R2D2 wins the 2008 Riverside League

RIVERSIDE, IL - R2D2 beat the Pig Bellys 7-6 in the semi-finals and Deuce 8-1 in the championship game to win the 2008 Riverside 12 Inch League Tournament. R2D2 finished the year with a 14-1 record and is the first team to win both the regular season and the playoffs in the last four years (Deuce had previously come close to winning both the regular season and the playoffs by winnig the 2006 regular season but split the playoff championship with R2D2 after the Marlins had been disqualified). Deuce finished 2nd after upsetting the 2nd seed and reigning playoff champion En Fuego in the semi-finals. With the playoff win, R2D2 has won or split the playoff championship in three out of the last four years.

R2D2 took a forfeit win in the first round and met up with the Pig Bellys in the semi-finals. The Pig Bellys took an early 5-0 lead but R2D2 broke out in the bottom of the 3rd by scoring 6 runs on the back of a grand-slam by Cary Hendrix. A double and run scored by Matt Rose in the bottom of the 4th run went on to be the difference as R2D2 never relinquished the lead from that point on.

In the other semi-finals game, Deuce edged out En Fuego 3-2. En Fuego scored their two runs in the bottom of the 1st and could only but together 3 hits the rest of the game.

In the championship game, R2D2 beat Deuce 8-1, but the game was much closer than the scores suggests. R2D2 got on the board early in the bottom of the 1st by a lead-off double by Darren Palandri followed later by a sacrifice fly by Mike Chillo. Both teams played great defense as the scored remained 1-0 throughout the first four innings. In the bottom of the 5th, Mike Jurkovic lead off the inning with a triple but was held to third base as the next two batter grounded out. With two outs in the bottom of the 5th Darren Palandri hit a single up the middle to score Jurkovic and Torre Palandri followed with a triple and Mike Chillo with a homerun as R2D2 put 4 runs on the board with 2 outs to take a commanding 5-0 lead. R2D2 tacked on 3 more in the 6th with a Pat Rose homerun and Deuce was able to put one on the board in the top of the 7th but it was too little, too late as R2D2 went on to win 8-1.

Cary Hendrix and Darren Palandri were named co-MVPs of the tournament for their clutch hitting and solid defense.

For the year, Ryan Sherman and Darren Palandri battled for the league Most Valuable Player but Ryan Sherman was able to pull ahead in the last week of the regular season and keep the lead after the playoffs. Sherman also was one hit shy of winning the triple crown. Kevin Sherman, Dan Cashin and Torre Palandri finished 3rd to 5th in the MVP race.

No new single season records were set this year, most likely attributed to the last week of the season being canceled and most teams playing two less games than the previous years.

News and Notes:

-The follownig players have been in the top 10 of the MVP race 3 out of the last 4 years: Andy Prochaska, Darren Palandri, Ryan Sherman, Torre Palandri, Kevin Sherman, Dan Cashin, and Anthony Zogas.