VD Wins Championship in Classic Fashion

The Ice Bowl. The Fog Bowl. The Snow Plow Game.

These are some of the most famous sporting events to be played in extreme weather.

Add the Spring 2011 VA Peninsula End of Season Tournament to the list.

Eleven teams competed on Saturday afternoon in temperatures greater than 100 degrees. Each one of them battling for the prestigious Wentworth Trophy. Players were willing to put it all out on the line. And in some cases, they paid a price. But the opportunity to have your teams name engraved in the history books only comes twice a year, and on this day, there would be a champion. Let's recap the action of the day...

1st Round
(5) 5 O'Clockers 5, (12) Saved by the Balls 0 (Forfeit)

Hooray for WAKA Kickball!

This was the early game at 9 AM, but it was already sweltering out. Saved by the Balls conceeded the game with no contest after not having the minimum number of men to compete. Perhaps it was the hangovers from the night before, or maybe it was just the lack of belief that they'd be able to make a cinderella run, or maybe they just didn't care enough about kickball to brave the heat, but whatever the reason for the no show was, it gave the Clockers a defacto bye into the quarterfinals... The two teams did split the squads and scrimmaged a bit. Which was intended to help the Clockers warm up before their game, but some speculate that it may have added to the fatigue level for the team and affected them in their next match.

(8) Moose Knuckles 6, (9) New Kickheads 1
This 8/9 game looked like it was going to be an epic back and forth game at first. NKotB came out and took an early 1-0 lead, lead by the speedy Manny Anderson. Moose Knuckles did a good job of limiting the damage from that inning to just a single run and came right back and scored in their half for the first.

From their the wheels fell off for NKotB. The defense made several miscues and didn't appear to be completely on the same page. The aggressive Moose Knuckles offense made them pay, putting up 6 runs and shutting them down on defense. Jesse Jones pitched very effectively in the win, as MK would advance to the quarterfinals to face his former team, The Emperors Club.

(7) Jagernauts 6, (10) Battlestar Ballsacktica 4

It's not uncommon to see a 10 seed pull an upset over a 7 seed in the NCAA "March Madness" basketball tourney every spring. But in the VA Peninsula, I don't know if it's ever happened (probably not, since up until a few seasons ago we never even had more than 10 teams). Well, I say this only because it almost happened on Saturday morning. Battlestar came out like a house on fire and scored 4 early runs on the 'Nauts. But the defense couldn't hold them and the Jagernauts, unlike the politicians in Washington, continued to chip away at the deficit. With the score all tied up at 4-4 late in the game, Justin Arrington cranked a 2 run home run to take the lead. The Jagers would hold on and advance to the next round.

(6) Rumspringa 8, (11) Jiminy Kick-It 1
'Springa looked really good in their first round game, dropping 8 runs and cruising to victory over the overwhelmed and overheated JKI.

Quarter Finals
(1) The Emperors Club 2,  (8) Moose Knuckles 1

It was friggin' hot out there pitching.

The VIPs scored two early runs in the first, and then turned it over to their defense, which lead the Peninsula all season (opponents only scored 1.17 runs per game against the VIPs). The high powered MK offense struggled to get base runners as C Roger Jackson was absolutely on fire, smothering all of their bunts. Moose Knuckles hung in there. The defense played outstanding, lead by Justin Blair at charger and Jones at pitcher. The VIPs threatened in several spots, however the MK defense managed to work themselves out of the jams, which kept them in the game. In the 5th inning, the Knuckles scored a run to cut the lead in half. But in the end, they ran out of outs, and the defending champs escaped with a win and a trip to the semi-finals.

(4) Just For Kicks 5, (5) 5 O'Clockers 0

Reports from the game indicate that it was a lot closer than the score would suggest. The Clockers held JFK to only a 1-0 lead throughout the majority of the game, but when the top of the Just For Kicks lineup came back around the 2nd time, the game was broken open. JFK manufactured 4 insurance runs and cruised to victory. The JFK defense, lead by C Eric Stevens, and P Daniel Shaw, were simply outstanding in the win. To shut out the league's top run scoring offense in the playoffs is no small feat, and sent a clear message to the field that they would be tough to beat.

(3) Chubby Gangsters 2, (6) Rumspringa 1

Jeffrey Scott scores one of the only
runs of the game on a close play.

This game looked like it was going to start out as a high scoring affair, with both teams putting up runs in the first inning. However, as the pitchers. Jeffrey Scott, Gary Weems, and Matt Wellbrock, adjusted to the umpires tight strike zone, the defenses settled down and were at a stalemate. Much like the first time these two teams played each other in the regular season (the Gangsters won that match 1-0 on May 25th), this was a close game that was well played on both sides. In the end, only one could advance to the semis, and the Gangbangers were able to hold on for the W... Rumspringa's chances took a blow when C Troy Southall, uh, took a blow. In the 2nd inning, Southall collided with Scott when he abruptly stopped short on a ball. The impact ended up swelling Southall's eye nearly shut and removed him from the game.

(2) Vicious & Delicious 5, (7) Jagernauts 0
The 'Nauts fought hard, but the VD offense was relentless. Vicious & Delicious put up runs early, and then crusied to victory on the back of their great defense. The Jagernauts put up a good fight in the heat, never giving up, but VD was going to be tough for anyone to score against on this day.

Semi Finals
Just For Kicks 8, The Emperors Club 4
The last two Wentworth Trophy finals featured Just For Kicks taking on The Emperors Club. And in both cases, JFK came up short against the VIPs. Both games were very dramatic, close games. This time, Just For Kicks was determined not to let The E-Club end their season.

"I'm going to be honest," JFK's Mary MacKenzie Grier said afterwards, "The only reason I came back to play kickball this season was to beat [The Emperors Club]."

Their focus and intensity paid off as the top of the lineup came out on fire. Taking advantage of some uncharacteristic sloppy defense, JFK pounded the VIPs for 4 runs in the first inning. To put it in perspective, the league winning Emeperors Club defense never allowed more than 3 runs in a single game all season. On Saturday against JFK, they allowed more than that in less than 10 minutes.

A dirty player? Or a careful ballsack
protector? You make the call.

The game got a little chippy in the bottom of the first. On a bunt down the first base line, VIP John LaNeave collided with JFK P JC Cashwell while he applied the tag. Cashwell took offense when he argued that LaNeave had intentionally initiated the contact to ensure the runners advanced. John's reply was, "I was just covering my balls up." Tempers flared on both sides, before cooler heads prevailed and calmness restored.

In the third inning, JFK decided that they were not done doing damage. Leading off with the ladies at the bottom of the order, Nikki LeBlanc, Jill Simms, and Sarah Crecelius all successfully reached base. The top of the order came up and promptly drove in three more runs to extend the lead to 7-1.

Phil Nadolski lays a bunt down.

To The Emperors Club credit though, they never gave up and competed the entire time. The VIPs know what it takes to be champions, and they also know what it takes to overcome big deficits in the the playoffs. (Hell, no better example than last year's finals when The Emperors Club overcame a 2 run deficit in the 5th inning, with 2 outs, and no runners on base, to beat JFK for the title.) No matter how large the lead grew, The Emperors Club were not going to go without a fight. The top of the order came up, Thomas "Juice" Welch, LaNeave, Patrick Jones, Phil Barr, and Brent Wentworth (3rd Person Alert!) strung together consecutive base hits to cut the lead down to 7-4. However, just when it looked like the wheels were coming off and Head Coach Bryan Freed started having post traumatic stress flashbacks from last year's comeback, the JFK defense tightened up and escaped the inning. And of course, after adding another insurance run in the 5th, would go on to exorcise their demons and move on to the finals.

Vicious & Delicious 4, Chubby Gangsters 1

CG's Buster Patterson delivers the ball to the plate.

The Chubby Gangsters certainly exceeded everyone, including probably their own expectations this season. In going 10-2, and making a run to the final four, they showed the league that it is possible to develop and build a team that is capable of competing with the elite. However, this year their cinderella story would come up just short, as they ran up against the VD buzz saw. Vicious & Delicious scored four efficient runs and their stellar defense limited the Gangbangers to a run (the only run VD would allow all day)... Late in the game, the heat got to CG's Steve Midlik would suffer severe cramping and had to be evacuated by ambulance to a local hospital. After a couple of IVs and some rest, Steve is doing fine (maybe playing a full 90 minutes of soccer before the tournament wasn't the wisest idea).


Wentworth Trophy Finals
Vicious & Delicious 1, Just For Kicks 0

Not since Bret and Owen Hart squared
off at Wrestlemania X, have two
siblings faced each other with so
much on the line.

How appropriate that the finals would come down to these two teams. At this point, I think everyone knows the history between JFK and VD, but let's recap it here for those joining in progress. After playing with JFK and being unsuccessful in their bid for a championship, Jimmy Wilcox, Noelle Walsh, Bryan "NoShoes" Moore, and Joey Smith defected to the upstart VD team, largely because they doubted whether JFK had what it took to win it all. Freed reloaded though, and as his team earned their way to the finals for the third consecutive season, what better team to get the win over than the one full of their former teammates?

Alas, it was not meant to be. James Salgado lead off the game with a bunt single and the VD offense did their job in moving him around, eventually plating the run for a 1-0 lead after the first.

That would be all the runs VD would need as both defenses were lights out after that. Cashwell, Wilcox, and Dan Reyes were all masterful on the mound. While Smith, Wilcox, Stevens, and Salgado were smothering the bunts in the infield positions... Baserunners were hard to come by for both sides, but JFK did threaten in the top of the 5th. They managed to get two runners on in scoring position, with the dangerous Wes McClain up. McClain was not able to drive in the runs though as his line shot went straight into the arms of a VD defender for the final out and the championship!

They have no souls.

After the battling each other, as close as can be done, in the 105 degree heat, on the biggest stage of them all, both teams walked away with a lot of respect for each other.

"Thanks again for one of the best finals games I've been a part of in 8 years of kickball.", Moore commented afterwards on the official JFK facebook page, "You guys are a great team, on and off the field. Great battle!"




Some milestones from the tournament:

• VD is only the 5th franchise to win the Wentworth Trophy in 9 seasons, and the first to win it in their first season, besides the Weed Whackers in season 1. 
• Dave Dixon, Chris "Bundy" LeBlanc, and Nicole Schaeffer  joined the VIP's Roger Jackson as the only members of VA Peninsula to win a championship with 2 separate teams. 
• Dixon has been a member of the previous 3 League Champions (VIPs Sp10, F10, and VD Sp11)
• With the win, Nicole Schaeffer has joined Brent Wentworth, George Kiriazidis, and Lorraine Adkins as the only 4 time Wentworth Trophy winners in league history. 
• Just For Kicks has played in the finals of the previous 3 seasons. With their record at 0-3 in the Finals, they are one more loss away from tying the Buffalo Bills for most consecutive losses in a major sports championship game.