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THE FRANCHISE
VALUE INCREASES Bidding to become "The CSA Franchise", The Franchise stepped up to the CSA upper level men's league and was able to capture their second CSA Men's Softball championship. After a first place regular season finish, The Franchise knew they would be tested in the playoffs. In the draw was second seed and three time champion Atlanta Auto Group, and last falls defending champion, ninth seeded, Ed Voyles Honda. Also along the way were Cup Check, the third seed with the leagues number one rated offense and American Golf, the fourth seed with the leagues number one rated defense. In the end, none of that mattered. The Franchise received a first round bye and ended up facing Ed Voyles Honda in the second round. Just coming off a win, Ed Voyles jumped out to an early lead on The Franchise and looked poised to pull off the upset. The Franchise trailed 8-3 going into the bottom of the fourth. In the inning they turned the whole game around. A 12 run rally gave them a 15-8 lead and The Franchise ending up advancing to the semi-finals 18-11. In the semis, they would get American Golf. In another tight contest, the squeaked by with an 11-9 victory to get to the championship game. They were aided by some good fortune when pitcher Mike Muzik got one American Golf's top hitters to strike out looking with a runner on in the seventh. The batter lost track of the count and Muzik was able to take advantage. The finals were no contest. The Franchise was warmed up and they took it right to a cold Cup Check squad. The score was 6-3 after two, and then The Franchise took away any doubt in the bottom of the third. They sent fourteen batters to the plate and put 10 runs on the board. Highlighted by Brad Hartman's two run homer, and extended to a 16-3 after three. They held Cup Check scoreless in the top of the fourth and simply needed two runs to end the game in the bottom of the inning. The Franchise got the two runs they needed and won the game by rule, 18-3. The win gave The Franchise a second men's softball championship (the first was 2002 Summer League at Frankie Allen) to go along with one Men's Flag Football championship (2003 Winter league). THE FRANCHISE
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