BrewCrew Defeat Tampa Thunder to Get to 1-0

Zach O'Dell made his first start as a member of the BrewCrew in the US Adult Baseball World Series against the Tampa Thunder. The Thunder had not lost this season on way to four championships in 2018. But today would not be their day. The THunder struck quickly, getting to O'Dell for two in the first. O'Dell then settled in and only allowed one more run through the end of the game. 

Trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the BrewCrew magic started. Back-to-back walks by Kenny West and Troy Miller set the table for the top of the order. Andrew Clow had an RBI double and Zach Nadolny followed that up with a two run single to tie the game. In the seventh, the BrewCrew started the tournament with a walk-off. 

Scott Merkel lead off with a triple. Three batters later Justin Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to win the game. The 1-0 start puts the BrewCrew into position to have a leg up on Tampa to advance. Next up is the 1-0 Charlotte Red Sox.

BrewCrew Smoke Charlotte, Move to 2-0

After the thrilling victory over Tampa Thunder, the momentum continued. Not even a two run homerun in the first off starter EJ Nadolny could halt the BrewCrew train. The BrewCrew jumped on the Charlotte starter with four in the second. Troy Miller and Scott Merkel had two run singles in the inning. 

Charlotte responded with a run of their own in the third, but the BrewCrew scored six in the bottom half to open up to a 10-3 lead. Merkel had two more RBIs as well as Andrew Clow and Justin Anderson in the inning. But the scoring would not stop. In the end, the BrewCrew won 15-3. Scott Merkel lead the team with three hits. 

The BrewCrew are sitting at 2-0 with one more game today. Another win would push the 'Crew into the semis on Sunday, even with two pool play games to go.

Devecchio Dominates Drillers to Push BrewCrew into Semis

After winning the first two games of the day, the BrewCrew found themselves in a game with the Tidewater Drillers. Win and advance the games tomorrow do not matter because they will have advanced to the semi-finals on Sunday. Lose and they will need to win both games tomorrow and need help. 

But there was no need to worry about losing, becuase Mike Devecchio was dominant. He did not allow a baserunner till the fifth and that was an error. That guy ended up being the only run to cross for the Drillers. The BrewCrew scored two runs in the first inning when Scott Merkel had a leadoff double. He was hit in by Zach Nadolny. He later scored on an error off the bat of Dre Jones. Jones later knocked in an insurance run after the Drillers scored their run in the sixth. 

Now that the BrewCrew are 3-0, they have advanced to the semi finals. They will play two games tomorrow to determine if they are the one or two seed.

BrewCrew Stay Hot by Slaughtering Pioneers

After a perfect Friday going 3-0, the BrewCrew had clinched birth in the semi-finals of the 12-team US World Series for second straight year. To clinch the number one seed of their pool, the BrewCrew needed to win one of their two Saturday games. BrewCrew starter Jason Christenberry threw a complete game shutout to continue the Pioneers' struggles in the World Series. The Pioneers had been slaughtered in their first three games and that streak continued as well. 

Back-to-back-to-back hits by Andrew Clow, Zach Nadolny and Justin Anderson resulted in three runs for the BrewCrew in the first inning. Bandzwolek's two-run double in the second pushed the lead to 4-0 in the second. Four runs in the third put the game out of reach at 9-0. In the sixth, Clow singled home Scott Merkel to reach the slaughter-rule. Clow and Bandzwolek lead the offense with three RBIs apiece. 

The win clinched the #1 seed for the BrewCrew. Next up is a rematch with the Annapolis Pirates. The last time that the BrewCrew met the Pirates was in the championship of the Chesapeake league where the Pirates defeated the BrewCrew.

BrewCrew Finish Pool Play Undefeated by Defeating Pirates

In a game that the BrewCrew did not need to win to reach the next round, but a win they need to prove their position in the state of Maryland, the BrewCrew sent Dan Rogers to the mound. Rogers had previously pitched for the BrewCrew in the York Colonial Tounament, finishing with 2.2 innings and no runs allowed. Rogers started the game, the same way that he left off in YYork, with two scoreless innings. 

In the bottom of the second, the BrewCrew jumped out in front with an RBI single by Rogers to score Matt Gabrielski. Mike Devecchio then had a sacrifice fly to score Johnny Bandzwolek. Finally Rogers scored on a hit by Steve Cooke to take the 3-0 lead. The Pirates got to Rogers in the third, with six runs and thfour earned. Scoring fell silent till the bottom of the fifth when the BrewCrew scored four runs to take the lead. The rally was highlighted by singles from Andy Welling, Kevin Kopas and Mike Dececchio. 

The Pirates responded with a rally in the sixth, scoring a run to tie the game. But the BrewCrew responded in the bottom half with hits by Troy Miller, A. Welling, Thirst Dantuano, and Matt Gabrielski consecutively. Then errors were the downfall of the Pirates. The seven run inning put the BrewCrew up 14-7. Scott Merkel threw the final two innings. 

The 5-0 record for the BrewCrew sets them up for a semi-final showdown with the Greensboro Yard Goats. Last year, the BrewCrew defeated the Yard Goats twice, both close games, including the 2017 semi0final of the World Sereis.

BrewCrew's Late Rally Puts them Over the Yard Goats in Semis

The Baltimore BrewCrew and Greensboro Yard Goats found themselves in a familiar situation at te 2018 US World Series. In 2017, the BrewCrew had defeated the Yard Goats behind a stellar pitching performance of Stephen Cooke to advance to the championship. This year, the setup was the same for the BrewCrew. Stephen Cooke is on the mound, for the first time since going 2-0 at the York Colonial the month before. 

Yard Goats got on the board first after the lead off batter walked in the first. A relay from Scott Merkel to Andrew Clow cut down the second run of the inning. But the BrewCrew answered back. Scott Merkel reached on a walk to open the bottom of the first. Andrew Clow reached on an error. Zach Nadolny followed up with a sacrifice fly. Justin Anderson and Ryan Welling's singles added gave the BrewCrew a 2-1 lead. 

In the fifth, the Yard Goats knotted up the game, once again by walks. Then in the sixth, the Yard Goats rallied against Cooke. Once again the rally was centered around walks. Zach O'Dell relieved Steve Cooke with one out, bases loaded, down 4-2. O'Dell escaped by only allowing one run. O'Dell's ability to bounce back from a complete game victory over the Tampa Thunder two dayys before, the BrewCrew bounced back. Consecutive hits by Justin Anderson, Ryan Welling, and Dre Jones scored four runs and took the 6-5 lead. Back-to-back doubles by Merkel and Clow in the 8th extended our lead to 6-5 going into the 9th. ODell continued to mow batters down, finishing the final 3.2 innings with no runs allowed. 

Next up for the BrewCrew, is a rematch from the first game of the tournament against the Tampa Thunder in the championship.

Heartbreak Strikes Baltimre, as BrewCrew lose 10-9 in 'Ship

BrewCrew Championship Starer Stephen Cooke took the mound. In the semi-final earlier in the day, Cooke had struggled with his control. Manager EJ Nadolny felt that Cooke's experience would give the BrewCrew the best chance to win. Cooke's control appeared to still be a problem in the early going but he escaped the first two innings with only one round allowed. Cooke's competitive spirit allowed the BrewCrew some time to battle back. 

In the third, Cooke left down 2-0 and gave way to Christenberry. Christenberry struggled his way through the third and into the fourth before Zach O'Dell stepped up to stop the bleeding. When O'Dell entered the game, the BrewCrew were down 9-1 and did not look to have much hope. But a shutout inning by O'Dell in the fifth game the 'Crew some energy. Troy Miller and Andy Welling started the inning with singles. Andrew Clow helped the BrewCrew breakthrough with his second and third RBIs of the game to make the game 9-3. Later in the inning, Ryand Welling singled home another run and Dre Jones drove in another. The comeback was on. 

O'Dell exited after two shutout innings. Justin Anderson entered in the sixth. Anderson proved to be excellent, with two shutout innings of his own. The bottom of the sixth started the same as te fifth, with singles by Miller and A. Welling. Clow knocked in another run, followed by RBI hits by Zach Nadolny, Anderson, and R. Welling (double) to tie the gmae at 9-9. After the 7th, R. Welling came into pitch. 

The game remained tied through the 7th and 8th till Tampa rallied to tie take the lead. Miller lead off the bottom of the ninth with a hit for the third time in the game but it was not enough as the Thunder dogpiled and took home the US World Series Championship. 

Each Scott Merkel, Zach Nadolny, Justin Anderson, and Ryan Welling had two hits in the game. Troy MIller and Andy Welling had three hits to lead the BrewCrew comeback that fell just barely short. Once again, the BrewCrew fell just short. Like in 2017, the BrewCrew lost by one, scored in a late inning rally.