosta. The final out was another spectacular play, almost unnoticed because of the previous great defense, a running catch by O'Hair of a seemingly un-catchable slicing fly ball to right.

The Tigers move on and as they do would like to tip their cap to Steven Fernandez and the Sharks for giving them a tremendous battle and for being a class opponent.

Date: August 24, 2014     Time: 9:30am      Venue: Roybal Learning Center