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DAY OF
DOMINANCE Three down, seven to go. D.O.D. (Decade of Dominance) pulls out a heart stopping last inning victory over It's All About the Beer to win their third CSA weekend co-ed softball championship in as many years. In the 2001 Spring Saturday league, IRFA, and individual team created by CSA and captained by Adam Klein won three games in a one day playoff, including a championship game victory over It's All About the Beer, for their first CSA title. In the 2002 Spring/Summer Saturday league the core group was kept together and the Loaded Bats became the first team in CSA history to lose a playoff game and still win a championship. In the first co-ed double elimination playoff, Loaded Bats lost their opening game, then swept five straight games, including a championship game victory over It's All About the Beer. In the 2003 Spring Saturday league, D.O.D. was going for three in three (wins in years). This time they would have to survive an 18 team league and once again win three games in one day. 16 of the 18 teams qualified for the post-season tournament. In the first round their were no surprises as all eight top seeds, including fourth seeded D.O.D., advanced. The first round victories set up several intriguing match-ups for the quarter-finals and semi-finals. In the quarter-finals, D.O.D. faced the fifth seed, Poppin Wood, on "Little Fenway". In control the whole game, Klein's crew cruised to victory behind Mark Bryant's pitching and advanced 12-6. This set up a match-up with eighth seeded Team Roger, who was coming off an upset of the top seed, five time defending champion, Peaked In High School. This game turned out to be a classic. Trailing 3-1 going into the bottom of the fourth, D.O.D. put on a championship rally. They plated nine runs to take a 10-3 lead. Team Roger did not go away though. In the top of the next inning, TR cut into the lead on a two out three run inside the park homer by Darren Ross. The score remained 10-6 going into the seventh. Just when it looked like it was over for TR and D.O.D. would advance to the finals, TR made an exciting rally. With two runners on and Ross up, Darren hit his second two out three run inside the park homer to pull Team Roger to 10-9. The very next batter, Charles Brown, did it the easy way. Charles took the first pitch and planted it over the right-field fence for a game tying solo homerun. With the score tied at 10, D.O.D. simply needed one run in the bottom of the seventh to move on. Leadoff hitter Steve Swaney took care of that. Swaney hit a rope into the gap in right center, and when the relay throw went astray, Swaney was able to score from third with the winning run. This advanced D.O.D. to the finals to face their old nemesis, seventh seed It's All About the Beer. The final game was a classic, and a front-runner for 2003 Game of the Year. D.O.D. went to the bullpen for the title game and Jeff Bryant took his brother Mark's place on the mound. The move worked, Jeff put IAAB down in order in the top of the first. D.O.D. then jumped out in the bottom of the inning. Adam Klein led off with a single, and advanced to third on Jeff Bryant's single. Adrienne Walker hit into an unusual fielder's choice, 8-6 (left-center to shortstop) that erased Bryant at second, but scored Klein with the games first run. Steve Swaney followed with sacrifice fly that advanced Walker to second, and she scored on Mark Bryant's single. At the end of the inning, D.O.D. led 2-0. IAAB responded right away to the jabs they took in the first. A two run homer tied the game after an inning and a half. It looked like D.O.D. would bounce right back. They had the bases loaded with one out when lady luck smiled on their opponent. A line shot up the middle off the bat of Billy Mallon deflected off of the pitcher's glove, right into the shortstops mitt. What should have been a two run single turned into an inning ending double play. The score was 2-2 after two. That was the score at the end of the third inning as well. In the fourth the momentum swung again. IAAB plated three runs in the top of the inning after an error and a walk put the two leadoff runners on. The runs stood up and the score was 5-2 going into the fifth because D.O.D. stranded runners on second and third after putting them their with one out. In the fifth D.O.D made the critical comeback. In the top of the inning, they got a line-out to Bryant at pitcher and he turned that into an inning ending double play. In the bottom of the fifth they rallied to tie the game. A one out error put Mallon on and a single by Klein made it first and second with one out. After a fly out, Walker got her second RBI of the game with a single that scored Mallon (her husband by the way) and moved Klein to third. Swaney followed with an RBI single to make it first and second and Mark Bryant followed with another single that scored Walker to tie the game. After five innings, it was tied at five. It's All About the Beer reclaimed the lead in the top of the sixth with one run, but it could have been much more. D.O.D. was saved by a spectacular fielding play in right center by Adrienne Walker. With two outs and one runner on, a liner looked like it was headed into the gap for extra bases. On the run, Walker snagged the shot and kept her team down by only one run. In the bottom of the inning D.O.D. was unable to score to tie the game. The got one runner on, but couldn't move anyone past first base. The score remained 6-5 entering the final inning with D.O.D. trailing. In the top of the seventh, D.O.D. got some more great defensive support. Susan Fore made a diving catch in right field, taking a double away from the leadoff batter. After a groundout to the pitcher, D.O.D. got another great play from Adrienne Walker. IAAB got a two out single, but when the batter tried to extend the hit, he was thrown out when Walker threw a strike to Brian Carroll at second to erase the runner. The defense gave D.O.D. one final chance to capture their third title. After two batters, it looked bleak. Mallon and Klein both made outs and D.O.D. was down to their final out. Jeff Bryant hit a pop up that found a hole between shortstop and leftfield for a two out double. Then Walker drew a walk to make it first and second and put the winning run on base. Next up was the semi-final hero, Steve Swaney. Just like in that game, Swaney hit a liner into the gap in right-center. The ball just eluded the IAAB outfielder and rolled to the fence. The double scored Bryant with the tying run and Walker all the way from first with the championship winning run. The incredible seventh inning comeback gave the D.O.D. franchise it's third CSA championship and was the fifth time the It's All About the Beer lost in a title game. The championship game co-MVP's were Steve Swaney and Adrienne Walker. Swaney went 2-4 with two runs batted in, including the game winner, Walker was 1-3with walk, two runs scored, and two runs batted in. The offense went along with her defense where she recorded two putouts and one assist in right-centerfield. Click here for the Championship Game Boxscore D.O.D.
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