North Bay A's History
The A's became the first team other than the Classics or the Sox to win the REBL AL championship last weekend, ending a triumphant climb for the team founded by Eric Brown four years ago. After just two wins in their inaugural season, the A's gradually improved, making the playoffs last year before being eliminated by the Classics.
The A's returned the favor sweeping the Classics in two games to reach the finals. Eric Brown and Mark Lundeen battled in one of the better pitcher's duels of the year through the first five innings before the scrappy Ašs used their speed to break through for a 3-1 lead after 4 innings. The A's padded their lead with 4 runs in the final two innings to pull out a 7-4 win behind key hits by Brodie Nissen and Randy Blossom. The Classics appeared poised to even the series, taking a 12-5 lead into the bottom of the eighth with Lundeen pitching strong again. The A's rallied against the Classics bullpen with six runs in the eighth with the aid of walks and errors. Ryan Metcalfe, who picked up the win in relief with two shutout innings, led off the ninth with a double, but looked to be stranded at third with the bases full behind him until Rick Tweet hit a two-out, two-run single to defeat the Classics 13-12. Ray Trujillo had 4 RBIs in the winning effort.
Brown took advantage of the added rest to show the superior stamina in his second postseason pitcheršs duel, this time outlasting Greg Scharich of the Silver Sox. Once again the A's scrapped for runs early and pounced on the bullpen late to make a close game look easy winning 14-5. The Sox rebounded in game two behind their savvy veteran Larry Hendrickson, who cooled the A's bats to just 5 runs -- the A's lowest output of the postseason -- in an 18-5 win.
With both teams worn out heading into their fifth game in 11 days, Brown again played a key role, coming back to pitch nine innings on two days rest while the Sox struggled to find fresh arms. Tony Shmitz gave the Sox a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first with a 3-run homer, but Brown held the Sox to two runs the rest of the way. The A's never stopped scoring with Billy Dodson, Brodie Nissen, Ryan Haven, Brown, Trujillo and Randy Blossom all getting at least 3 hits in the 26-5 win.
Brown ended the postseason with three wins on the mound and going 8-for-19 with 8 runs and 7 RBI.
The A's collected their first and only championship in team history after edging the SilverSox 2-1 in the championship series.
Rick Tweet delivered the biggest hit of the playoffs, ripping a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the ninth to give the A's a 13-12 victory over the Classics and send the A's into the final series against the Silversox.
Ryan Metcalfe set the table for Tweet's game-winning hit with a leadoff double in the ninth and picked up the win in relief with two shutout innings.
