Kyle Chapman Marlins

Welcome to the 2002 Kyle Chapman Marlins web site. We are excited about our team and players. See you at the Kyle Chapman field.

More than an hour has passed since the last pitch was thrown in tonight's game, and I sit here still shaking my head at what an incredible game we were treated to. The K.C. Astros, paced by the thunderous right arm of 14 year old starter Karl Pringle, and the crafty left arm of 13 year old reliever Garrett Hester, edged out the Marlins 4-3 in a 7 inning thriller, to win the 2002 Kyle Chapman fall tournament tonight at Bayland Park. Almost half of the games' runs were scored in the first inning. With one out, Mark Robicheau hit a single to 3rd base, Karl Pringle added an RBI single to right field, Joe Silver made it to first base on a Marlin error, and Aaron Dushkin drove in an unearned run on a grounder to second to give the Astros a 2-0 lead in their half of the first against starter, Daniel Rothenberg. The Marlins countered in their half of the first. They cut the Astros lead in half courtesy of a Trey Hibbert single to center, a walk to Daniel Rothenberg, and a Grant Haynes fielders' choice grounder to third to score Trey with the Marlins' first run. Pringle and Rothenberg matched scoreless second and third innings. In the fourth, the Astros scratched out their third run of the game (and second unearned run) on a Marlin error that allowed Karl Pringle to get to second base, where Joe Silver knocked him home with a grounder to second. In the fifth inning, the Astros and Marlins both substituted for their starting pitchers. The Astros brought in 13 year old Garrett Hester and the Marlins brought in tough 13 year old Grant Haynes. Haynes held the Astros scoreless in the top of the 5th, but the Marlins were able to scratch out a run in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 3-2. They did it on a walk to Josh Hidalgo, a beautiful sacrifice bunt by Brian Barker, a single by Jared Rothenberg that moved Hidalgo to third, and then the fun started. With one out, Chris O'Shea bounced the ball to the shortstop, who pinned Josh Hidalgo between third and home. The Astros threw the ball back and forth between home and third five times before Hidalgo took advantage of the otherwise rock solid Astros defense to squeak home with the Marlins' second run. Hester and Haynes traded scoreless 6th innings, which brought us to the 7th inning and the score was Astros-3, Marlins-2. The Marlins defense (or the lack thereof), contributed to yet another unearned run on behalf of the Astros. Karl Pringle led off with a single to left-center field. After Joe Silver lined out to left, Aaron Dushkin hit a ball to right field that dropped for a single, but Pringle was allowed to score on a throw from right that was way off line. The Marlins' infield committed two more errors in the 7th inning, but they did not add to the score as a result of Ben Wendt's excellent 4-3 double play on a pop fly to second base. Thus, the score was 4-2 Astros going to the bottom of the 7th. Grant Haynes led off the inning with a single. Josh Hidalgo followed with a timely hit to center to bring Haynes around from first to third. When Hidalgo stole second, the throw from Joe Silver sailed into the outfield and Haynes trotted home with the Marlins' third run. Alas, Josh Hidalgo represented the tying run on second base, but two consecutive strikeouts by Hester sealed the Astros' well-earned victory. They say that baseball is a game of inches. On a 1-1 count, and two outs, Jared Rothenberg hit a drive down the right field line that was just barely foul. Less than an inch either way on his bat and the score no doubt would have been tied. But baseball is what it is, and in the end, there has to be one winner and one loser. Tonight it was the Astros' turn to celebrate. But the Marlins have nothing to be ashamed of. Marlin pitching held the powerful Astros bats to just six singles, two walks and one earned run in seven innings. In the end, the Astros, whose pitchers limited the Marlins to five basehits, were a little bit more surehanded in the field, and that was the difference in the ball game. But win or lose, this has been a Marlins fall to remember. Final record- 14-4-1. Regular season - First Place. Tournament - Second Place. Each of you has something to be very proud of, and each of you contributed to a wonderful season of Marlins' baseball. Special thanks to manager Glenn Haynes, coaches, John O'Shea, and Ken Brosch, and to all the parents who helped make this a fall of Marlins' baseball that our kids will remember for a long time to come. This is Big Daddy Tuna saying, "Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Happy Groundhog Day, Happy Valentine's Day, and Happy St. Patricks' Day. I look forward to seeing each and every one of you again in the spring. Goodbye for now." B.D.T.

Mark Robicheau pitched 4 strong innings, and a combination of the dominant Astros bats and some hardluck Rockies fielding resulted in a convincing 13-2 Astro win in 5 innings on Wednesday night at K.C. field in beautiful Bayland Park. This means that the Kyle Chapman Fall Tournament final game is now set: the first seeded 14-3-1 Marlins will host the third seeded 12-4-1 Astros on Thursday night 11/21 at 7:00 p.m. While both coaches remain mum about their starting pitchers, it is possible that Thursday night's game will feature a mano-a-mano battle between 14 year old K.C. tournament pitchers Karl Pringle for the Astros and Daniel Rothenberg for the Marlins. While the Marlins will be the home team by virtue of their better regular season record, the Astros won the season series with the Marlins 2-1 on their convincing 12-2 rout of the Marlins less than two weeks ago. The game promises to be an excellent one. We look forward to seeing you out there.

In the second game of the season way back in September, the Marlins dismantled the K.C. Dodgers by a score of 11-0. Tonight, the Dodgers demonstrated just how far they have come as a team, and as a group of hardworking players and coaches, this fall. The K.C. Marlins finally beat the Dodgers by a score of 3-2 in a nailbiter that wasn't decided until the very last play of the game. The Marlins opened the scoring in the bottom of the second, tallying a run on a Josh Hidalgo walk, a Ben Wendt single to left, and a big time Chris O'Shea single to center field. The Dodgers tied the game in the 4th inning off starter, Grant Haynes, who pitched an excellent 3 1/3 innings to start the game for the Marlins. The Dodgers manufactured an unearned run on an Alex Cernoch grounder to short that turned into an error, and a single down the right field line by Barrett Lanier. Daniel Rothenberg came in to relieve Grant in the 4th with runners on first and second and one away. Daniel got John Maye on a grounder to second, and struck out Clayton Ueckert to end the inning. The Marlins took the lead again in the bottom of the 4th inning, and did it playing what has frequently been referred to as "small ball" this season. Pat Brosch took first base on a dropped third strike, advanced to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third base on a Ben Wendt groundout to the pitcher, and scored on a wild pitch. The score remained knotted at 2 apiece as Ueckert and Rothenberg exchanged scoreless 5th innings. The Dodgers managed to tie the game in the 6th, once again courtesy of an unearned run. Alex Cernoch led off with a single to center, and Barrett Lanier made it first and second, no outs, on a four pitch walk. Matt Degan hit a grounder to second. The second baseman touched second to get the out there, but threw wild to first, allowing Cernoch to score the tying run. That brought us down to the bottom of the 6th inning. Trey Hibbert led off and climbed out of an 0-2 hole to draw a crucial leadoff walk. Daniel Rothenberg was hit in the arm for the second time in the game to give the Marlins first and second, no outs. Grant Haynes drew a 3-2 walk to load the bases, and things looked good for the Marlins. However, due to climactic conditions involving humidity, wind chill, black holes, quarks, and the mystical power of crystals, the strike zone suddenly enlarged to the size of a regulation NHL goal. The next two Marlin batters were called out on called strike 3's, bringing Ben Wendt to the plate. Ben worked the count to 1-2, and when the catcher threw the ball back to the pitcher, Trey Hibbert broke from third base on a delayed steal. The pitcher fired the ball home, but the Dodgers' catcher could not apply the tag in time. And just like that, the Marlins are in the championship game Thursday night at 7pm against the winner of Wednesday night's game between the Astros and the Rockies. The Marlins made the most of their three hits, and were patient enough to work seven walks to go along with them. That, plus Daniel Rothenberg and C.J. O'Connell being hit with a combination of three pitches gave the Marlins just enough offense to overcome the tough and much improved Dodgers. Special kudos tonite to Trey Hibbert for plowing home with the winning run, Michael Leach for his two walks in two at bats, Josh Hidalgo and Grant Haynes for drawing two important walks each, and to Coach Glenn Haynes, who made the gutsy call that pushed the Marlins over the top and into the championship game. This is Big Daddy Tuna saying, "if you let your pitchers hit my son Daniel one more time, I'm gonna sit on you."

Proving once and for all that *anything* can happen in a single elimination series (and usually does), the sixth seeded K.C. Dodgers upset the third seeded K.C. Pirates by a score of 8-2 Monday night at K.C. field in Bayland Park. Additionally, the Astros held off the eighth seeded Cardinals in the tournament opener by a score of 5-3. This means that the Cubs and Rockies square off tonight (Tuesday) at 6pm and the winner faces the Astros on Wednesday at 7pm for a chance to play in the championship game on Thursday at 7pm. In the other bracket, the winner of tonight's (Thursday's) 8pm Dodgers-Mariners game will automatically play in the championship game on Thursday at 7pm against the Astros, Cubs or Rockies. As a matter of clarification, the tournament pitching rules are that any player may pitch a total of 4 innings on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and THEN still be eligible to pitch AN ADDITIONAL 4 innings on Thursday provided that pitcher did not pitch more than three innings on Wednesday night. This means that if the Marlins are able to make it into the final game, it is highly likely that they will face Karl Pringle as the Astros starting pitcher (assuming the Astros make it that far), even though Pringle pitched four stellar innings against the Cardinals on Monday night. Stay tuned for further tournament excitement!