Around the ABL: World Series!

The Montreal Bandits, winners of the ABL Championship last season, blew away their opponents this season en route to a 105-57 record, best in baseball. The Eureka Hornets surprised the league by going from worst to first and reached the World Series by beating the Maple Marauders in a dramatic, extra-inning seventh game. Now the Hornets look to leave a stinger in the Bandits great season. Will it be two in a row for Montreal? Or will Eureka pull off the upset? It's the Adult Baseball League World Series!

Joe Sharpe

October 21: Eureka 17, Montreal 6. The Hornets explode for eleven runs in the first two innings. Joe Sharpe caps a five-run first inning with a three-run homer: he later hits a second home run, a solo shot in the eighth. Leadoff man Clement Milford goes 4-for-6 with a home run and three runs scored. Austin Brown, who'd allowed only two runs over 16 post-season innings, gets knocked out of the game in the second inning having given up six runs. Eureka pounds out 20 hits and wallops the defending champs. Eureka leads the series, 1-0.

Raúl Pérez

October 22: Eureka 0, Montreal 11. The game begins as a pitchers' duel, with Raúl Pérez and Paul Green holding the game scoreless going into the bottom of the fifth—but that changes quickly. The Bandits score eight runs in the fifth: Eric Ware leads off the inning by getting hit by a pitch, then comes to the plate a second time and slugs a two-run home run. In the seventh, Ware hits another two-run homer. Pérez, meanwhile, pitches a six-hit shutout, striking out eight without walking a batter. Series tied, 1-1.

Tom Becker

October 24: Montreal 7, Eureka 4. Tom Becker goes 4-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI—giving him seven home runs and 18 RBI in these playoffs. Montreal leads the series, 2-1.

Scott
McGuicken

October 25: Montreal 2, Eureka 1. Back-of-the-rotation starters Mike Miller and Scott McGuicken hold these two high-powered offenses to three runs total. Miller allows only four hits, all singles, and three walks, but one of those singles drives in Tim Shields for the Bandits' first run and one of those walks comes with the bases loaded, driving in the second and deciding run. The Hornets only run comes after Jesús González doubles, advances to third on a ground out, and scores on a McGuicken wild pitch. McGuicken allows only one walk and six hits in eight innings of work. Montreal leads the series, 3-1.

Frank Moyer

October 26: Eureka 6, Montreal 2. The Bandits waste no time. In the top of the first inning, Tom Becker triples in Tim Shields, Jordan Borlase doubles in Becker, and Frank Moyer singles in Borlase. Moyer goes 2-for-4 and drives in three. Raúl Pérez, pitching on only four days rest, goes seven innings and allows only two unearned runs. In the fifth, Orlando Carranzo doubles and scores when third baseman Emílio Guerrero bobbles Eduardo Gómez's grounder. Later in the inning, Gómez scores on a Ronnie Wells single. Closer Joe Lowry pitches the eighth and ninth innings, retiring all six batters that he faces, and getting Jesús González to fly out to center field Bob Reece for the game's final out. Montreal wins the series, 4-1.

In a fiercely competitive league, to dominate the league and repeat as champion is no easy task. The Bandits were the best team over the regular season, winning 105 games when no other team won 95, and scoring more runs, 1087, than any team in baseball. In the playoffs, Montreal proved that they were the best team in all of baseball, winning 12 of 16 games.

Tom Becker hit .400 with 45 home runs and, despite missing five weeks of the season, has a real chance at being named MVP. Raúl Pérez went 18-8 with a 3.18 ERA, went 5-0 with a 1.97 ERA in the playoffs, and is the favorite to win the Clemente League Cy Young. Tim Shields and Robert Carr set the table by hitting .379 and .351. Second baseman Stanislav Izyurov hit .311 with 32 home runs. Eric Ware, obtained in the off-season from San Francisco, hit 34 home runs and drove in 108. Austin Brown led the league by winning 22 games and, in one the season's most amazing statistic, pitched 211 innings but walked only nine batters! General Manager Christian Latulippe pulled the trigger on the season's biggest trade, sending center fielder Gordon Thornton, reliever Ray Brady, and prospect Alfredo Villalobos to Las Vegas for starter Bob Rudyard, center fielder Bob Reece, and closer Chris Mills. The trade worked brilliantly as Rudyard went 8-0 with a 2.52 ERA for the Bandits. Joe Lowry held down the ninth inning, saving 37 games and striking out 90 in 76 innings of work.


Congratulations to the Montreal Bandits and General Manager Christian Latulippe on repeating as Adult Baseball League Champions!