Mormon Baseball

Archive for September, 2012

This past weekend resolved several of the playoff battles in the minor leagues, leaving just 4 Mormon players in active contention. Chief among these battles were two Mormons vying to play in the AAA Pacific Coast League championship. Mitch Maier, playing for the Omaha Storm Chasers, was a big part of his team’s successful bid. Maier went 2 for 5 with 2 rbis in the Storm Chaser’s loss on Saturday, but then doubled down and went 5 for 5 with a home run and 4 rbis in their 16-7 romp over the Albuquerque Isotopes to reach the championship game.

Meanwhile Stephen Parker, the other Mormon in the PCL watched from the bench as his  Sacramento River Cats first beat the Reno Aces to even up their series on Saturday, and then lost 7-4 to end Parker’s season. Their opponents, the Reno Aces, will play Maier and the Storm Chasers for the league championship starting Friday, September 14th.

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In the Omaha Storm Chasers playoff battle against the Albuquerque Isotopes, Mitch Maier homered as the Storm Chasers went up 2-1 in their quest for the AAA championship. Maier was 1 for 5 in the contest with 2 rbis and a strike out. Meanwhile, in the other PCL game, the Sacramento River Cats benched Stephen Parker again, and again lost when they did so. The River Cats now trail the Reno Aces 1-2 in their playoff.

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With the Billings Mustangs’ loss last night to the Missoula Osprey, Jeff Gelalich is out of the Pioneer League playoffs, leaving the number of Mormons in the Minor League playoffs at 6. Gelalich didn’t play in the game.

But in the first round of the 5-game PCL playoffs, both Mormon players did play, as the playoff teams evened up their series to 1-1. Stephen Parker was 0 for 3 with 2 strike outs, but his Sacramento River Cats won anyway to even their series against the Reno Aces. Mitch Maier was 1 for 4 with a strike out in the Omaha Storm Chasers’ loss to the Albuquerque Isotopes.

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In the first playoff game for the Omaha Storm Chasers, Mitch Maier showed that a walk can be very powerful. Maier led the team with three free trips to first and scored twice as a result, as the Storm Chasers beat the Albuquerque Isotopes 8-4. Maier also struck out and flied out in the game.

Meanwhile, in the other PCL playoff game, Stephen Parker watched from the bench as his Sacramento River Cats lost to the Reno Aces 3-1.

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Pitching in the second game of the Canadian’s three game series to represent the West division in the Northwest League Championship, Taylor Cole pitched 6 innings, giving up 5 hits and seeing just 1 run cross the plate. Cole struck out 3, walked 3 and ended up with a 0.00 era due to a fielding error.

Among those he faced was the Everett Aquasox’ Marcus Littlewood, who went 1 or 3 with a walk and a strike out. Due to the Canadians’ win, Littlewood’s season ends, while Cole waits to see who wins today’s game between the Yakima Bears and Boise Hawks. The Canadians play the winner of today’s game in the Northwest League’s 3-game championship starting Friday, Sept. 7th.

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With the end of the regular minor league season yesterday (except for the rookie Pioneer League, which ends on Thursday, September 6th), the Mormons in the minors can look forward to further games in only two ways: they might get called up to the majors with the expanded 40-man roster that started September 1st, or they might play in any of the minor league championship games that have even begun for some teams.

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I don’t normally begin my write-up talking about a minor league player, but this week the stellar pitching of Taylor Cole with the Vancouver Canadians (A short season) kind of demanded front billing. Cole came close to baseball’s ultimate performance, a pitching performance over 7 2/3rds innings marred only by a teammate’s error. Still, Cole was pitching a no-hitter for his 6th win of the season when he was pulled from the game against the Yakima Bears. The Northwest league’s regular season has ended, Cole finishes the year with a stunning (and league-leading) 0.81 era. He will likely pitch in the Canadians’ post-season games, which start today.

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