Pirates Are Majors Club Champs

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The Pirates defeated the Marlins 8-6 to win the Green Hornets Majors club baseball championship.

The team of Liam Turner, Joshua Hong, Declan Karney, Galen Richardson, Kiernan Robinson, Leo Havens, Ryan Crowley, Zachary Given, Trevor Boyle, Will Garzon, Brayden Murphy, Julian Murphy and Joe O’Connor held on to top the Marlins in the championship game and finish the season with a 7-4 record.

The Pirates had made it to the championship after a thrilling come-from-behind victory over the White Sox in the semifinals. Down two runs heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Pirates scored three runs in their final frame and won 8-7 on a walk-off single by O’Connor that scored Richardson, who had walked with one out before stealing second and third. The Pirates were led on the mound by Turner, Hong and Karney, who combined for 11 strikeouts. The play of the game came in the fifth, when White Sox player Eric Chu hit a drive deep into the left-center gap and sped around the bases looking for an inside-the-park homer. But a perfect throw from Garzon in center to Havens at short was relayed perfectly home to Karney, who applied the tag on Chu to end the inning on a fantastic play at the plate. Richardson, Karney, and Havens each scored twice for the Pirates in the victory.

In the championship, the Pirates received superb pitching from Turner, O’Connor and Hong and outstanding team defense, including a 5-3-2 double play (Havens to Hong to Crowley) in the first inning. The Pirates jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, with Garzon delivering a double and Hong drilling a triple. The Mariners got on the board in the top of the second on an opposite field home run by Vince Nguyen. The Pirates padded their lead in the bottom of second on the strength of a base knock by Robinson and led 5-1 after two. The Mariners scratched out a run in the third and fourth, but after four innings the Pirates were up 7-3 thanks to some timely hitting from Havens. The Mariners made it interesting in the top of the sixth by plating three, but the Pirates defense came to the rescue. First, Turner made a sliding catch on a pop-up in foul territory for the second out, and three batters later he fielded a hot shot and threw a strike across the diamond that Richardson squeezed at first to end the game. Charlie Butler and Nguyen pitched exceedingly well in defeat for the Mariners, only walking one and striking out 10 Pirates batters.

Other season highlights included a combined one-hitter by Turner, Hong and Karney on Opening Day and a 10-run sixth inning to come back and beat the Severn Red team 16-9. Brayden Murphy knocked in two runs to win a game against the White Sox in extra innings, and Boyle made play after play at second base throughout the season. Julian Murphy made a number of highlight reel plays in the field, and Given contributed with multiple base hits. The Pirates received outstanding pitching all year, as they gave up the fewest amount of runs in the league by a wide margin. Stalwart pitchers included Turner, Hong and Karney, Galen Richardson, Garzon and O’Connor often chipping in with relief work. Crowley did the bulk of the catching with some assistance from Karney, Hong and Richardson. Hitting stars included Turner, Hong, Havens, Garzon and Crowley, with Hong and Havens each hitting a home run during the season.

Chris Richardson, who coached with assistants Kevin Havens and Brett Robinson, raved about the consistency of the Pirates.

“It did not matter what the score was or whether we were down to our last out, I was confident that they were going to come back and win,” said Richardson. “They were definitely the best and most fun team we have coached, and it was a real joy watching them improve throughout the year.”

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