2011 Year End Tournament
Tier 1 Tournament
This years Tier 1 Championship was played by the LA Dodgers, and the Colorado Rockies. Both teams had never made a trip to the tournament Championship game, and were both excited to have the ability to add some new hardware to their team history.The Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants in game one by a slim margin, and then were given a free pass to the finals via forfeit by the San Diego Padres.
For the Rockies, they had to take a very different route to the finals. It meant going through last years tournament champion St.Louis in game one, and then beating last years playoff champions the Houston Astros in game two.
A showdown between the Dodgers, and the Rockies was set for the finals.
Both teams had defense as their first priority, but with Colorado leading by 1 at the end of the 4th inning, it was their defense that was the first to budge. They made a couple of critical errors in the last two innings, and the Dodgers took advantage of these chances with smart and powerful hitting. LA took the lead for good in the 5th inning and never looked back to win their first Tier 1 Championship.
Congratulations to the LA Dodgers for winning the Tier 1 Trophy, and to all the teams who participated in this years exciting tournament.
Tier 2 Tournament
The D-backs road to the playoffs has been overdue but expected for the last few years. Unfortunately this year was looking familiar, mainly due to a few unfortunate losses in the regular season that played a factor in landing them comfortably in the standings. The Diamondbacks found themselves 1”W” shy of finishing in the top 8 and a guaranteed berth.
Now, being forced to take the Wildcard route, they found themselves in the semis facing a familiar foe; in The Mariners. The Mariners who had previously eliminated them in the 2010 Tournament, and to boot, Arizona was 0-2 against their rivals in 2011. Right off the bat, this was a see-saw battle as time constraints were also a factor. The game did however manage to get through seven innings and with loads of spectators on hand, the nerves on both benches became apparent. With men on and 2 outs, The Mariners batter popped up in foul territory to end the game. The Diamondbacks prevailed by just a single run, and were now moving onto the Finals.
As the daylight was dwindling, The Diamondbacks were making their way to the South Field, where The Marlins awaited anxiously. Right from the get go The Marlins meant business. They came out gunning with 3 Homeruns in 2 innings to take an 8-1 lead. The Diamondbacks were down but not out, they answered back with stellar defense; including a couple of heroic catches by Nilam and Faiz in the OF, that kept The Marlins at bay. Meanwhile the bats were coming alive, lead by Nabeel, the game was in a deadlock at 9-9 going into the 7th. In the top of the inning however, The Marlins scored 5 to take a commanding lead, and were now just 3 outs away from sealing their victory. However Arizona had other plans. With the score now 14-13, thanks to timely hitting and an inside-the-park base clearing homerun by Rayhaan, Arizona found themselves in a bit of trouble. Down to their final out with runners on 2nd and 3rd; Hardeep was in the batter’s box. With the count 1-0 he hit a hard single up the middle to clear the bags for a 15-14 walk-off victory, the tournament trophy, a playoff berth and a date with The Cardinals in the first round.
