Titans keep upper hand in rivalry

Titans rally from 1 down with back-to-back hits in bottom of the 9th

The A's will have to hope that history repeats itself rather otherwise those that don't remember history are bound to repeat it.

The A's-Titans rivalry has packed enough high drama history into the last season and a half to earn the distinction of the REBL's best modern rivalry. The Titan were formed the year after the A's won their first REBL championship perhaps in a model to emulate if not annihilate the A's. Neither team reached their goal in 2005 with the A's battling injuries and the Titans falling to the Cardinals in the championship, but the Titans edged the A's in the 2006 championship. The only game that hasn't been close the last two seasons was the second in the best-of-three series after the A's were demoralized in a 2-0 loss hours earlier in game 1. Otherwise ever game these teams have played has been a one-run contest and Sunday's regular-season test was no different with the Titans going from down 3-2 with two outs in the ninth  to winning 4-3 on back-to-back two-strike hits.

The A's had their new closer on the hill, Ryan McClellan, and were feeling good about closing out the 3-2 victory, but Joe Vitali's two-out double to right was followed by Kenton Lewis' blast to nearly the same spot to drive home Vitali with the winning run.

A load was taken off the shoulders and ribs of Lewis, who went from goat to hero for the Titans, getting the game's biggest hit after getting thrown out twice (once leading too far off 3rd in the 7th) and bruising his ribs to boot.

While Lewis made a visit to Cloud Nine, McClelland simmered in baseball's hell, visited often by closers, but a place the good ones know how to get out of and McClelland appears to be on the right path already.

"When do we play the Titans again?" McClelland said. ""I want to be on the bump for that one." he added when told that besides rematch on Aug. 19 the two teams will likely face each other again in the playoffs.

If the A's are going to see the Titans in the finals, they will have to shore up there defense. An error opened up the door in the ninth when Jim Iodonce reached on a soft grounder to short when Billy Dodson's throw bounced off the glove of Rene Torres at first. Steve Reichart followed with a sac bunt and Rich Vital looked overmatched when McClelland turned up the heat.

That heat wasn't hot enough to get Joe Vitali or Kenton Lewis, who both got two-out, two strike hits that the lefties pulled the right field.

"I thought McClelland would be more dominant in this league after seeing him with the Knicks and COM a few years back, but I have to realize he is a ground-ball pitcher with a good fast ball with good movement, but not a fireballer throwing in the 90s," A's manager Ryan Metcalfe said. "I'm not worried about Ryan. He will come to the playoffs ready to pitch hard and often. I've seem him look better and those 2 guys might be the only 2 who can pull his fastball and hit it hard. I'm more worried about our defense and commitment."

Only one of the Titans 4 runs was earned. The Titans tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth when middle reliever Steve Nojima rushed fielding a bunt from Rich Vitali then threw it down the right-field line after bobbling the two-out bunt in front of the mound. Vitali then ran himself out of the inning trying to steal home on A's reserve catcher Billy Dodson, who popped out of the dish then popped off.

"You can't steal home on me Rich," Dodson yelled as he spiked the ball.

Dodson was the only A to get two hits in the game, one that looked like it would be the first where the A's bats would show life against the Titans. Matt Wolfe got the A's started with a sharp single to left with one out in the first. Dodson followed with a single into almost the same place. Mike Mastro responded after struggling with men on base in the championship with a two-run double off the wall in left-center.

Mastro didn't move, followed by back-to-back strikeouts, and the rest of the A's continued the trend with just 3 more hits the rest of the way. Two of those three hits came in the fourth, but the A's failed to score thanks to some poor base running by Shawn Purcell. Purcell hit a high pop up in front of the mound but barely left the box until after the ball failed to hit leather but infield grass. Nojima followed with a single and McClelland, who has rarely hit in the last 10 years, playing for teams that use the DH, hit a laser to left (one which would have scored Purcell) had he reached.

"The Titans have become the hustlers who take advantage of mistakes and we have become the overconfident team that expects to win rather than working for it," Metcalfe said. "It hurts to see that trend because I thought the opposite was true before I left this time late last year because of my accident. I hope everyone can do their part to turn that back around, because the last time we faced the Titans in the regular season, we were the team that won in our last at-bat & tied the other game with 3 in the 9th that should've been 4 with better base running. It's a long season we've got a lot of time to start playing like I know we can. I think we have the best team in the league, but we have to play like the best team in the league if we are going to claim the championship."

The A's will try to regroup & solidify themselves as a top-4 playoff team Sunday, 2 p.m., June 10 at Sonoma State University vs. the Blue Jays.

Billy Dodson was a hit in the batter's box and behind the plate. He was the only A's player with two hits and the reserve catcher made a big putout on Rich Vitali, who attempted to steal home in the sixth. Clinton Yeager also filled in well at catcher for the shorthanded A's, who had several players out of position, Yeager picked off Kenton Lewis at third on a good fake to second and did not allow a stolen base in 8 innings.

Shawn Purcell pitched well enough to win against the Titans, but for the second straight time he allowed two runs and it proved too much. Last time, Purcell lost 2-0 in 9 innings in the 2006 playoffs. In 2007, he left the game with a 2-1 lead after 5 innings, but the A's let in 3 unearned runs and scored just one more.

Matt Wolfe continues to show himself as a high value pick in the 2006 draft. Wolfe got the A's off to a good start with a single to left in the two-run first. Wolfe has hit well and shown the ability to play several positions.

Steve Nojima had a solid single to keep himself on the top half of the A's lineup in batting. He also pitched one inning allowing one unearned run. It was a two-out walk and an error that came back to haunt him.

Dodson- MVP