Chandler National South: July 2009

It's over...darn...it's over. Chandler National was knocked out of the All Stars in a tough loss to Canyon del Oro (CDO) in the state semi-finals. Chandler fought a hard battle through Seven innings and came up a little short. It was tough to listen to the loss here out of town, so I can imagine the feelings and anxiety there at the field. My prayers go to Bower's grandmother who felt ill during the game with the excessive heat. On a day here in Seattle which was the hottest ever on record, this semi final match up was even hotter. The extra inning game was tough. The team by now is probably at the Bower's celebrating what could have been, relishing the highlights, and trying to forget the mishaps. One thing is for sure, Chandler gave us some exciting baseball to follow. So I will try to again recount the game based on notes by phone and text messages. No disclaimers, no nonsense, this is my final blog on this All Star season.

Chandler won the toss this time and played as the home team. Huck took the mound for the start. The first two batters reached based before Kyle settled in to strike out the next three. Chandler started off the bottom of the first with their usual top of the order, Christian, Devin, and Kyle. Christian reached base and scored on a later hit by Micah. On the same play Huck was thrown out at home for the second out. Chandler batted five in the inning and took an early 1-0 lead.

Chandler's tough defense continued into the second, as they recorded a 1-2-3 inning. The bottom of the second for Chandler was equally tough with Jake grounding out, Tyler Wenninger walking, followed by, a fly out by Ben and a Doc strikeout. The second inning ended with Chandler still on top with a 1-0 lead.

CDO got on the board in the third. The lead off batter walked, then with one out, a hard hit fly ball to right fell in. The result was runners on first and third with one out. Chandler almost got out of it with a double play on an infield hit, but Chandler only got the runner out at second and the runner on third scored to tie the game. Any further damage, was stopped when a grounder back to the pitcher, Huck, was fielded and thrown to first for the third out. Chandler's top of the lineup compiled for three ground outs and a walk to end the third. At the end of 3, game was tied 1-1.

Scoring continued in the fourth for both teams. First in the top half, CDO singled to right. After a couple outs, another single scored the go ahead run and put Canyon del Oro up 2-1. Chandler answered in the bottom of the fourth, with a single by Brandon Williams and a double by Chris Williams. After a strikeout for out number two, Tyler Emery came to the plate and ripped a single, scoring Doc, who was running for Brando. Also trying to score from second was Chris S.I. Williams, but he was thrown out at the plate. Chandler could only tie the game at 2.

The fifth inning was as equally dramatic as the fourth. Huck was still on the mound for Chandler and struck out the first batter, but back to back singles had Canyon threatening with runners on the corners with one out. A ground rule double scored one to break the tie. CDO now had runners on second and third with two outs when a walk was issued. With bases loaded and two down, Chandler made a great play to get the ground out to end the inning and the scoring. Chandler batted in the bottom of the fifth trailing by one. Christian lined out for the first out, then Bower grounded into a 4-3 out. 2 out rally time...Huck got things started with a hit to left, followed by a hard hit to short by Micah leaving both runners safe. Then Tyler Watson reach base on an error and Huck scored to tie the game. The inning ended on a 6-3 ground out by Jake Wong. End of 5, scored tied at 3.

The starting pitchers were now done. Chandler went with Tyler Watson in relief of Huck. Canyon's lead off batter reached base on a dropped ball in left. The next batter lined out leaving the runner at first. Then Chandler picked off the runner on a steal attempt to record the second out. Tyler Watson got the next batter to go 6-3 to end the top half of the sixth. Chandler also faced a new pitcher in the bottom of the sixth. Chandler fans, myself included, were certainly hoping for a bottom of the sixth win. Things got exciting after the first two batters popped out and grounded out. Tyler Emery and Christian both walked, but Devin's hit to the second baseman drew the third out and forced the game to extra innings.

Chandler stayed with Watson to start the seventh. A lead off single was followed up by a 2 run home run for Canyon del Oro, pushing their lead to 5-3. Tyler struck out the next two and got the third out on a grounder to Huck at first. Chandler now had their work cut out for them in the bottom of the seventh down by two. They would not go easy. Huck struck out to start the inning, but Micah got a walk. Tyler Watson then struck out. Jake Wong then singled to right and with an error, Micah scored to cut the lead to one. Jake made it to third on a pass ball. Chris Williams continued the hopes with a Base on Balls. Chandler had runners at the corners and two outs. Ben Murray had a great at bat, taking it to a full count and fouling off a couple. Ben's line drive was fielded by Canyon del Oro for the final out. The final score was Canyon del Oro 5 and Chandler National 4.

The 5-4 loss is a tough one, but the team played their hearts out. Thanks to the coaches, players, parents, and fans for making this a great All Star appearance for the boys from Chandler National.

Thanks for reading...first time blogger...Todd Waaramaa.