2009 SCCBA SEASON IN REVIEW

Palm Springs, CA – The Southern California Collegiate Baseball Association provided another successful run with some stern competition from the six teams in the league as the Palm Springs POWER defeated the Orange County Pioneers in the championship for their first outright SCCBA title. 

It was a storybook year for the league especially for a team like the Pioneers. The Pioneers started off the season 0-6 before they put it in gear and snatched up second place winning 10 of their last 14 games. 
The POWER came in as the heavy favorites in the conference, but for nearly half of the season the California Mariners were stepping on their toes. The POWER faced the Mariners in a two game set on the July 4th weekend inside Palm Springs Stadium. The POWER jumped out to a three game lead after defeating the Mariners in both games. The Mariners tumbled after their trip to Palm Springs and the POWER locked up the regular season title. 

As the Mariners started losing games the Pioneers had the opposite effect. The Pioneers were not originally thought to be a threat, but they made some late season acquisitions to poise them for a run in the SCCBA. They went from last to second place and gave the POWER their second and last loss in the conference. 

As the games drew to an end the Pioneers had one game left on the season and needed the win for a playoff spot. They won their last game and tied the Mariners in the conference standings. The Pioneers snuck ahead for the playoff spot after splitting with the Mariners, but they scored more runs in the four games played against each other for the tie breaker. 

The final weekend of play was a big weekend for not only the Mariners and Pioneers, but also the East L.A. Dodgers. The Dodgers had a tough task of trying to sweep the POWER for a spot in the playoffs. The POWER looked to play a new opponent come playoff time and crushed the Dodgers 20-0 and 11-6 to end their season. 

Teams like the Los Angeles Thrashers and Trombly Thunder finished under .500 for the year, but were tough teams winning seven conference games each. 

SCCBA action will be on hiatus until next June and will look to have even fiercer competition next year.