For the week of October 29 - November 4, 2003

The Sun Valley Solar Sox gather for a team photo. Front row, from left, Danny Turner, Brian Nelson and Rod Watson. Middle row, from left, Robin Sarchett, Scott Seaward, Paul Creighton and Jeff Poggi. Back row, from left, Pat Creighton, Nelson Drewien, Sean Moran, Dan Freeman and Curtis Bacca. Courtesy photo

In the heat,
Solar Sox win twice

Fall baseball in Arizona

---

Nelson Drewien was the hot hitter for the Sun Valley Solar Sox sponsored by The Waxroom last week during the Men’s Senior Baseball League 2003 World Series in Arizona.

Drewien batted .550 (11-for-20) with an on-base percentage of .625 as the Solar Sox (2-4 overall) competed Oct. 20-23 in round-robin play of the 28-and-over Central Division Group 1.

The Solar Sox finished their week with two highlights—a 20-6 victory over the Tucson Old Pueblo Padres Oct. 21 and a 13-8 triumph over the Bay Area Beavers in their finale Oct. 23.

Pitcher Pat Creighton scattered 11 hits in his nine-inning complete game win over Tucson. Rod Watson (.429 series, 7 RBI) went 2-for-4 with 5 RBI including a homer and double. Dan Freeman (.381, 8 runs) added 3 hits and scored 3 runs. Brian Nelson (.364, 5 runs, 6 RBI) had 2 hits and 3 RBI.

The Solar Sox (.304 team batting in 6 games) belted out 16 hits against Tucson, and added another 15 hits in the 13-8 triumph over Bay Area Beavers.

Pitchers Scott Seaward (.278) and relief winner Jeff Poggi shut down the Beavers. Leadoff Curtis Bacca (.450 with .556 on-base, 9 runs) ripped 3 hits and scored 3 runs against Bay Area. Freeman chipped in 2 hits (triple) and 3 RBI while Seaward (2 hits, 3 runs) hit a homer.

On the mound, Poggi (1-1, 7.16 ERA) and Freeman tossed 16 and 10 innings respectively, and Seaward (5.25 ERA) threw 12. Falling short on their bid to advance into the playoff round, the Solar Sox also lost games to Puget Sound Tigers 10-4 and Eagle Valley Merchants 13-6.

Bacca said, "We lost two games giving up big leads. We didn’t do as well as we wanted, but we had a great time. The highlight was playing in Surprise Stadium, state-of-the-art stadium for the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals."

Other Sox players were Pat Creighton (.300), Paul Creighton, Sean Moran (.235), Robin Sarchett and Danny Turner.

Bacca said the weather was extremely hot, all-time highs. The Solar Sox played their first four games in less than 24 hours, temperatures reaching 105 degrees. In all, 356 teams competed in many classes.

Ketchum’s Jim Jaquet played in the Father-Son division with his two sons, in the 58-plus Wood Bat Division.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.