66'ers Baseball - 2008

September 18, 2006
Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Visalia
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 0
Inland Empire
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 X 2 9 0
wrap | box | log
W: J. Lockwood (1-0, 0.00); L: R. De Los Santos (0-1, 1.59); SV: J. De La Cruz (1)
HR: INL: J. Womack (1).

2006 Championship

September 18,2006

Thank you all for praying all of your prayers were answered Yes..and God received the Glory.

Mumba Rivera pitched shutout baseball..

Josh Womack our Chapel Leader hit a home run

Young Dominican..That I told today 'Al otra vez por Jesus' won the game with a double..

I met with the evolutionist Jon Lockwood before the game and told him that God if he drew near would reveal his love for him in a new way tonight and he would experience his presence..threw the best he has ever pitched 2 Scoreless innings's.

In All these things seeds were planted and watered for the kingdom as faith builders for these young men for they knew you were praying for them...

The Christian pitching Coach Scott Under shed tears of joy of how God blessed them.

God is so God..Not unto us Oh Lord Not unto us but to thy name be the Glory..

Agape,

Inland Empire strikes back for Cal title
Limonta plays hero again, smacking RBI double to best Visalia in Game 5
By Michael Echan / Special to MLB.com


Johan Limonta's eighth-inning double scored the go-ahead run as Inland Empire beat visiting Visalia, 2-1, on Monday to win the California League championship.
With the score tied, 1-1, Limonta played hero for the 66ers for the second night in a row when his two-out double off Richard De Los Santos scored Reed Eastley from first base. The 23-year-old designated hitter also slugged a three-run homer in Game 4 on Sunday to force the decisive finale.

Inland Empire scored its first run in the fifth when Josh Womack ripped a line drive into right field that rattled around long enough for him to round the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

Four 66ers pitchers combined on a five-hitter, beginning with Mumba Rivera, who gave up two hits and a walk while striking out four over four scoreless frames.

After Ivan Blanco yielded a run on a hit and two walks over two innings, Jon Lockwood (2-0) tossed two perfect frames for the win. Jose De La Cruz allowed two hits in a scoreless ninth, striking out the last batter to nab his second postseason save and secure the championship.

Visalia starter Derek Feldkamp surrendered one run on six hits and a walk while striking out one in 5 1/3 innings. He left with runners on first and second in the sixth, but De Los Santos fanned two straight batters to end the threat.

The Oaks tied it in the sixth on John Jaso's sacrifice fly. With runners on second and third and one out, the Nuts had a chance to take the lead later in the inning, but Josh Arhart fouled out and center fielder Brent Johnson made a diving catch in shallow center to rob Josh Asanovich of a potential go-ahead hit.

De Los Santos (0-1) gave up a run on three hits while fanning two in 2 2/3 innings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2006


Sixers win against all odds
Pete Marshall, Staff Writer



SAN BERNARDINO - The season began with a lot of promise, with a roster filled with prospects.

It ended in the final game with a reliever (Mumba Rivera) making his first spot-start of the season and throwing four shutout innings, and a 2006 draft pick (Johan Limonta) driving in the go-ahead run.

It was quite a ride for the 2006 66ers, who won San Bernardino's fifth California League championship, joining the 1995, 1999, 2000 and 2003 teams.

"This team overcame the odds, but the thought was, maybe it spent all of its odds overcoming the odds," said Sixers broadcaster Mike Saeger, a witness to all five titles. "Of the five league champions, I think this team had a little bit more to overcome."

The Sixers won the first-half South Division title in dramatic fashion. The schedule didn't have every team ending the first half on the same day. When the Mavericks, after their 70th game, held a half-game lead over the Sixers, the Sixers thought they were out of the playoffs based on a tiebreaker.

But the league changed its ruling and determined that ties had to be broken on the field. The Sixers won one game against the Mavericks to force the tie-breaker game, then won another to win the first half. Both of those games were at Arrowhead Credit Union Park, where the 2006 team set record for home wins (46).

"Of course when we began the season, I said I couldn't have hand picked a better team for the first half," said manager Gary Thurman, who earned the league co-manager of the year honors. "Then we lost a lot of them, and it made it tough."

By the second week in July, the Sixers had lost four everyday position players: (outfielder Mike Wilson, first baseman Marshall Hubbard, second baseman Yung Chi Chen and shortstop Matt Tuiasosopo), plus standout starting pitchers Robert Rohrbaugh and Julio Santiago, and the backbone of the bullpen: Stephen Kahn, Mark Lowe and Eric O'Flaherty. Key veterans like Erick Monzon, Matt Rogelstad, and Luis Oliveros, who spent time in San Bernardino, also were gone.

All but Santiago (season-ending injury) were promoted to Double-A San Antonio, and Lowe and O'Flaherty have since pitched in the big leagues for the Mariners.

In all, 54 different players played for the Sixers at some point during the season, and the second half was spent trying to get a team to gel and get some momentum heading into the playoffs.

It looked like any chance for playoff momentum was gone when the Sixers were swept in a regular-season ending four-game series at home by Lake Elsinore,

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which won the second-half title.

"We had a lot on the line," Thurman said of the Lake Elsinore series. "We wanted home-field advantage."

The Sixers didn't as Lake Elsinore eliminated the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. The teams played three straight one-run games to start the series, then the Sixers rallied from a 5-0 deficit in Game 4 to win the series, 3-1.

"Once we got past Lake Elsinore and were going to play Visalia, I thought we were going to win," Thurman said. "We were very rested and they had tough travel. Visalia had only three lefties and one switch hitter, and they had no lefties on the bench. It was a better matchup against Visalia."

It didn't look like a forgone conclusion, however. Visalia led in the series 2-1 before the Sixers rallied from a 1-0 fifth-inning deficit in Game 4 and went on to win 8-2. Limonta's hit in the eighth inning of Game 5 scored Reed Eastley and snapped a 1-1 tie in an eventual 2-1 win.

Down the stretch of the regular season and in the playoffs, Thurman recognized two players in particular who improved: shortstop Jeff Dominguez and catcher Omar Falcon.

Dominguez had his 20th birthday during the season and looked overmatched in batting .245 and making 23 errors in 46 regular season Cal League games, but didn't make any errors and batted .290 in the playoffs. Falcon, a backup for most of the year, became a leader with the bat and glove late in the season.

One of the mainstays for the team was outfielder Brent Johnson, who was the Championship Series MVP. He led all league outfielders in fielding percentage and also filled in at third base and first base.

The pitching was solid all year. Starting pitchers Justin Thomas and late-season trade acquisition Andy Baldwin flourished down the stretch and in the playoffs, and the bullpen, anchored by closer Jose De La Cruz was dependable.

Of course, Sixers fans might not see any of these players in a home uniform next year as they might switch affiliations from the Mariners to the Dodgers.

"This was a great place to manage," Thurman said. "I'd really love to be back."

Hunter Brown 3B Key Player in Championship Run

2005 Now with AAA Tacoma Rainiers

SEPTEMBER 7, 2003

Sixers to play for Cal League title

 

Bott holds Quakes to six hits in eight innings to lead San Bernardino to 7-5 South Division-clinching win.

 

By MICHELLE GARDNER, Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO -

 

 All season, Glenn Bott has been Mr. Reliable for the Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino. He finished the regular season with a record of 7-7 but boasted an ERA of 3.16 that was third-lowest in the league.

So when the Sixers dropped Game 3 of the South Division championship series to Rancho Cucamonga on Monday, manager Steve Roadcap was not worried.

He had Bott on the mound as his team tried to close out the series for the second time Tuesday.

Bott delivered with a season-best eight innings in which he held the Quakes to six hits and three runs while striking out 10 as the Sixers disposed of Rancho Cucamonga 7-5 at Arrowhead Credit Union Park to win the best-of-five series three games to one.

"He's been a big game pitcher, no doubt,' Roadcap said. "He's been a guy that has always stepped up when we needed him. He gave another great effort tonight and we got some offense to back him up.'

The Sixers will open play in the California League championship series Thursday against either Visalia or Stockton. That series is tied 2-2 with the deciding game being played tonight. The first two games of the championship series Thursday and Friday will be played at Arrowhead Credit Union Park.

The Sixers will be going for their third championship in five years, having won consecutive titles in 1999 and 2000 under the Stampede moniker.

"This feels kind of weird right now,' Bott said as his teammates celebrated around him. "I'm excited and glad to be going to the championship series. Wow.'

Bott had allowed only two runs heading into the ninth, which started with the Sixers holding a 7-2 lead. But Roadcap pulled Bott after he walked the leadoff hitter on four pitches. The crowd of 1,033 stood and applauded his effort.

The finish proved eventful as the bullpen faltered again as Emiliano Fruto allowed Bott's walked runner to score, then gave up two more. The Quakes actually had the tying runs on base and a go-ahead run at the plate in Ryan Budde, but Jared Thomas put out the fire and got Budde to ground out to second.

"It was nice to win this so we have a day off,' Roadcap said. "We can sit back and regroup and get ready for the series because it is going to be another tough one.'

It looked like wasted opportunities were going to cost the Sixers in the early going. Roadcap's squad loaded the bases in the first two innings off Rancho Cucamonga starter Jesse Smith, but the Quakes failed to scored in either inning because of double plays.

Despite managing four hits, two walks and a hit batter, the Sixers found themselves trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the third.

Meanwhile, the first-half champion Quakes capitalized on their only opportunity early.

Jason Aspito was hit with a pitch and he moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Brian Esposito. Nick Kimpton popped up a bunt attempt but Ransel Melgarejo walked and both runners scored when Tommy Murphy lined a double for Rancho Cucamonga's first hit of the game.

The Sixers retaliated right away with two runs in the third although the damage could have been greater. Shin-Soo Choo and John Castellano both singled. Brown then laid down a sacrifice bunt that was fielded by Quakes third baseman Mike Eylward whose throw to first pulled Casey Kotchman off the bag.

Choo eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Matt Rogelstad and Castellano raced home on a single by Cristian Guerrero, making it 2-2.

Melgarejo then made the first of two spectacular diving catches in center field. This one robbed Eddie Menchaca of a hit and the Sixers of two runs.

But the Sixers picked up where they left off in the fourth, aided by two errors on Rancho Cucamonga reliever David Wolensky, who entered to start the inning. Castellano drove home one run with a single, giving him eight RBI in the playoffs and Guerrero dove home two with a double that made it 6-2.

Menchaca rounded out the scoring for the Sixers with a run-scoring single in the seventh.

Guerrero went 3-for-3 and now is 12-for-26 (.462) and leading the league in hits in the playoffs. He had four hits in the first-round opener against Lake Elsinore.

"I am really trying to focus and concentrate more,' Guerrero said. "It is nice to be able to do it for my team and help my team.'

The Sixers front office offered to get the team champagne to celebrate its berth in the championship series but Roadcap said that was not necessary. He wants it to aspire to win a league title, not just merely make it to the championship series.

"I want to keep them hungry,' he said. "It's better that we wait and make that the ultimate goal. You shouldn't be happy getting there.'

66ers notes

With the Sixers having lost Game 3 on Monday, first base coach Henry Cotto returned his duties of taking the lineup card to home plate. John Castellano had the honors the last game of the regular season and the Sixers responded with a 16-0 victory. So he took it up every game until the Sixers lost, making it five consecutive before the loss, four of them coming to start the playoffs.

The Sixers played errorless defense behind Glenn Bott and now have committed just six miscues in the past 150 innings. They had stretches of 65 and 48 innings without an error.