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2011 State Tournament Results:[star of game]

Friday July 8th, 7:30pm

K1: Fairbanks Cubs - 2 v BGES Bobcats - 0  [C. Falke, J. Wedge](Game 1)

K3: Fairview Pirates - 7 v Anchorage A’s - 2 [D. Walker, O. Cabrera](G2)

K4: Fairbanks Pirates - 2 v Platinum Hornets - 3 [J. Hart](G3)

Chad Bax: Eielson Ice Men - 9 v Flyers - 0 [drivers](G5)

Saturday July 9th, 10:00am

K1: Spenard United - 12 v Steve’s Sports Bar - 11 (G4)

K3: Fairbanks White Sox - 4 v Fairview Pirates - 3 [J. Lapp, J. Boring](G7)

K4: Alaska Cubs - 2 v Fairbanks Cubs - 3 [R. Shaver, J. Johnson](G6)

Bax: SouthCentral Titans - 13 v Eielson Ice Men - 3 [K. Wooster](G8)

Saturday July 9th, 1:00pm

K1: Platinum Hornets - 7 v Spenard United - 2 [C. Cloud](G9)

K3: Fairbanks Pirates -11 v Steve's Sports Bar - 1 [K. Kosinski](G10)

K4: Flyers - 0 v Alaska Cubs - 9 [G. Bahn](G11)

Bax: BGES Bobcats -13 v Eielson Ice Men - 3 [I. Wheeles](G12)

Saturday July 9th, 4:00pm

K1: Anchorage A's - 9 v Spenard United - 11 [M.Lee](G13)

K3: Fairview Pirates - 8 v Fairbanks Pirates - 4 [D.Walker, J.Boring](G14)

K4: Fairbanks Cubs - 4 v Fairbanks White Sox - 2 [D. Baldwin](G15)

Saturday July 9th, 7:00pm

K1: BGES Bobcats - 9 v Spenard United - 8 [J. Wedge, R. Hepner](G18)

K3: Alaska Cubs - 4 v Fairview Pirates - 5 [M. Roberts, J. Meister](G17)

K4: SouthCentral Titans - 12 v Platinum Hornets - 0 [C. Ferreira] (G16)

Sunday July 10th, 10:00am

K1: Platinum Hornets - 8 v Fairview Pirates - 0 [G. Ballen, T. Reed](G19)

K3: Fairbanks White Sox - 5 v BGES Bobcats - 8 [J. Wedge](G20)

K4: Fairbanks Cubs - 5 v SouthCentral Titans - 2 [T. Jeffress, J. Johnson](G21)

Sunday July 10th, 12:00pm

K4: Platinum Hornets - 12 v BGES Bobcats - 0 [T. Harrison, J. Hart](G22)

Sunday July 10th, 2:00pm

K3: SouthCentral Titans - 12 v Platinum Hornets - 3 [M. Smith, K. Madden](G23)

Sunday July 10th, 4:30pm (approx) circa 5:30pm (actually)

The 2011 Alaska Tournament Team

Josh Boring

Chris Cole

Zack Durst

Christoph Falke

Charlton Ferreira

Jason Hart

Jason Henricks

J.J. Iverson

James Johnson

Min Lee

Jon Meister

Nick Nading

Taylor Nerland

Willie Paul

Taylor Reed

Matt Roberts

Ryan Shaver

Steve Shaver

Steve Shiffler

Mike Smith

Dean Walker

Jeremy Wedge

Ken Wooster

Tournament Gold Glove

Ricky Campbell - Fairbanks Cubs

Tournament Big Stick

Steve Shiffler - Fairbanks Cubs

Tournament MVP

Steve Shaver - Fairbanks Cubs

Alaska is one of the greatest places in the world to be a baseball player right now.  While most of the States are seeing a reduction in play, AK has been a pocket of baseball productivity - by sheer number, and by quality.  The 2011 State Tournament featured a larger field (13 teams) than ever before, and one of the most hotly contested, well executed, tournaments ever played at 61degrees North culminated in one of the most memorable finishes in the history of the local game.

Friday night the festivities kicked off at the beloved Kosinski Fields complex, and due to the scope of this tourney, at Chad Bax field as well.  While the Flyers had trouble setting the table for the road-wary Eielson Ice Men out at Bax, the upstart BGES Bobcats were letting the Fairbanks Cubs know exactly what kind of fight they had in store.  The remarkable Jeremy Wedge managed to hold Fairbanks’ top-hitting team to just a pair of scores, but longtime Fairbanks ace Christoph Falke (CG, 4H, OR, 4K) was equally up to the task - holding the hungry ‘Cats off the scoreboard altogether to secure a 2-0 tournament opening win.  Falke had added some personal risk to this most calculated run for Interior AK baseball, he’d made the long voyage from home with his wife expecting the couple’s third baby girl, but the gambit worked and Falke would be home in time for his ladies with one helluva story to tell.

The Fairbanks Pirates were likewise game, although their date was with the Platinum Hornets.  The defending champion (x4) Hornets would escape with the 3-2 victory but the eye opening result let Anchorage teams know early - they wouldn’t have Fairbanks to kick around any more.  The night’s loudest contest was the budding rivalry between the Anchorage A’s and Fairview’s Pirates tucked away on K3.  Fairview’s Dean Walker was absolute nails in opposition of the A’s rookie of the year frontrunner Austin Cassidy.  Both hurlers were sharp, issuing a combined two walks heading into the fateful final frames where it would be Walker and his Fairview defense that prevailed.  Ob Cabrera had a pair of inning ending, rally quashing, outfield assists at the plate, and then interrupted the call to the bullpen with a bases clearing double in the Pirates’ final ups to seal a 9-2 Fairview triumph.  As sweet as a Friday night victory may be, it’s important to keep the parking lot conferences short, as much remains to be settled bright and early on Saturday. 

Most players would say candidly that a tournament is a stupid format to settle anything as brilliantly elongated as a baseball season.  For such a protracted struggle to be punctuated by such a brutal snapshot of a ballclub can be so absurd that a club might set a goal within the goal.  Of course we’d all like to win everything, but failing that endeavor (as all but one must), what each team considers acceptable terms of departure can be negotiated, and in a whirlwind like the State Tourney the negotiations go hour to hour.  The dreaded 10AM first pitch awaited more than half the field on Saturday, a time that can be challenging for any ballplayer; but for a ballplayer on the road the precise demands of the game can be overwhelming.  Fairbanks teams made no such excuses and they came out early Saturday and continued making their collective statement.  The Eielson Ice Men caught the SouthCentral Titans with a big punch and then held the Titans close throughout much of the contest.  The sleeping giants would awake in plenty of time to secure the win behind the Cobra, Ken Wooster, but the Titans were the lone Anchorage team to deploy chutes in time to avert early disaster.  A groggy-eyed Spenard United fumbled their way to an 11-run 1st inning deficit against Steve’s Sports Bar, before Steve’s managed to look even sleepier in defending their 11spot.  Spenard would somehow come away with the win, having trailed 11-0, making the only domestic matchup of the morning a perplexing one.  The Alaska Cubs met the Fairbanks Cubs in the morning’s sexiest matchup - both clubs built from a who’s who of local legendaries, both clubs at or near the top of their respective cities standings year after year, and both clubs claiming ‘Cubs’.  It was at this early hour that Fairbanks unleashed their weapon-x, an asset that Anchorage hadn’t taken into account, the lack of ABL representation in Fairbanks this summer. 

Fairbanks, like any city of useful size, has always been well stocked with hitters.  But a dramatic uptick in the quality of pitching from the Jewel of the Interior was so omnipresent that it begged explanation.  The most plausible hypothesis: with the Fairbanks Gold Panners in a hiatus year from the largely collegiate/pro-level ABL, Fairbanks was free to return her top arms to the most local of representatives.  On Saturday morning, it was the golden gun of Ryan Shaver of the Fairbanks Cubs that brought about the reckoning.  Shaver, who has a very impressive championship ring from his AA title in the San Francisco Giants organization, has an even more impressive slide-piece that several of the game’s premier hitters would assess wistfully: ‘didn’t matter if you knew it was coming’.  Shaver’s doesn’t-matter-slider, in combination with a 90-scrapeing fastball and myriad other pro-tools, suppressed an Alaska Cubs lineup that hadn’t been held under six runs this season.  A Steve White RBI single (their second hit of the game) in the 4th knotted the contest at 1-1.  And in a bracket where the runs were deadly difficult to come by, J.J. Iverson’s RBI rap in the top of the final frame looked to spoil what was an inarguably masterful start by Shaver.  But down to their last gasp, Fairbanks front man (and a guy who’s done more for inter-city baseball than anyone) Ricky Campbell would call for #44 - perhaps the most storied hitter in the history of the local game, the legendary James Johnson.  For two decades the most recognizable face of Interior AK baseball, it would be Johnson who would walk to the dish representing the hopes of Fairbanks entire, and it would again be Johnson who did not disappoint.  Down to his final strike, Fairbanks’ equivalent of Ty Rollins (their Greatest of All Time) calmly flipped a humpback liner into left, just a hair above the outstretched glove of the shortstop to tie the game and absolutely electrify the Kosinski Baseball Complex.  Johnson’s ultra-clutch knock re-knotted the game at 2-2 and breathed new life into Fairbanks’ best title hope this century.  With the game now in extra innings, Ryan Shaver wasted no time getting his supercharged team back into the batter’s box, punching out the side in the top of the inning so that his older brother Steve could lead off the bottom of the frame.  After working the count full, the long, lean, lefty-swinging Steve Shaver ripped a wall-shot into right and then circled bags with such quickness as to easily make third.  A leadoff triple in the bottom of extra innings doesn’t provide the opposition much beyond the chance to try out the six-man infield.  And with just a pair of Alaska Cubs in the outfield, Fairbanks Cubs rookie shortstop Steve Shiffler would take a 2-2 offering opposite field, where little could have been done about it with any defensive alignment, to give Fairbanks the historic 3-2 walk-off win. 

The Fairview Pirates had negotiated with themselves the reasonable goal of advancing to Championship Sunday for the first time in team history, and in turn being able to debut their new ‘Sunday Blacks’ uniform at local baseball’s most furious festival.  All they needed to clinch Sunday, having squeezed by the Anchorage A’s on Friday, was a win on Saturday morning.  A loss Saturday morning meant their decimated staff would have to miracle a pair of victories to reach Sunday, the second against a freshly agitated Alaska Cubs team that has historically handled Fairview like a little brother.  Knowing all of this, Fairview emptied the tank against the Fairbanks White Sox in the early Saturday game - and behind the artful pitching of Matt Roberts and Jon Meister, with the aide of a bomb from Josh Boring, Fairview found themselves with a 3-2 lead, just three outs from Sunday, having already damned the torpedoes.  But again Fairbanks’ players showed that their tank had taken a quantum leap in capacities, and it was the northernmost hero of last year’s tourney, the growing legend of Telly Robideau, that would have the last word in this pivotal battle.  Robideau coolly stroked a two-run single into left in his final AB that delivered his White Sox the winner’s bracket ride to Sunday on the back of a 4-3 win over a despondent Fairview club.  Fairview, who had caught nearly every bad break possible this season, and had even invented a few new ones along the way, were out of petrol and two unlikely wins from Sunday.  

The 1PM games on Saturday had the distinction of being the only set of games without an absolute classic among them in this most competitive of state tourneys.  The Eielson Ice Men dotted six BGES Bobcats, and concussed one, but could not dissuade them fightin’ ‘Cats from digging in and getting theirs.  Ian Wheeles led the charge, scoring in all four of his trips to the plate as the Bobcats goosed the Ice Men 13-3.  Steve’s Sports Bar has made a living troubling local piracy, but the Fairbanks Pirates were a less familiar set of swashbucklers.  This time Steve’s would only cough up a one-run lead as Kyle Kosinski’s 1st inning bomb was all the offense Steve’s Sports Bar could muster in an 11-1 loss.  Some Flyers courageously showed for this Tourney, but not enough to avoid the 9-0 TKO at the paws of the Alaska Cubs.  And evidence of how deeply the regular season can seep into tournament decisions: the Platinum Hornets deployed ace Colin Cloud to deal with a Spenard United team that had dealt them a significant pre-State blow on Thursday night.  While the call to Cloud might’ve raised some tactical questions for the black and yellow, managers Taylor Reed and Jeremy Wylie were in no mood to mess about with the United, a club that branched off from BGES last season.  And like their parent club, the United have made a reputation of playing well above their record in the big dances.  Cloud was sharp and the Hornets offense was buzzing in a 7-2 victory that clinched yet another Championship Sunday for the defending (x4) champs. 

4PM saw the only Fairbanks on Fairbanks crime of the entire Tournament, much to the chagrin of Fairbanks Cubs starter Davy Baldwin.  The veteran pitcher and pitching coach had done extensive research on the best free-baseball site in the game (alaskabaseball.org), even making laminated cards with scouting info on Anchorage hitters and pitchers to remind his teammates during their confrontations.  Preparation is never really wasted, and despite the start coming against a more familiar adversary - Baldwin would go the distance (CG, ER, 7K, 2BB) in a fantastic 4-2 victory over the Fairbanks White Sox.  The Anchorage A’s and Spenard United did a little jawboning and a lot of hitting in a back-and-forth struggle that ended with Spenard up 11-9 and winning themselves right to play for the fourth time on Saturday while the A’s could start their restful drinking.  The Pirates of Fairview and Fairbanks met on K3 in a nautical battle for Pirate supremacy, and as one Fairbanks second baseman was gracious enough to point out, Fairview “got lucky.”  The Fairbanks Pirates were none to subtle a reminder of how the ABL Gold Panners hiatus had enhanced the northern game - they now had five types of fire to burn.  Fairbanks’ starter was deep into the 80’s (mph-wise) with some fairly filthy stuff, and was rather hastily relieved by even hotter fire (scraping 90s [that’s right - Smith country - in relief]) and proving that flamethrowers were no longer such a rare commodity up north.  Having long run out of fuel themselves, Fairview had to invent alternative energy sources.  Dean Walker, who won a complete game about 16 hours prior, dropped his arm slot down and picked his team up again; again earning the W.  Sensational rookie Josh Boring ripped three dubs and drove in four, including the decisive knock in an 8-4 Fairview triumph.  Just their luck, Fairview had earned the right to stay even later and grind one out with the Alaska Cubs, whom the Pirates had beaten once, ever. 

By sometime after the first two sets on Saturday, players might catch themselves looking with envy upon those who had mercifully been eliminated from the game’s cruelest test.  When in-and-out is replaced by lying in the bullpen or on a bench, trying desperately to rest and/or rehydrate.  When a player’s spikes become an oppressive instrument of torture for his own feet.  When the simple trot back and forth to his position in the field somehow gets longer every time, and for outfielders might already have added up to miles.   When the arms have long been exhausted and the only real question is how much damage can be done to the wings that wish to fly again.  That is exactly when the true character of a fighter, and that of a ballclub, is about all they have left to run out there.  Its competition well beyond the point of fun, it is competition not only with the opponent - but also with the self. 

Fairview’s Matt Roberts had thrown over 100 pitches in giving his team the chance to win just 10 hours previous, only to watch from the bench for the last few agonizing outs as the Fairbanks White Sox wriggled off the hook in their final ups.  The transplant from Houston Texas had no hesitation about taking the ball again for Fairview in the late game, as he was key to a course the Pirates had plotted some three weeks earlier while getting drubbed by the Cubs.  Watching their hard-throwing, harder-working ace (and in fairness, their less-than hard-throwing defense) get rag-dolled by the baby bears on June 16th, Fairview embraced the somewhat counterintuitive philosophy that against the Cubs, softer is harder.  If the Pirates had committed to this change of pace against the Cubs - it certainly hadn’t been with the thought that it would come in the same day as another longish start, and certainly not in opposition of Cubs ace Chris Wagg, but there they were.  So in the 7PM set, crafty righty rookie Matt Roberts took the hill against one of the game’s most feared lineups (ever) and got nice with it.  Josh Boring continued his torrid tourney, reaching in three of four trips and scoring twice.  Robby Rounsville went 3-4 (RBI), and Andrew Ward (2-3,2RBI) drew the first intentional walk issued to a Fairview Pirate since the ’08 State Tourney in Fairbanks.  Ward’s sac fly in the bottom of the 5th had drawn Fairview even at four apiece, but Wagg was now locked in and the Cubs were now on the cusp of their fourth turn through the lineup, where the adjustments become standard.  The Dread Pirate Roberts had once again, in the same day, put his ballclub in a position to win - but manager Phil Stephens decided to flip philosophies again, and go back to harder. 

Just because Fairview ace Jon Meister was injured (sprained ligament in the throwing hand), and had already eaten five of the most-high stress innings imaginable in two different games earlier that day, didn’t mean the Bulldog wasn’t hungry.  Stephens fell back on his simplistic adage: “we’ll play our game; they’ll play theirs” and sent his hard thrower out to preserve the tie going into the final innings.  When the ultra-clutch Chris Cole took Meister’s first heater off the left field wall to lead off the Cubs half of the inning with the top of the lineup to follow, it looked as if Stephens had once again over-thought his position and unwittingly moved his club into check.  But the Bulldog would escape the perilous situation unharmed, and retire the side in order the next inning to send the game into extras - winner goes to Championship Sunday, other gets solid sleep - because in a competition of such closeness there can hardly be a loser.  Tim Twombly led off the extra frame with a slicing opposite field double that again put Fairview’s feet to the fire, and Patty Moran adeptly bunted him over to turn up the heat even more.  Having been damaged enough by Cole, Fairview passed him with the unintentional-intentional walk.  And showing his trademark true grit Meister would again, amazingly, navigate the dangerous waters of the top of the Cubs lineup without allowing the run.  A leadoff walk to Josh Wood in the bottom of the inning would prove decisive as Timbo Davis, who somehow finds himself in the center of every thriller, would loop one over the right side of the infield and watch the Cubs uncharacteristically throw it around trying to catch an aggressively advancing Wood.  The contrast was startling and even poetic as a game that had been played with such grace and precision ended in seeming slow motion as Wood flung himself headlong into third and watched as the ball thrown after him, quietly, impotently, rolled off the porous K3, awarding the walk-off extra base to Fairview who ecstatically celebrated their franchise’s first-ever trip to Championship Sunday.  The Alaska Cubs, who’ve had at least part of first place in the AABL since opening day, have had a tough go of it in recent tournaments, letting their last three tourney contests get away in extra innings.  The Cubs lineup that still inspires a mixture of fear and awe had not been held under six runs in a contest all season; but in their two losses Saturday the Cubs plated a grand total of six. 

The loudest and longest of the final Saturday matchups was the showdown between the BGES Bobcats and Spenard United.  Spenard’s sadistic fourth contest of the day - all of them emotionally draining affairs, would prove there was no limit to the heart of this United team.  A back and forth affair, the Bobcats continued to hit feverishly in the Tourney and Jeremy Wedge continued to be their absolute stopper, coming in to pitch yet again, and icing the 9-8 victory in the first extra frame.  For the Bobcats it was the defining win of yet another improbably deep tourney run.  For the United it was yet another excellent contest in a day full of comebacks that ultimately saw them eliminated, but how many guys can say they played four games in one day?  The winner’s bracket big-ticket matchup on K4 was not surprisingly the quietest game of the evening.  When the SouthCentral Titans and Platinum Hornets get together, there are always plenty of eyes on the field - but noticeably little talk from the bleachers.  The act of cheering is a social one, but in terms of effectiveness there is almost a faith held by spectators that in saying something to their guys, the friendly noise could make them better.  When fans gather to watch the Titans and Hornets they applaud at well-appointed times and briefly, like watching a symphony or an opera wherein there is no necessity for encouragement, only the brief acknowledgement of great artists plying their craft.  It is as if whenever these two wonderfully refined teams take the field, particularly in opposition of one another, there’s no point to cheering - just sit back and take in the show - it doesn’t get any better.  First Chair Charlton Ferreira put up another virtuoso performance in the night game, holding the Hornets hitless in his five innings off the bump, and yielding (only to rest his invaluable arm for Championship Sunday) to Ken Wooster who suffocated the Hornets offense the rest of the way in a 12-0 statement game.  The Hornets peeled off an unprecedented and untouchable four-straight State Tournament Titles (‘07-10), but would need to use somewhere south of a dozen guys to win four-straight games on Sunday if they were to make it five.  

10AM on Championship Sunday is where a rather muddled picture becomes clear - and what was manifestly clear was that the BGES Bobcats were putting on one helluva run.  Them ‘Cats again sent side-winding Jeremy Wedge to the bump, now his third start and fourth appearance in about 40 hours, and again he was every bit the ace - holding the Fairbanks White Sox within striking distance.  The bulk of the striking was done by Russell Hepner and Chris Hamel who combined for four runs and three steaks in the Bobcats 8-5 victory, earning them their first trip to the final four of State.  The defending champion (x4) Hornets have had little trouble advancing to the last four standing at any time, and Sunday morning was no different.  The Fairview Pirates’ Sunday Blacks didn’t seem to impress the black and yellow as much as they impressed the Fairview Faithful, who were just happy to be there all things considered.  Still, Fairview rookie Kody Ziter was quite impressive, in both form and performance, especially for it being his first outing on the bump in more than 18 months.  But Hornet rookie Garrett Ballen balled hardest off the hill, working around trouble regularly and blowing certifiable hot fire (6IP,8K) at the weary Pirates to hold them off the scoreboard altogether.  Taylor Reed did the glut of the damage offensively (3R,RBI) and played his customarily brilliant shortstop as his Hornets again advanced with the 7-0 win. 

Before either of the peripheral games could even adjourn, the breathless reports from the Fairbanks Cubs v. SouthCentral Titans K4 were making their way around the yard.  “The Cubs are hitting Smith” was whispered in all but the involved dugouts in all likelihood, as Anchorage players recoiled in horror at the realization that it might have actually been possible, they just hadn’t done it.  The Fairbanks Cubs certainly benefitted from a fishing-softened Titans defense, but they just as certainly made the mistakes hurt with legit shots.  Superstar Steve Shaver was 3-4, and the great James Johnson went 2-3 scoring a crucial run as the Fairbanks Cubs dropped jaws around SouthCentral AK in general by beating the mighty Titans 5-2.  Fairbanks getting to Mike Smith (as much as Smith gets gotten to) wouldn’t have meant much to the Cubs had they not gotten yet another brilliant start from their newfound wealth of pitching.  This time the aceish performance came from their “other ace in the hole”, former Wayland Baptist and AIA hurler Todd Jeffress, who flung filth at the always-formidable Titans batting order.  Jeffress went the distance, allowing only a pair of runs on six hits while punching out the Tourney-high 10 hitters.  So staggering to the understanding was the news of Fairbanks getting over on Bigfoot, Anchorage players even passed around the unsubstantiated rumor that the Titans starter had been seen furiously stomping around in the woods behind K4 after the game.  Whatever the source of the confirmed-as-untrue tale, the mere fact that it was out there illustrated how unfamiliar Anchorage players are with thinking of the SouthCentral Titans as underdogs; and how doing so had stretched their collective imaginations. 

The Fairbanks Cubs had earned their way into the winner-take-all title game, and had earned themselves a few hours break in doing so without a single loss.  The SouthCentral Titans would have to wait for the winner of Platinum Hornets v. BGES Bobcats to play their way into a title shot.  Nobody should soon forget the outlandishly fantastic run them fightin’ ‘Cats put on the field in the 2011 State Tournament.  A club that won just three regular season contests last year, with largely the same cast, had already won twice as many games in this regular season and now found themselves standing tall with the absolute elites of Alaska Baseball.  A final four run in State is quite the achievement for any squad, and for the Bobcats to have clawed their way so deep into Championship Sunday certainly counts as one of the aforementioned achievements as prized as all but ultimate victory.  Whenever the last time BGES bested the Hornets was, it certainly wasn’t in the Obama Administration, but the Bobcats fought valiantly nonetheless.  Behind some gutsy pitching from Russell Hepner, the Bobcats held the deficit at 1-0 into the 4th.  But as sure as the rising sun, the Hornets will make their run.  And so they swarmed once more in State, exploding for three runs in the 4th, four in the 5th, and another four-spot in the 7th to win going away, 12-0.  The assault was again keyed by Reed (3R,RBI) who along with Big Game Trevor Harrison (2R,4RBI) laced three hits apiece and led an up-and-down the lineup attack that saw every Hornet hitter except cleanup slugger Nick Nading (still contributing heavily, 2-4,2RBI) cross the plate at least once.  Jason Hart had yet another big start, and the defending (x4) champions moved on to face a semi-deflated SouthCentral Titans in the semifinal round. 

While the Titans waited for the Hornets, observers were privy to an interesting transformation.  With all of the action now centralized on K4, the fans, waiting players, and an impressive contingent of eliminated players, surrounded the field and made for a great scene.  Having waited more than two hours after throwing seven high-tension innings, Mike Smith strolled casually up the Kosinski knoll to make a final stop before throwing it into game mode.  Smith on his way up the hill: a smiling, friendly, downright congenial fellow - he even stops to chat with some players and crack a couple friendly jokes before politely moving on.  Smith on his way back down the hill: owner of a lock-jawed, stink-eyeing, downright sinister disposition that one wouldn’t want to step in front of, much less approach for conversation.  It was the downhill version of Mike Smith that the Platinum Hornets would face with their tanks on empty, headed uphill.  As great and amazing as their string of tournament titles has been, the Hornets didn’t get that far by not knowing what they were up against.  Without a doubt conscientious of how uphill this battle on this day would be for his teammates, and perhaps even himself conceding goals peripheral to victory, Jeremy Wylie had a prophetic piece of advice for opposing manager Willie Paul at the pregame manager-ump plate-shake.  “I said ‘I don’t even care who wins this - those [Fairbanks] Cubs are sitting on fastballs and whoever it is has to go off-speed to them.’”  The Hornets might’ve been looking dead-red themselves with Smith on the bump, but it was the Fairbanks Cubs sitting on the Hornets side of the bleachers who had the most advice to give the Titans starter. 

It was apparent throughout the contest that many Fairbanks players (like probably countless other opposing hitters) were disconcerted and even a bit offended by Smith’s signature grunt.  Actually more a guttural shout than a grunt, the very pronounced sound doesn’t come when one might expect - upon release of the ball.  Smith’s shout comes after the ball has already passed the batter (its even been speculated that he only does it on pitches he’d like called for strikes) and is comparable to the purposeful exhalations of a martial artist throwing a punch, where the emphasis is on the pull-back to create more snap at the focus point.  Does it bother hitters?  Absolutely: hitters gripe, mimic, and sometimes even return the righty’s recoil grunt, probably as long as he’s done it.  Should that bother Smith?  It seems improbable that he’s overly concerned with what hitters are comfortable with, and if it ain’t broke...  Besides, if there was anything even remotely unsporting that a hitter might request being disallowed from Smith’s game, it should be that invisible-wall slider he throws. 

Hissing heaters, deviant benders, that insane slide piece, timing and location, or just the grunt - whatever Smith uses to unspool hitters, he had it for his second start on Championship Sunday.  Despite the Fairbanks bleachers messing with Sasquatch, the Hornets battling heroically (a three-spot off the man is actually pretty nice) in their final moments as reigning (x4) State Tournament Champions, and the rigorously regimented righty turnting it all the way back up to full-blast after an unadvisable three hours rest, Smith was again pageworthy in a 12-3 Titan triumph.  Kyle Madden is currently tied for the wood era HR record with three, but he’s already hit more in one season than anyone else wielding wood in the MatSu Borough.  With one out in the 1st of the semifinal contest, Madden launched a giant, arching parabola onto the bike trail behind K4 becoming the first player to circle slowly four times in one wood bat season.  That was just the beginning for Madden who finished with five RBI thanks in no small part to Taylor Nerland who would draw a staggering five free bags (4BB,HBP) from the two-hole.  Madden also teamed up with the explosive Charlton Ferreira to score six runs, and the Hammer, Jason Henricks, to drive in nine.  For the Hornets, a team that was able to carve out their place in history with four consecutive State Titles, and a team that even shorthanded was able to finish third in the 2011 State Tournament, there should be a terrific pride in knowing that nobody will ever do what they were able to do again - and satisfaction in knowing that with the players they do still have, their streak might be history but their run isn’t nearly over yet. 

The grill was fired up and the crowd was coagulating around K4 for the Championship.  The large Fairbanks contingent seemed well aware of the history their Cubs were on the cusp of, and were determined to make the home field they’d earned through their flawless route to the Championship not just a matter of last ups, but a legitimate home field advantage.  While the way of the Titans, and perhaps SouthCentral fans in general, might be passive observation and calculated efficiency, even in cheering, the way of the Fairbanks fan was without a doubt to make some noise.  The Fairbanks bleachers would certainly accomplish that, and one would have to be a fairly hardened ballplayer to not concede that the fans made themselves a factor in the game.  From the first time their Fairbanks Cubs trotted out on the field, the left side of K4 got loud, really loud, and kept it up for the balance of the contest.  SouthCentral filled their bleachers as well, with Titans fans but also with Anchorage players who weren’t afraid to take their annual opportunity to actually pull for the big guys.  It is a unique opportunity for locals, rooting for the mighty Titans - who have humanoid forms, but seemingly do not share human flaws or human feelings, at least not where they could be commonly detected.  But this game was different in the minds of all who felt they’d come to know Alaska Baseball, especially with the prevailing feeling that for the first time since anyone could remember, the Titans were at the disadvantage.  But Titans manager Willie Paul has never been short of brilliancies, and he pulled out yet another in his club’s hour of need. 

It might’ve been a decision he started make as the Fairbanks Cubs found a way to Mr. Smith.  It might’ve been something he had in the back of his mind the whole time, and hearing it from a baseball savant like Wylie (in the semifinal pregame) might’ve just confirmed what he already suspected.  It might’ve been something he knew the whole time but didn’t share with even his inner circle like Ali’s tactic versus Foreman in Zaire.  But whenever Willie Paul knew, it was before most suspected.  As soon as the Titans came off the field against the Hornets the questions started from all directions for Charlton Ferreira: about how he felt, the life left in his legendary left arm, if he could make the big start, how he’d go at the Cubs, etc.  Ferreira answered them all without engaging any: “I’m ready, I feel great.”  That might’ve been as much as anybody wanted to hear because the consensus around the field was that Shavers v. Ferreira was imminent, that the MVP’s were on a collision course that was in some sense unavoidable.  But Paul made a tremendously gutsy call, and went with The Cobra, Ken Wooster as his starter in the Championship.  Wooster is already a Hall of Famer (back from retirement), and will probably be a high end hurler on his deathbed, but nobody spits hot fire into his 40’s (without significant enhancement), and in baseball its easy to get hung up on velocity.  Fooling a hitter is an intellectual struggle, blowing him away with high ched is a neurological one, and it is far easier to do the former with the threat of the latter.  And even knowing you’ve got a guy who’ll pound the zone with effective stuff, a guy who knows how to get guys out, how to win big games, and has proven so repeatedly - its counterintuitive to go slower, its akin to standing your ground against an enraged and charging bear - it might be the right idea, but its scary as hell.  It takes brass balls to make such a call in a single-elimination championship scenario.  Willie did it though, and Willie was right. 

Wooster went through hitters like he was behind an L-screen from 40 feet.  He put on a pitching demonstration so classical it looked like he was working the kids at a Schugg Brothers Camp.  Wooster demonstrated just about every pro-tool the way you’d like to see the craft taught: his mechanics were concise, his lines were clean, his stuff was dirty, and he didn’t tip any of it.  Toss in one of the slickest moves to 1st a righty has ever refined, and Paul going with The Cobra didn’t seem like much of a surprise move anymore - by the second go through the lineup, the call to Wooster seemed obvious.  As much of a nightmare as he was to hit against, umpiring the plate for Ken Wooster had to be even more of a continual test (one that plate ump Mike Webster executed admirably) as absolutely nothing he threw was over the middle, and nothing he missed with was more than a few inches out.  Wooster lived on the margins and was continually pressing them outward in artfully deliberate fashion; if he was given the corner, the next pitch would be an inch further out, if given that one, the next would be out two inches, and so on.  Wooster’s effectiveness was elevated to a reminder of his greatness the same way anybody’s would be: necessity.  An exhibition of exactly why his name hangs on the K1 dugout (a magical display for the younger players who might not have witnessed Woo at work previous) was made necessary by Fairbanks starter Steve Shaver. 

Shaver stayed off the middle of the dish to great effect as well, working around an always-dangerous SouthCentral lineup that was showing terrific discipline in hitting as a team.  In fact, those occasional errant pitches; the pitches every starter lets go from time to time that bounce in front of the plate or stand the catcher up, there was a noticeable lack of anything that missed that much from either hurler.  Shaver worked out of difficulty in each of the first three frames, got the Titans in order in the 4th, but ran into trouble in the 5th, and a familiar form of trouble to boot.  The toothacheingly sweet swing of Taylor Nerland (who’s seppuku level discipline strong-armed 10 Tourney walks [in front of Madden and Ferreira]) lashed his second hit of the night with one out to put the Titans in business.  C4 promptly followed with a hit, and it fell to Shaver to face the Madman with two on one out.  A fantastic sequence retired Madden for the second out of the inning, but from time to time tremendous focus can be followed by a bit of blurriness.  For whatever reasons, and certainly including terrific plate discipline by guys who should be pitched to carefully, Shaver lost the zone after getting by Madden.  Following a walk to Jason Henricks to load the bases, Doug Olsen had another terrific battle end in an RBI walk, and when Chad Sherwood was passed to drive in a second run, before the Cubs could break the emergency glass and swap Shavers.  Steve Shaver had held his team in position to win it, but with just the smallest of openings the Titans had managed to break through before Ryan Shaver came in to record the final out of the frame.  In a game wherein runs seemed so desperately hard to come by, that 2-0 lead looked insurmountable, even to the still vocal Fairbanks fan base.  And as Wooster expertly wound his way through the next six outs without incurring any damage, one of the more vocal Fairbanks fans could be heard renegotiating acceptable accomplishments for her team: “Second place in the whole State ain’t bad either.”

The final inning was magical, and there’s a way of looking at everything that happened over the last 6200 or so words and seeing it all as primer for these last 1300 (maybe get a drink).  Ryan Shaver’s relief stint was spectacular, his fastball fantastic, his slider so electric it could scarcely be caught much less hit.  Shaver allowed no Titans to cross, and after retiring the side in the top of the final frame, he had delivered his team the chance for the last word, in Anchorage, on Championship Sunday.  “Do you finish with C4 here?” was the question written on faces and even discussed in low tones across the SouthCentral side of the bleachers.  Already the backseat managers had shuddered at the thought of even having such a weapon and not taking it out.  Still, it made sense when The Cobra came back out for the final inning, he is an all-time great who had already authored a masterpiece of a level that few will ever get to, never mind returning to it as he has.  It was emotional baseball, but that is the game at its finest vertices, and Wooster hadn’t really been in too much trouble yet. 

Uncharacteristically, Wooster walked the leadoff man.  Instantly, tension spread like someone had dropped a toaster in the pool.  A game that had moved very fast already; began its final descent at breakneck speed.  Wooster relieved some of that anxiety by getting the eight-hole to groundout to 2nd, but when he walked the nine-hole, relief took on an entirely new urgency.  Jeremy Wylie had already made his way over to the championship trophy; he’d agreed to pass the torch on behalf of the Hornets but reminded himself not to touch it before the final out, so as not to jinx anything.  So while Willie Paul made his way to the mound it seemed the backseat managers had jumped up front, no longer a question - 'bring in C4' was now etched on every face in the know.  The lineup had turned over, it was their fourth look at The Cobra who for all his effectiveness had only so much zone to pound, and it was the lefty who’d torched Anchorage all weekend, Steve Shaver, who would bat with one out and the tying run on 1st.  All eyes shifted to the outfield, towards Ferreira, and perhaps only then was it commonly noticed that over the course of the last few outs he’d been switched from centerfield to left.  Wherever he was, the prevailing thought was he was headed for the mound: lefty-lefty matchup, certified hot-fire, defending MVP (x2), cool nicknames (x3), one of the only men made for just such a situation - it was time for Cha Cha. 

If having a player-manager was the optimal situation, it might be done more often (or at all anymore) at the money-levels of baseball.  It is too much for anyone, having to make command decisions while in the trenches, and it is a nuance to the local game that can’t be understated.  When SouthCentral manager Willie Paul walked up to the mound to talk with his starter, he walked up wearing the gear of the most preoccupied mind on any field - that of the catcher.  He walked up while calling the game of his life (yeah it was that good, and he’s recieved at least five no-hitters in this league [almost if not every one thrown since he’s been in the AABL]).  Paul walked to that mound as one of the youngest men on that field, to confer with a pitcher nearly twice his age, a pitcher who’d almost certainly coached him as a kid and one he most certainly coaches with now (Service High).  What was a kid who was catching his fifth game in the past 36 hours going to say?  ‘Give me the ball, you’ve had it’?  How could it fall to the catcher, who by function should be one with his pitcher, to say when another should relieve his legendary arm?  And that’s just the stuff we know about - because nothing is so simple as it looks.  Whatever the reason, whatever was said, Paul walked back towards the plate - a catcher staying with the guy he’d gotten there with. 

If you’d told SouthCentral that 48 hours of baseball was about to come down to the next 90 seconds, they’d have probably taken it, up two and just a pair of outs to get.  And as Paul went into his distinctively nimble crouch behind the dish, there wasn't the slightest notion of nervousness or panic on his face, even though everything that could go wrong for SouthCentral, was about to.  Steve Shaver blasted a ball into the right-centerfield gap, a ball that looked like it might even get out, a ball that to be clear - nobody had even an outside chance of a play on.  But if there were a man in the great state of Alaska who might’ve had even an outside chance at running down that clear double, it was C4, who’d moved out to left.  As the ball bounced off the wall pandemonium ensued.  The chain link shook furiously, the bleachers exploded, for the first time in the game the players on the field and in the dugout matched the audience in a cacophony of screams and shouts.  Somewhere in the melee the Titans managed to throw it around a bit and Shaver, running like a man chasing history, had made his way all the way to 3rd.  Fairbanks had gone from two outs to live down a pair of runs, to one out and the championship run 90 feet away, in a matter of moments.  Only a few more moments would pass, and those would see no reduction in the volume of the crowd, before Steve Shiffler would have yet another monumental swing in a tourney full of them, driving the ball into mid-centerfield.  It was a walk-off sac fly off the bat, well deep enough to score most anyone, and certainly a runner of Shaver’s speed.  There was no play to be had at the plate, but again, if there was an man in SouthCentral AK who could’ve possibly made it any closer than the centerfielder who played it perfectly, it was Charlton Ferreira, out in left. 

If going from up two to game over in about 120 seconds, or the sting of surrendering all three runs on just one hit, left any bitterness in the Titans, one wouldn’t have known it to look at them.  Watching with nearly a curiosity as the Fairbanks Cubs rushed the field and celebrated in a raucous world-series-pile at the plate, some teary eyed, all beaming with pride for what they accomplished for their city, even the Titans might’ve conceded it meant more for their opponents to win this one.  Fairbanks players hugged each other, their families and friends came on the field to take pictures and get their hugs, the hardware was passed around and celebrated, and somewhere in the crowd reverberated the cry “18 Years!”  The Cubs had brought Fairbanks her first State Title since 1994.  The banquet and the local ink were yet to come, but as the Cubs of Fairbanks prepared for their long voyage home, they kept smiling and high-fiving and hugging it out with everyone who was there and had made their improbable run possible.  As the crowd slowly moved away from K4 towards the parking lot, one was reminded of a sound unheard for hours - the stadium announcements across the way at Mulcahy had been going the whole time - but were completely undetectable from the Kosinski Fields for the entire championship game.  It was loud, it was exhausting (as this read must have been, thanks for at least skipping ahead to this point) and won or lost, it was fun.  The last guys to make their way out, as coaches have a habit of being, Paul and Wooster made their way to the parking lot to hats-off from fellow players and salutes for their indelible role in this classic of classics.  Ever the coach, Wooster politely acknowledged the tributes, smiled, and said, “That’s why you don’t walk guys.”  What a pair of baseball lifers, and what a lifetime in itself, this one baseball-filled weekend in Alaska.