The POWER ran away with the regular season crown, going 19-1 in league play, but the So Cal Athletics, LA Thrashers, and Azusa Pirates duked it out for the #2 seed. The Athletics won their first four SCCBL games and brought their perfect record to Palm Springs Stadium to face the POWER in Palm Springs’s first league game on June 8th. The Athletics lead 5-4 before the POWER took the lead in the bottom of the sixth and added nine more runs in the seventh and eighth to win 15-5.

That started a string of six straight POWER wins in the SCCBL (11 straight overall) before they were finally downed at home by the Azusa Pirates on June 22. With that win, the Pirates stood in third place at 6-4, just a shade behind the 8-4 Pirates and 6-1 POWER. It was the first game between Azusa and Palm Springs, and after the POWER and Athletics dominated the early going, the Pirates showed they could contend for the SCCBL title.

But the POWER responded. Traveling on the road the next day to Azusa, Palm Springs picked up its first two road wins in a double-header against the Pirates. The POWER snuck past the Pirates in game one despite a two-run home run by Azusa in the eighth inning, falling just short of a come back 4-3. The POWER pulled out a comeback performance in game two, trailing 4-2 after three innings, but finishing the game with eight unanswered scores in innings five through nine.

It was all POWER from there. Those two wins started a POWER record 20-game winning streak, including nine straight in league games, taking complete control of the league.

After the Athletics lost in extra innings on July 10 at Palm Springs Stadium to the POWER, their fourth defeat at the hands of Palm Springs, the tables were set for a thrilling finish in the final two weeks of the SCCBL season. The POWER, Thrashers, Pirates, and Athletics all had good chances to make the playoffs. The POWER stood atop the four teams with a 13-1 mark, followed by the Athletics (11-7), the Thrashers (8-6), and the Pirates (9-9).

A doubleheader loss the next day nearly knocked the Thrashers out of contention, and despite back-to-back wins against the Aces and Athletics (the team they were chasing), they went in to the final weekend eliminated. A July 17th Athletics victory over the Inland Empire Aces clinched the #2 seed for the SCCBL Championship.

Both teams finished their regular season over the next week, tuning up for the postseason. Then, on July 26, the Athletics made the trek out to the desert for game one of the SCCBL Championship Series against the Palm Springs POWER.

The Athletics struck, scoring a run in the top of the first in game one, but the POWER quickly answered with a three-run home run in the second. It was all POWER for the rest of the series, as they won game one 6-1 and game two, on the road, 11-1, to capture the SCCBL crown.

The SCCBL celebrated the fantastic year with a great showing at the SCCBL/OCCL All-Star game at Palm Springs Stadium on July 30. Ryan Garvey (Palm Springs POWER) won the derby with 10 home runs and the SCCBL All-Stars defeated the OCCL All-Stars 3-2 with a walk-off solo home run from Ryan Jones (Palm Springs POWER) in the bottom of the tenth inning.

Thank you to all the players, friends, family, and fans of SCCBL baseball this season, and we will see you all at the ballparks again in 2012!

The scoring for the SCCBL started in the first inning, with David Kiriakos of the POWER scoring on a groundout by Joel Licon of the SoCal Athletics.

The other run for the host league scored in the third inning, with POWER left fielder Marcus Romero sending a sacrifice fly to center field, driving in Kiriakos again.

Nick Baker started the game for the SCCBL, and was followed by Richard Kilbury of the LA Thrashers, Casey McCarthy of the POWER, Taylor Fallon of the Inland Empire Aces, and Ryan Santhon and Tony Guerra of the POWER. In an unconventional move, Santhon re-entered the game when it went into extra innings.

Prior to the game, the Home Run Derby featured the following SCCBL players: Cody Doyle of the SoCal Athletics, Ryan Garvey of the POWER, and Jason Leone of the Inland Empire Aces. Representing the OCCL were Danny Lackner of the OC Waves, Remington Miller of the SoCal Outlaws and Jon Rodriguez of the Metro LA Dodgers.

Garvey was the derby winner with 10 home runs combined in two rounds. Miller was the runner-up, with seven. Garvey received the 2011 Home Run Derby trophy immediately following the derby, and just prior to his father, 10-time Major League All-Star Steve Garvey throwing the ceremonial first pitch.

* Will compete in the Home Run Derby

The OCCL All-Star Roster was announced this week as well

You can listen to the Home Run Derby and All-Star game live at PSPBB.com, beginning at 6:00 PM PT.

James Crockett earned the starting nod for the POWER, giving his team a strong surge toward the SCCBL crown.  He struck out five, walked four and allowed one run on five hits, working out of jams on multiple occasions.

Palm Springs, just as they did last night in Game One of the series, jumped out in front early.  Ryan Jones singled and Frankie Torres walked to start the second.  Both men scored, one on a Chett Zeise RBI-groundout, to give the POWER a 2-0 lead. The POWER scored one in third, two in fourth, two in the fifth, and one in the sixth before the Athletics finally put their lone run across in the bottom of the sixth. The POWER then added two more in the eighth.

The POWER won their franchise-record 40th win of the season.  After starting the season losing two of three games, they have won 39 of their last 42.

“If you told me that we’d be here, after the way the season begin, I would not have necessarily believed it,” President and Owner Andrew Starke said after the game. “Watching this team grow and develop has been a lot of fun.”

The POWER will continue their celebration on the Thursday off day, before hosting the Orange County Waves on Friday, July 29.  Friday will be “Christmas in July” at Palm Springs Stadium.  Fans are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy to be donated to a local charity.  The POWER will celebrate the spirit with extra prize giveaways.
You can read a full recap at PalmSpringsPOWERBaseball.com

Philadelphia Phillies 15^th round draft pick Ryan Garvey led all players offensively, hitting a three-run home run in the bottom of the third inning.  Garvey also added a triple in his next at-bat and finished the game with four RBIs and two runs for the POWER.

The lone run for So Cal came in the top of the first inning when Christian Ramirez of UC Irvine hit an RBI single that scored Rio Hondo Community College’s Greg Hamrock.

The POWER and Athletics will continue the championship series on Wednesday afternoon at 2:05 PM at Rio Hondo Community College.  James Crockett (1-1) will get the start for Palm Springs.  So Cal’s starter has yet to be determined.

It was So Cal’s final SCCBL regular season game and their 12th league win, improving their record to 12-8. The second place LA Thrashers are 10-8, but even with two wins in their final two SCCBL games this weekend against the Palm Springs POWER, they could only tie the Athletics in the standings.

Due to the Athletics 3-1 season series victory over the Thrashers, LA would lose the tiebreak by league rule.

So, the tables are set. The POWER will host the Athletics for game one and game three (if necessary) at Palm Springs Stadium. The Athletics will invite the POWER to Rio Hondo Community College in Whittier, CA for game two.

For complete playoff information, click the link above or CLICK HERE.

The Athletics and the Thrashers still battle for the top spot, but the Athletics look like the favorites for the number two spot, giving them a chance to face the POWER for the SCCBL crown. Here is the breakdown of each team against each SCCBL opponent.

The POWER cannot lose the top spot, as losing their final four games in the SCCBL would still guarantee a better league record than the second place Athletics. SCCBL tie-break goes to head-to-head record, and the Athletics have already won the season series against the Pirates (3-1) and Thrashers (3-0, one game remaining). That means the Pirates, along with the 2-10 Aces and 4-14 Dodgers, are eliminated from playoff contention.

The Thrashers are still technically alive, but would need the Athletics to lose their final two games, one against the Aces and one against the Thrashers, and they would also need to win their final four SCCBL contests, two against the POWER, one against the Aces, and one against the Athletics. If this scenario plays out, the Thrashers would stand at 12-8, one game above the Athletics at 11-9.

Thus, the Athletics’ magic number is just one. An Athletic win or a Thrasher loss would clinch the final of two playoff spots, and set the table for an exciting playoff match-up. Although Palm Springs has defeated So Cal in all four games this season, two games were deciced by one run, the most recent of which took a ninth inning rally by the POWER just to get to extra innings. The POWER scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game and another in the eleventh to win it by the score of 2-1.

The final six games to decide the SCCBL number two seed are as follows:

July 13: Thrashers @ Aces (Long Beach City College)

July 15: Athletics @ Thrashers (Agoura High School)

July 17: Athletic @ Aces (Long Beach City College)

July 22: Thrashers @ POWER (Palm Springs Stadium)

July 23: Thrashers @ POWER (Palm Springs Stadium)

The POWER will host game one of the SCCBL postseason series on Tuesday, July 26th at 7:05 pm. The number two seed will host game two on July 27th in the afternoon, at Rio Hondo College if the Athletics claim the spot, and at Agoura High School if the Trashers finish second. Palm Springs Stadium is home to game three, if necessary, at 7:05 pm on July 28th.

The Dodgers own three conference victories, one each against the Aces, Athletics, and Pirates. The team, led by Brent Lavoie, is steadily improving, as marked by their four total wins coming in a span of six games from June 16^th through the 25^th.

The Inland Empire Aces grabbed their two conference wins in a short time span as well, beating the Dodgers on June 14^th and edging out the Athletics by a score of 8-7 on the 21^st.

The LA Thrashers are improving under the leadership of Larry Reynolds. With a determined team that’s working together well, they’ve beaten the Dodgers thrice and picked up another win by dowing the Pirates 2-1 on the 11^th of June.

The Pirates are one of just two teams (other being the POWER) in the division to have beaten each of their division foes. They completed that five-team checklist with their June 25^th victory over the Athletics.

That Athletics squad earned the W in five of their past six games and will take on the Dodgers today.

The Palm Springs POWER were listed as an honorable mention in PerfectGame’s ranking of the top summer collegiate teams, and own a 12-1 in-conference record. Shortstop Evan Boyd, from Mercer University, keeps frustrating pitchers, hitting .395/.489/.500 while providing smooth defense up the middle. Scott Simmons and Tony Guerra have been a shutdown duo for the POWER in the late innings, combining for 44 strikeouts in 33 innings while allowing a grand total of just 16 baserunners.

Each team will battle it out until July 26^th when the three-game playoff will begin, as two teams duke it out for the League Championship.

While the POWER are certainly honored to be mentioned amongst the country’s top teams, POWER fans certainly shouldn’t be surprised to see their team ranked so highly. The POWER offense boasts mature, disciplined hitters like Riverside City College’s David Kiriakos, whose seven walks in ten games (seven starts) are products of what might be the best batter’s eye not just on the team, but in the league. Defensively, the POWER have enjoyed a perfect 5-0 record from Palm Desert High School product and Chico State sophomore Nick Baker, 23 K’s in 14.2 innings of shutdown relief from Cal. State, San Bernardino’s Tony Guerra, and innumerable sure-handed plays at third base from the Co-Captain out of the University of Iowa, Chett Zeise.

After a two-game sweep of the Nor Cal Yankees, the POWER will play two against Team San Diego this week and a pair of games against the San Diego Force on Friday and Saturday before returning to conference play on the tenth when the second-place Southern California Athletics come to town.

Trailing the POWER by half a game, the So Cal Athletics are 8-4 in conference play. The Athletics have beaten four of their five conference opponents, with the POWER standing as the lone team yet to fall at their hands.

Coming off of their sixth overall victory (which also provided the POWER’s only conference loss), the Pirates sit in third place at 5-3 in conference play. Their hot start can be attributed to the great attitudes of their ballplayers and the big strides made by their three recent high school graduates: INF/RHP Joel Belk, RHP Zach Hedges, and C Bryce Harrison. The Pirates also had two players picked in this year’s MLB Draft: LHP Mike Finnigan (Orioles) and 3B Matt Anderson (Marlins).

The LA Thrashers own a 4-3 conference record, placing them fourth in the SCCBL. The Thrashers biggest strength has been up the middle, with three stellar catchers, a quartet of stellar middle infielders, and the talented Vince Lawrence in centerfield.

The Inland Empire Aces are 2-5 against conference opponents thus far in their inaugural season. The Aces had a key victory over the Athletics on the 21^st, giving hope of good things to come.

Behind the Aces are the East LA Dodgers, with a 1-10 record against their conference foes. East LA’s first victory came against the Aces on the sixteenth, and they’ll look to improve on last season’s results to move up in the standings this year.