Great Pumpkin Champions; Huskies

Nov. 4, 2015. The Great Pumpkin Tournament wrapped up another PALL Fall Ball season with the underdog Huskies facing the undefeated Sun Devils in Wednesday’s Championship game at our Middlefield Ballpark.

The Sun Devils overwhelmed the Huskies in last Saturday’s first round game defeating them soundly 17-3. But as the Huskies’ stoic manager Ted Bucklin said after which, “the team decided it was time to come together.” Facing elimination, the re-grouped determined Huskies marched off 3 successive victories concluding 2 with comeback efforts. James Talbot was the hero on Sunday’s game vs. the Ducks, hitting a walk-off Grand Slam home run sealing a 10-6 victory.

The Sun Devils continued their offensive display on Sunday, with a 17-2 win over the Cardinal led by Fall Ball home run king Cory Hallada and fellow power hitters Thomas Rimsa and Thomas Leonard. Along with some good pitching from Rimsa, Leonard, Ben Zeto and Kelvin Jiang, the Sun Devils were looking at destiny for Wednesday’s finale.

Only Huskie pitcher Ted Jung stood in their way. After being roughed up in the previous 17-2 loss to the Sun Devils, it looked like a foregone conclusion; but Jung reached deep to face the Sun Devil’s formidable offense once again. Pitching on the brink of big inning, happy go lucky Jung managed to limit the Sun Devils to 2 runs in each of the first 3 innings and shutting them completely down in last three, completing his first ever LL game with 85 pitches. The Huskie offense tied the Sun Devils 2-2 in the bottom of the 1st with keys hits by Jung, Colin Lee, and Noah Kornfeld. But the Huskies found themselves down 6-2 going into the bottom of the 4th.

Sun Devil pitcher Cory Hallada matched Jung giving up 2 runs in the first, then blanked the Huskies in the 2nd and 3rd innings with 5 K’s, allowing no hits due to a devastating changeup and wicked fastball combination for his longest pitching outing ever.

The 4th was a different story; singles by Colin Lee and Philip Hollett and RBI’s for Noah Kornfeld and Tommy Leong started the rally for the Huskie’s 3rd comeback of the tournament. Still down 6-5 and with 2 outs, Colin Wellwood, Pooja Bucklin, and Kylie Liu all squeezed out walks setting the stage for Huskie’s LL rookie Ingrid Lee. On a 1-2 count, Lee lined a double to centerfield giving the Huskies their first lead of the game. The Huskies went up 8-6 that inning with 6 outs remaining for a now-defiant Ted Jung. In the 5th and 6th, Jung retired the last 6 batters with 20 pitches securing the Great Pumpkin Championship for the Huskie. A loud “AMAZING” came surprisingly from his wide-eyed manager describing Jung’s performance. The Huskie defense also rose to the occasion to mitigate this fall’s most powerful offense. Although younger and less experienced, through it all, the Huskie team spirit and camaraderie never waned.

Reflecting on the win, Huskie manager Ted Bucklin said it all, “EVERYONE made a play.”