by Evan Guy
1 April 2307
Season Pass Association Tournament Ends with Thriller
The final game of the 2307 tournament was a 14-inning thriller, as the 7th-seeded Echo Lake Harbormen of the Vim! League defeated the 10th-seeded Quantum Nukalurks of the Nuka World League, 7-4. It marked the second Season Pass Association Tournament championship for the Harbormen. Each team had won the tournament once before: Echo Lake in 2303 and Quantum in 2304. Echo Lake is the first two-time champion of the tournament.
The game marked the third meeting of the teams in the tournament. In the first round, the Harbormen defeated the Nukalurks, 2-0. Quantum then moved to the Loser's Bracket, where it reeled off six-straight wins, including downing #2 Cherry and #1 Dalton Farm in back-to-back games, to advance to the finals.
In the finals, the Nukalurks needed two victories. They got the first victory over Echo Lake, 4-0, before the last game with a winner-take-all format was played yesterday. Let's look at how that third and final matchup went.
The Harbormen struck first in the game, scoring two in the top of the 3rd. Stone Wall led off with a single off Quantum SP Danny Cautious. With two outs and Wall on third, Witcher Craft singled him in. Craft then stole second scored on Chris Dominoes' RBI single.
Trailing 3-0 entering the bottom of the 6th, the Nukalurks finally got on the board, taking a 4-3 lead in the inning. Echo Lake SP Jason Woods walked Signal Frummy to start the inning. Jason Love then doubled, sending Frummy to third. With one out, Cheap Diehl singled in Frummy to make it 3-1. Garrett Roseclip then doubled, scoring Love and putting runners at second and third with one out. Nate Beech was intentionally walked to load the bases, followed by Joe Ransom's RBI single to tie the game, 3-3. With two outs and the bases still loaded, Woods threw a wild pitch, allowing Roseclip to score the go-ahead run.
After Echo Lake scored in the top of the 8th to allow the game to go to extra innings, the three-run 14th happened. The Harbormen finished with 18 hits but did not get their first extra-base hit until the deciding 14th inning. With RP Fussy Russ Robinson on the mound for Quantum, the Harbormen quickly got their first two men out. Craft then hit a two-out double to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Dominoes then singled in Craft for the 5-4 advantage, followed by a Chris Knickerbocker double. After Scott Canada came on in relief, Edgar Virus hit a two-RBI single for the 7-4 final.
Craft was named Gamed MVP, going 4 for 7 with a double, two runs, and an RBI. Dominoes added three hits and three RBI. Steve Wallace and Diehl each had three hits for the Nukalurks. Quantum committed four errors on the day.