Announcement
PALM BEACH FLAVORED FLORIDA RANGERS WIN RUNNERUP AWARD AT COOPERSTOWN
CLOCK STRIKES MIDNIGHT FOR FLORIDA RANGERS AT COOPERSTOWN The Cinderella Story for the Florida Rangers ended in an 8-4 loss to the Albany Red Sox Sunday in the Hall of Fame Wood Bat Tournament's 18A Division at Cooperstown, New York. The Rangers had clawed their way to the title game, winning twice on Saturday, but had to settle for the runnerup spot in the annual event. The championship game on Sunday was played at historic Doubleday Field, just steps from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in the upstate New York village of Cooperstown, where it is said baseball was first played.
Affter losing their first two pool games, the Rangers qualified for the playoffs by downing the Main Pub A's 4-1 Saturday morning, followed by a 3-0 upset win in the afternoon over the top seeded Connecticut Rangers, who brought a 3-0 pool play record into the semifinal, having allowed only three runs in pool play. In the twin victories on Saturday, Alex Forster of Hyde Park, New York, pitched a complete game five hitter with four strikeouts to win the opener, then followed up with eight shutout innings, allowing only six hits and fanning six against the Connecticut Rangers. Kenny Rua of the Palm Beach Orioles pitched a scoreless ninth inning to notch the save.
A half dozen players from the NABA Palm Beach League played with the Florida Rangers, managed by former league player-manager Leo Merced, now President of the North State Florida NABA league in the Tallahassee area. Playing with the Rangers are three members of the Palm Beach Mets----pitchers Jose Pena Junior and Braulio Alfinez and shortstop Junior Reyes. There are two from the Orioles----- Kenny Rua and infielder Jamie Priester. Royals' player-manager Jesse McGregor also hooked up with the Rangers for the Cooperstown event. In pool play before Saturday's "must wins", the Rangers had lost two games.
After dropping a 7-6 heartbreaker to Gloucester County Baseball on Thursday, the Rangers were defeated for the second time on Friday, 15-9 by the Albany Black Sox, their championship game opponents. Another team from the Capital District NABA, the Colonie Knights, were beaten by the Rockland Cavaliers 8-5 for the championship of the 18AA division. The Cavaliers play in the NABA's Westchester-Rockland Wood Bat League, just north of New York City. For complete tournament scores, check the NABA's national website at www.dugout.org and click on the 2008 Hall of Fame Tournament link on the home page.
