2017 CCJBL LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

This Week In CCJBL Baseball!!!

Monday July 3, 2017

Chadwick Silver Streaks @ Mt. Carroll Hawks, Point Rock Park

The CCJBL tournament kicked off this past Monday with sixth seeded Chadwick travelling to Mt. Carroll to take on the talented, third-ranked Hawks. "Old Hoss" Radbourn got the manager's nod to assume the pitching duties for the Hawks. The opposing hurler was ace Jered Weaver. Both pitchers allowed a pair of baserunners in the first but escaped unscathed.

The Streaks got on the scoreboard first in the top of the second when Radbourn walked Reggie Sanders to start the inning. Sanders swiped second base against Mt. Carroll catcher Jack Lapp and scored later in the frame on a Garrett Kness single. The Hawks batters struck for three runs in the bottom of the third off of, however. A Willie Wells doubled scored one and Todd Benzinger also doubled to drive in two.

Chadwick was not done yet, though! With stud "Nuke" Laloosh on the hill relieving Radbourn, The Silver Streaks managed to load the bases and then tie the game with a two-run single to left by Hank Bauer. They were back in the game... but not for long. The Hawks bats exploded in the bottom of the inning scoring four off of Charlie Root and Stevie Karsay. The big blow in the inning came off of the bat of Mikey Moustakas, who crushed a Karsay fastball far over the chain link! Laloosh shut down the Streaks in the sixth and Mt. Carroll earned a first-round tournament victory!

Final Score: Mt. Carroll 7, Chadwick 3

Chadwick Performance Highlights
Kness 2-3, RBI
Bauer 1-2, 2 RBI
Weaver 3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, K
Root L, 1 IP, 3 ER, 4 H
Karsay 1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, K

Mt. Carroll Performance Highlights
Wells 2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 2B
Jackson 1-1, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB
Trout 1-3, R, K
Benzinger 1-3, 2 RBI, 2B
Moustakas 1-3, R, 3 RBI, HR
Radbourn 3 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, K
LaLoosh 3 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Shannon Eagles @ Lanark Beavers, Eastland H.S.

Lanark, the four seed, sent Chuck Finley to the bump to take on the number 5 Eagles, who gave the pitching nod to electric Kenny DeNunez.

"Pinky" Higgins got the scoring going for Lanark in the bottom of the second when he led off with a ringing double, advanced to third on a Adrian Gonzalez error, and scored on a Cooper Pauley liner to right. Shannon struck back quickly in the top of the third when superstar right fielder Roberto Clemente lined one deep into the cornfield to tie things up!

Johnny Ward singled off of DeNunez to lead off the top of the third, managed to swipe second despite the rifle arm of Bill Dickey, and scored on Craig Grebeck's sharp base hit. A two-run base hit by Tony Gwynn off of reliever Larry French in the fifth staked Lanark to a commanding 4-1 lead.

But Shannon was not dead yet! Fireballer David Price got into serious trouble when he allowed a single to Clemente, Gonzalez reached on a Chris Iannetta miscue, and the lefty walked Monte Irvin. Dickey scored one with a one-out single! But Price settled in after that, retiring Chip Hale and French to finish off the first round playoff victory.

Final Score: Lanark 4, Shannon 2

Shannon Performance Highlights
White 2-3, SB, K
Clemente 3-3, 2 R, RBI, HR
Dickey 1-2, RBI, BB
DeNunez L, 4 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 K
French 1 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 H

Lanark Performance Highlights
Ward 1-3, R, SB
Grebeck 2-3, R, RBI,
Higgins 1-3, R, K, 2B
Gwynn 1-3, 2 RBI
Pauley 1-2, RBI
Finley W, 3 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Dean 2 IP, 2 H, K
Price S, 1 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, K


Lanark Beavers vs. Savanna Indians, Handle Park

The scene now shifts to historic Handel Park for the rest of the tournament and the first contest on that hallowed field pitted Lanark against number one seeded and favorite Savanna in the first semi-final. After their victory over Shannon two days prior, the Beavers sent Jay "Dizzy" Dean to the bump to oppose Indians ace Greg Maddux! That's a tasty pitching matchup!

Both hurlers cruised through the first two innings unscathed, neither encountering a serious challenge from the opposing batters. Things took a turn for the worse for Savanna in the top of the third, however, when Josh Hamilton crushed a dinger into the playground off of Maddux to drive in Craig Grebeck for a two run lead! An RBI sac fly by John Ward in the fourth make things even more grim for the Indians and their fans as they now faced a 3-0 deficit. Things looked bleak for Savanna.

But Dean got into trouble in the bottom of the fifth. 'Windy" McCall and Frankie Frisch reached on one-out back-to-back singles, which resulted in Dean being pulled in favor of David Price, who immediately walked "Pee Wee" Reese to load them up. Mickey Mantle shortened up and dropped a base knock in to right, scoring McCall. Price then struck out Mikey Kingery for the second out. Hector Espino then tied the game up with a two- out line drive to center! Not done yet, the Indians scored again on a Colin Cowgill single for a 4-3 advantage!

McCall looked to shut the Beavers down in the sixth to secure the victory but allowed two hits with one out to place runners on first and third. He was relieved of his pitching duties and it now fell to "Candy" Cummings to save the game. Hamilton put a scare into the Indians when he was retired on a line shot and Enos Slaughter popped up harmlessly to end the game. Savanna had narrowly escaped.with the 4-3 victory and the Beavers were done for the season.

Final Score: Savanna 4, Lanark 3

Lanark Performance Highlights
Ward 1-3, SAC fly, RBI
Grebeck 3-4, R
Hamilton 1-4. R, 2 RBI, Hr
Gwynn 2-3
Dean 4 1/3, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 5 K
Price L, 2/3, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, 2 K

Savanna Performance Highlights
Frisch 1-3, R
Reese 0-2, R, BB, K
Mantle 1-2, R, RBI, BB, K
Espino 1-2, 2 RBI BB, K
Cowgill 1-2, RBI, K
Maddux 4 1/3. 3 ER, 8 H, BB, 6 K
McCall 1-1, R: Pitching W, 1 IP, 2 H, BB, K
Cummings S, 2/3 IP

Mt. Carroll Hawks vs. Milledgeville Missiles, Handel Park

The second semi-final of the evening featured two quirky, but very effective, young moundsmen. Mt. Carroll put their tournament fate on the rocket right arm of "Nuke" LaLoosh, while the Missiles turned to Fernando Valenzuela to see them through.

The Hawks were the first to blink in the third inning when Valenzuela reached on an error to lead off and moved to second when LaLoosh walked Rickey Henderson. Ewart "Dixie" Walker then drove in the first run with a single, moving Henderson to third. Eric Mcnair grounded out for the second out and Henderson was thrown out on an ill-advised steal of home to end the inning.

Mike Trout crushed the first Valenzuela pitch of the next inning to tie things up at one run apiece, and that was the way things stayed until the sixth when Henderson made a crucial miscue on a Austin Jackson fly ball to lead off the inning with Ray Brown now on the mound to relieve Valenzuela. Trout was up next and promptly singled to drive Jackson home and then moved to third on a Mikey Moustakas hit. Todd Benzinger drove in Trout with a sacrifice fly to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Hawks.

Charles Radbourn, who had squelched a bases loaded threat in the fifth looked to do the same against the Missiles sluggers in the sixth. He gave up a single to Martin Dihigo start the frame. After a ground out by Kirk Manwaring moved Dihigo to second, Jarrod Dyson singled to centerfield but Trout, seemingly doing everything for the Hawks in this game, gunned Dihigo down at the plate for the second out, killing any Missile momentum John Kruk grounded out weakly to end the game and Milledgeville's season.

Final Score: Mt. Carroll 3, Milledgeville 1

Milledgeville Performance Highlights
Walker 1-3, RBI
Dihigo 1-3, 2 K
Valenzuela 0-1, R: Pitching 5 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, BB, 4 K
Brown L, 1 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 H

Mt. Carroll Performance Highlights
Trout 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, K, HR, OF Assist
Moustakas 2-3, E
Benzinger 0-2, RBI, K, Sac Fly
LaLoosh 4 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, H, 2 BB, 2 K
Vander Meer 1/3, H, 2 BB
Radbourn W, 1 2/3, 2 H, K

Friday July 5, 2017

Mt. Carroll Hawks Vs. Savanna Indians, Handel Park

And then there were two! Mt. Carroll looked to pull the upset by counting on the big arm and bat of Mike Trout. Savanna hoping their ace pitching staff could shut down the upstart Hawks.

"Candy" Cummings got the nod to start for Savanna and after giving up a leadoff single to Willie Wells, he retired the next three in succession. Johnny Vander Meer needed to retire at least two batters to reach his inning pitched for the week, so the Hawks manager elected to start him and get that requirement out of the way. Vander Meer proved to be not terribly effective. After striking out Frankie Frisch he allowed "Pee Wee" Reese to reach on a walk and then served up a monster home run to Mickey Mantle to make the score 2-0 in favor of Savanna. Vander Meer did finish the inning with no further damage and was done for the day, relieved in the second by LaLoosh.

The score did not change until the bottom of the third when Savanna struck again, getting to LaLoosh on a Hector Espino base hit that scored Mantle. Things were all but over with when Greg Maddux took the mound to replace Cummings. It was quickly apparent Maddux had the good stuff. He allowed just one baserunner over the next three innings for the save. The Indians scored one more in their half of the fifth to seal the deal and bring a tournament championship to the Savanna!

Final score: Savanna 4, Mt. Carroll 0

Mt. Carroll Performance Highlights
Wells, Moustakas, Trout 1-3
Baez 1-2
Vander Meer L, 1 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, BB, K
LaLoosh 3 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K
Radbourn IP, ER, 2 H, K

Savanna Performance Highlights
Reese 1-2, R, RBI, BB, E, SB
Mantle 1-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, K, HR
Kingery 2-3
Espino 1-3, RBI
Cummings W, 3 IP, 3 H
Maddux S, 3 IP, H, 4 K