Ripken Experience championship: 919 Nationals 13, Blue Sox 3

The Nationals won a Ripken Experience championship for the second straight fall with a 13-3 victory over the Blue Sox.

Six different pitchers combined to limit the homestanding Sox to just six hits, and an equally diverse offense resulted in what might have been the ultimate compliment from the PA announcer. “There is no way I could ever pick an MVP from your team,” he said just before the trophy presentation. Every player threw at least an inning during the games in Myrtle Beach, every hitter had at least one hit…it was a complete team performance. So thorough were the 919 players that they even thought ahead to the blog. For some reason, they really wanted this photo included. This is how they kill time during pitching changes:

One of the quieter storylines of the title game win was solid—and aggressive—baserunning. 919 stole ten bases in the championship game, while the combination of great work by the pitchers holding runners and solid work behind the plate by the catchers limited the Blue Sox to just one stolen base. That doesn’t even take into account the numerous extra bases the Nationals collected by going hard first to third on a single or racing home from second on a grounder in the infield.

Oh, and then there’s that booming offense: the Nationals scored in all 19 innings that they played in Myrtle Beach, outscoring opponents 73-10 in the four games. Oh, right, and about the pitching: that combination of nine 919 hurlers on Sunday walked just three batters in 10 innings.

So, like it said back at the top of the page, it was a complete team performance. But now you have the numbers to back it up and the blogger feels like he did his job, which is really what’s most important.

Coach Sean has decreed that all future tournaments and practices must be held at Myrtle Beach, so stay tuned for more information about the 919 team relocation plan.

Championship Nationals scoring plays

First inning

Bryce singled and stole second, where JT’s single scored him. An error by the center fielder put JT on third, and then Gavin doubled. Andrew hit into a fielder’s choice, but Gavin never slowed down going from second to third and came all the way around to score. Banks got it going again with a one-out single, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Brady’s single.

Score after one-half inning: 919 Nationals 4, Blue Sox 0

Second inning

Chace walked, stole second and third, and scored on Asher’s fielder’s choice.

Score after two innings: 919 Nationals 5, Blue Sox 1

Third inning

Gavin reached on an error, stole third, and scored on a wild pitch.

Score after two and a half innings: 919 Nationals 6, Blue Sox 1

Fourth inning

Ben drew a leadoff walk, stole second, went to third on a fielder’s choice, and scored on a fielder’s choice.

Score after three and a half innings: 919 Nationals 7, Blue Sox 1

Fifth inning

Chace tripled and scored on a wild pitch. Bryce singled, raced to second on a fielder’s choice, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on JT’s double. JT stole third and scored on Gavin’s sacrifice fly.

Score after four and a half innings: 919 Nationals 10, Blue Sox 1

Sixth inning

Ben ripped a one-out double. Brady singled and stole second. Elias walked. Chace’s single scored a pair, and Elias scored on a wild pitch.

Score after five and a half innings: 919 Nationals 13, Blue Sox 2

Pitching Performances

Chace set the tone with a strong first.

Joey pitched a scoreless second.

Andrew tossed a scoreless third.

Banks buzzed through a 1-2-3 fourth.

Bryce was very effective in the fifth.

Asher closed it with a hitless sixth.

Championship Web Gems 

•        JT and Gavin worked their patented deflection play to perfection in the first. With runners on first and second, the hitter slapped the ball through the six hole. JT got a glove on it, which redirected it to Gavin. JT raced back to the bag while Gavin scooped it up and threw back to JT covering third for the force.
•       In what felt like a momentum-turning play, the Blue Sox had the bases loaded with two outs in the first. Asher knocked down a pitch in the dirt, kept it close enough to race over and retrieve it, made a sliding recovery and tossed to Chace covering the plate, who slapped on a quick tag to end the inning. This play was greeted with furious cheering from the 919 dugout, mostly from Coach Bruce, who correctly noted that he had just suggested working on that exact play in practice last week.
•      With the leadoff man on first in the second inning, Andrew came in hard on a hit to right field and threw to Gavin covering second to get the out.
•      Two great scoops by Brady in the fourth at first base, including one on a highlight reel play that saw JT range far to his left at third base, then Brady making a stellar play to save the throw and get the out.

Championship line score	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H
919 Nationals	4	1	1	1	3	3	13	10
Blue Sox	1	0	0	0	1	1	3	6