Eloy Tournament Champions
The SB Rattlers traveled down to Robson Ranch in Eloy, Ariz., on Feb. 7 and 8 and came away with a hard-fought championship. The Rattlers finished with a 3-1 record in the two-day, five-team, round-robin tournament. The Rattlers started the tournament off with a nailbiter, defeating the Palm Creek Gila Monsters in the bottom of the 7th inning, pulling off a come-from-behind 21-20 victory. The Rattlers finished the first day with a tough loss to their arch nemesis Tucson Firebirds 13-10 in the second game. The Rattlers started the second day off playing the tournament host team, Robson Ranch Desert Rats. The Rattlers defeated the Desert Rats in a tight game 14-9. The Rattlers finished off the day defeating the Valle Del Oro Explorers 18-3, running their record to 3-1 for the tournament. Honestly, the championship wasn’t looking good for the Rattlers, with the Firebirds at 2-0 going into the second day. The Rattlers got a little help from the Gila Monsters and Desert Rats, both defeating the Firebirds on day two, giving the Rattlers the championship.
Steve Jackson (.857) and Keli Remus (.714) led the team in batting average. Trevis Miller and Scott Lundgren led the team in RBIs, with eight each. Paul Massara and Trevis Miller led the team, each with eight runs scored.
Palm Creek Tournament Champions
The SB Rattlers traveled down to Palm Creek, Ariz., on Feb. 14 and 15 and came away with the championship. The Rattlers finished with a 4-0 record in the two-day, five-team, round-robin tournament. The Rattlers defeated Apache Junction 22-9, scoring nine runs in the 7th inning to secure the victory. The Rattlers started the second game off fast and furious, run-ruling the Sun City Sidekicks after six innings 21-8. The Rattlers’ toughest game was the first game on Saturday. With a start time of 8:30 a.m., the Rattlers had to leave SaddleBrooke before sunrise and be mentally and physically ready to play after their one-hour drive. The game started off as a barn burner, with both teams scoring 10 runs in the first two innings, then the Rattler defense tightened up and held Robson to just two runs over the next two innings. The Rattlers held a one-run lead over Robson going into the last inning. The Rattlers’ LF Gentner snagged a line shot for the first out. Robson strung four hits together and scored four runs to take a 20-17 leading going into the bottom of the 7th inning. The Rattlers started off great, getting the first two batters (Laureys and Gann) on base. Robson’s third baseman made a great play to force the runner at third for the first out. Jones hit a single to load up the bases with one out, and the Rattlers trailing by three runs. Robson’s third baseman made another great play and forced the runner at third for the second out, but the Rattlers were able to score a run on the play to cut the lead to two runs. Gurewitz drew a walk to load the bases. Two outs, bases loaded, no pressure! Romeo calmly lined a single to the outfield, driving in one run, and the bases remained loaded. Not to be out done, Schweitzer lined a shot down the left field line, which just managed to stay fair, driving in Gentner and Gurewitz with the tying and winning runs. The Rattlers prevailed 21-20. In the fourth game the Rattlers started out slow but managed to score 14 runs in the last three innings to run-rule the tournament host team Palm Creek 19-7. Greg Gurewitz (.933) and Rick Buonarigo (.813) led the team in batting average. Jay Schweitzer (12) and Steve Jackson (10) led the team in RBIs. Gurewitz (12) and Gentner (10) led the team in runs scored.