A’s Edge Red Sox In Exciting Major League Final

It did not look good for the A’s entering the Major League baseball playoffs.

After starting the season with a 4-1 record, the team lost its final seven games of the regular season to finish seventh in the seven-team Major Division.

The A’s faced a difficult road to the championship entering the postseason. But the team was able to put together a terrific run, winning four consecutive games that culminated with a 4-3 victory over the Red Sox in the title game on Friday night at Burchill Field A.

Trailing 3-0, the A’s tied the game with a three-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jack Callahan then scored Adam Lesiw with a long single off the left-field wall with one out in the bottom of the sixth to break the deadlock and give the A’s the win.

“I was looking for a single,” said A’s head coach Dan Callahan. “It felt great to get the winning hit.”

The A’s opened the tournament with consecutive wins over the Orioles (15-10) and the Red Sox (5-4) last Friday and Saturday. That sent the team into the winner’s bracket final, where they knocked off the White Sox, 6-2, and advanced to the division finals.

“I couldn’t be happier for the kids,” Callahan said. “Entering the playoffs we told them to just keep battling. We had the kids focus on playing well. We always told them to make the plays you are supposed to make, make the routine plays.”

The Major Division is made up of players 11 and 12 years old. The A’s team consisted of Callahan, Pat Feeney, Justin Fraci, Kevin Jezard, Kyle Leitch, Lesiw, Colby Malloch, Jake Palin, Colin Powers, David Skiendiel, Zach Stewart and Chris Towne.

“The kids played their hearts out,” said Callahan. “I couldn’t be prouder of them. They really hung in there. The kids kept fighting. They got some confidence and we started to roll. Momentum was huge with this team. Once they got the momentum, the kids started having fun. And to be able to come back and win this game was fantastic.”

The Red Sox had a much more circuitous route to the finals. They finished the regular season third in the division at 5-6-2. The Red Sox opened the playoffs with an 11-6 win over the Royals. The 5-4 loss to the A’s dropped them into the loser’s bracket, where they would have to win three straight games if they hoped to reach the finals.

And the Red Sox did just that, first defeating the Indians, 8-7, before knocking off the Yankees, 8-6, on Wednesday night. The team then punched its ticket to the finals with an exciting 6-5 win over the White Sox in the loser’s bracket final on Thursday night.

“We had to play six games in a little over a week to get to the finals, which was a great job of battling by the kids,” said Red Sox head coach Mike Morris.

This year’s Red Sox team was made up of Sam Baker, Jacob Blend, Trevor Cintron, Rylie Coffey, Ryan Gill, Jacob Meeker, Jay Morris, Kyle Murphy, Matt Reilly, Jaysen Schillberg, Sam Telford and Jared Winiarz.

“Dan and I have the same philosophy,” Morris said. “We are not concerned about wins and losses during the regular season. We are more concerned with the development of the players. It is all about developing the players one through 12 during the regular season.

“The level of play of our kids from the start of the season to now is like night and day. But the most important thing is that the kids show good sportsmanship, effort, hustle and teamwork. My team did that this year and that is more important than wins or losses.”

And it was all you could ask of a title game as both teams played exceptionally well.

Skiendiel started the game on the mound for the A’s and fought his way through the first two innings. He surrendered two runs and three hits, while striking out four batters, walking two and hitting two. But more importantly, while he left the game trailing 2-0, Skiendiel kept his team in the game by leaving a total of five Brave runners on base.

Lesiw took over on the mound to start the third and went the next three innings, allowing one run and one hit. He struck out three and walked two. Callahan relieved Lesiw for the sixth and held the Red Sox scoreless despite getting into some trouble in the frame.

The Red Sox had five hits. Morris led the way with a 2-for-3 effort that included a single, double, RBI and one run scored. Murphy cracked an RBI double to the right-field wall, while Baker had an RBI single and Coffey contributed a single. Gill had two walks and a sacrifice bunt, stealing three bases and scoring two runs. Telford also had two walks.

The Braves also pitched very well in the game, starting with Winiarz. He allowed no runs and two hits over the first three innings, while striking out one and walking two. But Winiarz started to run out of steam in the fourth, surrendering two hits, three walks and hitting a batter. After the A’s had tied the game, Baker came in to relieve Winiarz and got the final out, leaving the bases loaded. Baker also pitched the fifth, allowing one hit and striking out two. “I thought Jared and Sam both pitched great,” Morris said.

The A’s had seven hits with Callahan leading the way with a 3-for-3 performance that included three singles, including the game-winner in the bottom of the sixth. He had one RBI and one run scored. Lesiw was 1-for-2 with a single, walk, two stolen bases and two runs scored. Palin also had a key two-run single in the fourth inning with Leitch and Towne also collecting singles. Malloch also had two walks, including one for an RBI.

The Red Sox took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on RBI singles from Morris and Baker. They pushed their lead to 3-0 with a run in the third, but could have had more. Murphy cracked a double to the right-field wall to score Gill. But with runners on second and third base and no out, the A’s turned a ground-ball out into a triple play to end the threat.

“Even with the 3-0 lead I was not overly confident that the game was over,” said Morris. “We knew they were capable of turning the game around quickly. We left a lot of runners on base early in the game and that came back to bite us at the end.”

The A’s got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Palin hit a two-run single down the right-field line with two outs to score Lesiw and Callahan to close the gap to one. Two batters later, Malloch collected a bases-loaded walk to score Fraci and tie the game.

“The kids battled and hit when they needed to,” Callahan said. “We didn’t want the kids to get too down after we fell behind. We just needed to get that first run to break the ice.”

Callahan took over on the mound in the sixth and walked Winiarz to start the inning with Gill sacrificing him to second. Callahan then had to face one of his best friends in Morris, who proceeded to hit the ball to the left-field wall, giving the Red Sox runners on second and third with one out. But Callahan retired the next two batters to end the threat.

Morris then took over on the mound for the Red Sox in the bottom of the sixth. Lesiw opened the inning with a single to right. Lesiw proceeded to steal second and third. With one out, Callahan came to the plate, having the tables turned with Morris now pitching to him. In a tremendous 10-pitch battle between the two friends, Callahan hit a line drive off the left-field wall on the final pitch to score Lesiw and give the A’s the title.

“It was a very exciting game,” Morris said. “Both teams played really well, but that is a tough way to lose. The last play was just two all-star players facing each other. Jay came in throwing great. Jack just kept fighting off good pitches until he got one to hit.”

Also on Friday night, the Mud Cats completed a terrific comeback against the Sea Dogs in the AA League finals. Entering the first championship game against the Sea Dogs on Thursday night at Lions Field one loss away from elimination, the Mud Cats registered an 11-6 win. They then completed the comeback with a 10-1 win over the Sea Dogs in the deciding game of the division finals on Friday night at Burchill Field B.