|
|
GAMES CENTRE
|
|||
|
|
2010 SEASON
Consolation Championship
Consolation Round Robin
Braves 8, X-Men 12 Braves 12, Yankees 1 Braves 5, Cubs 2
Regular Season 2010
1. Braves 5, Red Sox 6 2. Braves 5, Giants 6 3. Braves 3, Tigers 10 4. Braves 4, X-Men 2 5. Braves 8, Mauraders 8 6. Braves 6, Cubs 1 7. Braves 1, Mud Hens 16 8. Braves 6, Yankees 10 9. Braves 0, Brewers 13 10. Braves 5, Giants 5 11. Braves 4, Tigers 6 12. Braves 5, Red Sox 6 13. Braves 11, Cardinals 12 14. Braves 2, Marauders 7 15. Braves 13, Cubs 7 16. Braves 0, Mud Hens 14 17. Braves 1, Cardinals 6 18. Braves 0, Hobos 6 19. Braves 4, Yankees 4 20. Braves 1, Hobos 4 21. Braves 4, X-Men 2 22. Braves 10, Brewers 9
|
u |
Braves Capture Consolation Championship SEPT-19-2010
After falling short in their bid to win the BVB Championship, the Braves turned their attention to the slightly less prestigious Consolation Championship, and came away as victors of the second division. The team continued building on their second half regular season success, which had seen them complete the year on a 2-1-1 run, which included an upset win over the BVB Championship Finalist Brewers.
The Braves won their opening round robin Consolation game over the Cubs by a 5-2 score, and then defeated the Yankees by a 12-1 margin, thereby clinching a spot in the Finals. This allowed the team to have some fun in the meaningless third and final round robin game against the XMen, choosing to let most players play out of position, and grant a couple of non-pitchers their lifelong dream of pitching in a BVB game. The results were disasterous of course, as the Braves surrendered the third-most runs ever scored against them in one game, dropping a 12-8 decision to the Xmen.
That set the stage for the Final, versus those same Xmen, in a game that was much closer than the 10-1 score would indicate. The Braves set the tone in the top of the 1st, when leadoff hitter Mike Gionas worked a leadoff walk, after fouling off several 2-strike pitches. Joe Stephens then singled, and the Braves pulled a double steal. Constantinos Gionas then hit a sac fly to deep center to score the first Braves run, and Chris Frizzell drove in the 2nd run with a line drive single to left. The Braves would add a 3rd run thanks to a bases loaded walk by Greg Froese. Braves 3-0 over the Xmen after the top of the 1st.
Greg Froese then went to work, as he made his 20th start of the season for the Braves, and this one was just as solid as the other 19. He shut down the X-Men over his 2 innings with 2 K's. Mike Gionas entered the game on the mound to pitch the 3rd and 4th with the score still 3-0 in favor of the Braves, and he too shut out the XMen over his 2 innings on just 1 hit and no walks. Meanwhile, in the top of the 4th, the Braves extended their lead to 4-0 when with 2 out and Greg Froese on 2nd base, Neil Johnson hit a hard grounder to short, to which Froese made an excellent baserunning play by screening the fielder until the very last moment, and that was enough to result in the ball getting past the shortstop, allowing Froese to score. 4-0 Braves after 4.
That brought in Braves closer Constantinos Gionas, and the game appeared to be in the books. But the XMen put together a series of great at-bats against the hard-throwing rightie in the bottom of the 5th, which resulted in 1 run in, with the bases loaded and just 1 out. That's when the TSN turning point took place. The next XMen batter tried to bloop a ball opposite field into right for what looked like a sure base hit, but Braves right fielder Neil Johnson sprinted in, and then flat out dived head first, making a sensational catch. Not only did his gem record the 2nd out of the inning, but the XMen baserunner at 3rd was so shocked, he didn't even have a chance to tag up from 3rd. Constantinos Gionas then reared back and struck out the next XMen batter, ending the inning and the threat, and keeping the score at 4-1 Braves after 5.
The 6th inning was where the Braves blew this one wide open. Joe Stephens led off with a sharp single to center, and quickly stole 2nd. Constantinos Gionas followed him up with a single and a stolen base of his own, and it was 2nd and 3rd, when Chris Frizzell singled on a ball just out in front off the plate, loading the bases on the infield hit. After an infield pop-up, Sean Clarke lined a single into left center, scoring 2 runs. Geoff Flannagan then drilled a double over the center fielder's head, scoring 2 more, and then followup RBI singles by Ken Lee and Mike Tavella rounded out the 6-run mercy inning. 10-1 Braves.
That would be more than enough for the fine Braves closer, as he shut down the XMen over the 6th and 7th innings on 4 strike-outs, and 6 for his 3 innings of work. Also notable in this one was Braves catcher Chris Frizzell throwing out 3 runners attempting to steal, which completely shut down the XMen running game.
Other notable stats from the Consolation Tournament's 4 games were Greg Froese picking up 3 wins, while giving up 0 earned runs and striking out 9 in his 6 innings of work; Mike Gionas, who appeared in 3 of the games, pitching 7 scoreless innings on just 2 hits and 3 walks; And Constantinos Gionas, who threw 9 innings, giving up just 2 runs in total, while striking out 14. On offense, the Braves averaged 9 runs per game, led by Constantinos Gionas who went 6/9 with 6 runs scored, 5 RBI, and 2 stolen bases in his 4 games; Regular season team batting leader Chris Frizzell continued his hot hitting going 6/13 with 5 runs scored and Gold Glove defense behind the plate; Greg Froese had 5 RBI, including 4 in one game; Ken Lee hit .444 with 2 booming doubles and a 3rd where he was called out on a close play at 2nd; Joe Stephens had a .571 on-base with 5 runs scored and 2 steals as the #2 hitter in the order; Geoff Flannagan led the team with 3 doubles in the 4 games, and 5 RBI; Sean Clarke hit .375 including a double that actually bounced off the top of the fence and bounced back in; Joe Rizzi led the team with 7 walks drawn for a .571 on-base, with 2 steals, including an improbable steal of 3rd base in the Final; And Mike Gionas scored 5 runs in the 3 games he served as the fill-in leadoff hitter;
The Braves final season record was 8-15-4, a record that doesn't come close to telling the full story of the fits this team gave many a BVB team over the course of the season. The Braves definately came on strong in the 2nd half, something they will use to build towards a contending 2011 season.
|
|
OUR HOUSE