by Stephen Blue
The Deltaville Deltas 20-game winning streak, dating back to last season, came to an end Saturday as the 4th-seeded Richmond Brewers upset the Deltas 8-6 in the opening game of the Richmond NABA championship tournament.
Deltaville went on to eliminate the 3rd seeded Tappahannock Tides on Sunday by the score of 5-4 to stay alive and advance in the double-elimination tournament.
The championship continued this week, but results were not available at press time. Second-seed and 2018 runner-up Richmond Team Woody defeated the Tides in their opening action on Saturday 7-5, and then defeated the Brewers on Sunday on a walk-off hit in the bottom of the 9th inning 5-4, to advance to Wednesday’s championship game. That game sent the Brewers into the one-loss side of the bracket, where they took on the Deltas on Tuesday night. The winner of that game would have to defeat Team Woody in back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday night to claim the title.
Final tournament results will be published in next week’s Sentinel.
Brewers 8, Deltas 6
Often in baseball, one bad inning out of 9 can sink an entire game. Such was the case on Saturday afternoon for the Deltas.
The Richmond Brewers scored 6 runs in the 7th inning, and despite a furious comeback attempt by Deltaville, the top-seeded Deltas were upset by the #4 seed in the opening round.
Deltaville scored first in the game, with Reggie Johnson leading off the 2nd inning with a single, stealing 2nd base, and scoring on a Brandon Walker base hit.
The Deltas clung to that 1-0 lead through the 5th inning, but in the 6th, a leadoff walk was followed by Brewers catcher Colin Short blasting a 2-run home run to give the Brewers a 2-1 advantage.
Unfortunately for the Deltas, what was a manageable 1-run deficit snowballed into an insurmountable hole in the 7th. Five consecutive Brewers reached in an 8-hit, 6-run rally, and by the time the Deltas bullpen could stop the bleeding, Deltaville found themselves behind 8-1 with just 3 innings to go.
The attempted comeback started immediately, with Walker leading off the bottom of the 7th with a base hit. RBI hits by Ryan Wiggins, Alexander Crittenden and Johnson resulted in Deltaville cutting the lead to 8-4. The Deltas got into the Brewer bullpen, but stranded the bases loaded to end the inning.
After relief pitcher Spencer Crittenden held the Brewers at bay in the 8th, Deltaville charged back again, with Wiggins doubling home another run, cutting the lead to 8-5, and putting the Deltas in a 2-out, 2-men-on situation. A. Crittenden drove a deep fly to right field, but the Brewers hauled it in to preserve the lead.
S. Crittenden held the Brewers again in the top of the 9th, and the Deltas’ Johnson hit the first pitch of the bottom of the 9th into the trees in left field to cut the lead to 8-6. Walker then reached base on his 3rd hit of the night, and Devin Sisson drew a 2-out walk to put the tying run on base. However, the Brewers were able to induce a ground ball to end the comeback bid.
Johnson was the starting pitcher, and took the loss on the mound despite a quality 5 2/3-inning, 2-run outing. Jason Wood pitched 2/3 of an inning, and S. Crittenden pitched 2 2/3 innings to finish the game.
Walker and Johnson led all Deltas hitters with 3 hits apiece.
Deltas 5, Tides 4
Facing elimination, the Deltas once again found themselves with an early lead and then a late deficit to dig out of. Unlike the previous day, however, they were able to complete the comeback.
The Deltas rallied for three 8th inning runs, and defeated the Tappahannock Tides by the score of 5-4.
The Deltas manufactured a run in the 1st inning to take the early lead. Travis Crump worked a full-count walk to lead off the game, and advanced on a Ryan Wiggins single. After a sacrifice bunt by Alexander Crittenden was followed by an intentional walk of cleanup hitter Johnson, Colby Roberts drove a deep fly ball to the outfield to score Crump and give Deltaville a 1-0 lead.
The Tides evened the score in the top of the 4th with a leadoff home run. They took the lead in the 5th, plating a pair of runs to make the score 3-1.
Deltaville cut the lead in half in the 7th, with T. Crump drawing his 3rd walk of the game, and scoring on a Crittenden sacrifice fly to center field. However, Tappahannock plated a run in the top of the 8th to extend their lead back to 2 runs, with the score being 4-2.
Up against the wall with the season on the line, Roberts led off the bottom of the 8th with a single, and scored on a double blasted into the gap by Scott Crump. Speedy Mason Phillips pinch ran for Crump, and tied the game 2 batters later when he scored on a base hit from Tyler Wood. The Deltas managed to load the bases, and Crittenden worked the count to draw a bases loaded walk to force home Josh Hinson, giving the Deltas the 5-4 lead.
Devin Sisson pitched the final 3 innings, and sat the Tides down in order in the 9th to secure the Deltas win.
Hits were hard to come by against Tappahannock’s pitching, with Wiggins being the only Delta to collect multiple hits in the game. Sisson picked up the win in relief, allowing 1 run on 2 hits over 3 innings. Jay Moore was the starter, pitching 6 innings while scattering 7 hits and allowing 3 runs.
