Mike’s Cafe wins Little League Majors Division

This story was submitted by Coach Mike Kardos. Click on picture for larger image.

Mike’s Cafe won a hard-fought game to edge Draeger’s 11-10 and capture the 2009 Menlo-Atherton Little League Majors championship on June 7 at Tom Harrison Field in Menlo Park.

The teams entered the double-elimination playoff tournament as the No. 1seed (Draeger’s) and No. 2 seed (Mike’s Cafe) and had split their four regular season matchups at two games apiece.

Leading up to the championship game, the teams had met twice in the tournament: Mike’s Cafe captured the winner’s bracket in convincing fashion (18-2 v. Draeger’s, May 30); then, after securing the loser’s bracket, Draeger’s turned in an equally impressive performance (14-5 v. Mike’s Cafe, June 6) to force the final game.

In the rubber match, pitchers from both sides struggled to find the strike zone and the teams were deadlocked at 5-5 after three innings.

In the bottom of the fourth, Gunnar Jongebloed walked for Draeger’s and later scored on a double by Michael Maineiro to make it 6-5 Draeger’s.

In the top of the fifth, Mike’s Cafe capitalized on three walks when Brandon Fischer hit a grand-slam home run to make give Mike’s Cafe the lead, 9-6.

Draeger’s was un-phased in the bottom of the inning and answered with four runs of its own, including an RBI single by Jessica Koenig and a two-run single by Ben Boggs, to take a 10-9 lead after five.

In the top of the sixth, Cole Hagerman singled early for Mike’s Cafe and found himself on third base with two outs and down a run. With the batter swinging on a pitch in the dirt, the ball skipped by the catcher allowing Hagerman to score, tying the game at 10-10.

Jack Gray took the mound for Mike’s Cafe in the bottom of the sixth and the defense held the score and forced an extra inning.

In the top of the seventh, Gray led off with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice fly by Holden Kardos to left field. With one out, Samson Dark smashed a line drive to left, scoring Gray and putting Mike’s Cafe up 11-10.

Mason Randall, Draeger’s No. 2 batter, led off in the bottom of the inning with a walk. Randall moved to second on a towering sacrifice fly by Andrew Daschbach, caught by Hagerman in right field, and then moved to third on the same play following an overthrown relay to the infield. The next batter hit a grounder up the first-base line, allowing Jackson Salabert to field the ball, tag out the runner and hold Randall at third.

With two out and the count at 2-2, Gray coaxed a fly ball to shallow left-center field, which was caught by Kardos to seal the win for Mike’s Cafe.

Riley Haught, Daschbach and Randall each scored two runs for Draeger’s and Koenig was 2-4 with 3 RBIs and a run scored.

For Mike’s Cafe, Gray was the winning pitcher (no runs in two innings pitched) and scored two runs, including the game-winner in the seventh. Dark scored three runs and Fischer finished the day with six RBIs.

“It was an incredible, exciting game with both teams battling back and forth,” said Mike’s Cafe coach Mike Kardos. “Many of our games this year were come-from-behind wins, which earned us a reputation as the ‘Comeback Kids.’ So, we knew we were capable of battling back and that same spirit showed again today. I’m very proud of all the players and the heart they showed.”