The Peakes Bombers are returning to the Kings County Baseball League finals and for the first time in eleven years the Morell Chevies are not.
The Bombers defeated the Morell Chevies 5-3 to sweep their best of five semi-finals in three straight games. It was a solid team effort from the Bombers getting key hits from throughout the line-up. They scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to erase a 3-1 Chevie lead. Josh Coffin was the winning pitcher. Neal Morrison continues to have a good series as he started the sixth inning rally with a lead-off single. Matt MacDonald also had a big RBI in the rally.
The Bombers will now wait for the winner of the Stratford-Northside series which has been a dandy.
Stratford Pharmacy Athletics earned a 2-1 series lead over Northside with a dramatic 6-5 win in Stratford.
The Athletics scored four run in their last at bat for the win. The Athletics were one out away from defeat but Shawn MacDougall hit a three run homer to tie the game. A single, stolen base and an RBI single by John Walsh gave Stratford the win and the series lead. Game four takes place this Thursday evening in Morell at 6:30.
On Tuesday Morning September 11th, 2001, terrorists attacked the United States with casualties numbering in the thousand. That following weekend, Morell Chevies started their best of seven finals against the Cardigan Clippers. They went on to play in ten straight KCBL finals and their streak came to an end 10 years later on September 11th.
The Chevies were a dynasty that may never be matched again in this league or any other league for a long time to come. In 2002 they won their first of three straight titles. A lot of their players were reaching the prime of their careers. Players like Grant Doyle, Troy Coffin, Jarrod Laybolt, Desi Doyle and Derrick Plaggenhoef. All five were first team all stars at their position. Laybolt was the best hitter in the game. Grant Doyle and Troy Coffin were maybe the best pitchers in the league. Desi Doyle was an all star catcher and always hit well over .400. Of all these players, the best clutch hitter to play the game especially in the play-offs was Derrick Plaggenhoef.
The Chevies won in 2002 and 2003 with ease and again in 2004 but the Peakes Bombers won twice in the 2004 finals. In 2005, Peakes defeated the Chevies in the seventh game of the finals in Morell. The Chevies won another four straight after that. As they became a little older Morell found different ways to win. In 2007 they came back seven runs down to the Bombers to win an important game five and won the championship in game six at Peakes. Last year they fought back being down three games to one to Stratford before taking the title with three straight wins.
Last week’s Play-off Trivia... When was the last time the Bombers and Chevies met in the semi-finals and what were the results?
In the semi-finals of 1997, the fourth place Chevies loss the first game of the semi-finals to Peakes. They won the next three to win in four games
This week’s Play-off trivia... Who are the Morell Chevies players who have played in every year of their their ten year run in the finals from 2001 to 2010?