Fall ball in
Arizona
Suns in Valley of
the Sun
The Boys of
Summer morphed into the Boys of Fall, as Sun Valley Suns played some ball
at the Men’s Senior Baseball League World Series in Phoenix, Arizona
Oct. 22-27.
The
tournament featured more nips and tucks than a Beverly Hills PTA meeting.
The Suns
(4-3), playing in the 38-team Central Division, lost only three of their
seven games—but they were killer—all three of the losses being decided
by just one run.
"The
hidden ball trick did it. We were rattled after that," outfielder
Chris Zarkos said slightly tongue-in-cheek about the turning point of the
week.
After
winning their first two games, 28-8 over Bay Area Beavers and 18-6 against
the Salt Lake City Reds, the Suns met the Connecticut Navigators.
The Suns
trailed 8-7 in the home ninth and Sean Moran represented the tying run on
third base. That’s when the crafty Navigator third baseman faked a throw
and then tagged Moran out to win the game.
"It
was a momentum buster," Zarkos said.
After
losing to the division-leading Milwaukee Rangers 7-6, the Suns bounced
back with big wins over Colorado (by a 13-5 score) and New Mexico (18-11)
to qualify for Friday’s single-elimination playoffs.
The
Rochester Mets put the Suns poolside with a 7-6 loss.
No one went
home unhappy.
"We
had a blast," team manager Curtis Bacca said.
The Suns
batted .351 as a team, led by Dave Fox’s .613.
Dan Freeman
hit .516, Craig Anderson .515, Curtis Bacca .417, Ric Slone .384, Lane
Monroe .375, Rod Watson (GS/HR) .375, Chris Zarkos .368, Dave Hausmann
.307, Pat Creighton .300, Sean Moran .285, Jimmy Hart .235, Danny Turner
.240, Paul Creighton .200, Jimmy Jorgenson .142.
The team
was sponsored by the Waxroom in Ketchum.