Owls fly away with 15th league title, 3-2

Brock Laubenstine tosses a 4-hitter & Tom DeAngelis rips two doubles to lead Gabelsville.

By Steve Smull

    GABELSVILLE -- First-year pitcher Brock Laubenstine had a miscommunication with Owls' manager Matt Danner late last week and missed Game 4 at Limeport Stadium. Laubenstine took full responsibility for the miscommunication.

    The Owls were also missing Tom DeAngelis and Matt Cotellese for just about the entire postseason as neither of those two outstanding players made a single start in the playoffs.

    Until Monday.

    Laubenstine, DeAngelis and Cotellese were making their first starts in the Finals and all three made big contributions for the Owls, who jumped out to an early lead and then hung on for dear life for a 3-2 victory to win Game 5 of the best-of-5 championship series to clinch their third title in a row.

    It is also the 15th championship for the Gabelsville franchise.

    "It never gets old," said Danner. "That's why we play in the league. To win."

    And Gabelsville has certainly done a lot of winning over their 30 years in the league.

    The Owls have a 736-179 record in regular season games for an unfathomable .804 winning percentage over those 30 years.

    Although in the 2010 Finals, the Bulls pushed them to the limit, as Limeport was in this series right down to the final out.

    Gabelsville came out of the gate fast as Tom DeAngelis made his first postseason start and immediately had an impact as he ripped a 3-2 pitch over the the left-fielder's head for a leadoff double. Shawn Betz dropped down the sacrifice bunt and Jon Kalejta battled through a tough eight-pitch at-bat before lifting a sacrifice fly to center and it was 1-0 Owls.

    Limeport would have loved to see the inning end there, but Matt Cotellese, who was make his first postseason appearance, came to the plate went down to get a curveball nicely and lined a single to left. There still appeared to be no imminent danger for the Bulls as Limeport starter Matt Wiltrout got up 0-2 on catcher Ryan Zakszeski, but the next pitch got a little too much of the outer half of the plate and Zakszeski lifted a drive to right-center that was deep enough to score the speedy Cotellese from first and it was 2-0 Owls.

    Gabelsville went right to work again in the second. Mike Schwager was plunked on the third pitch he saw to start the frame and Gary Hessler followed with a line-drive single to center to put two on with nobody out. Everyone knew what was coming next, but the sacrifice bunt was popped up and Limeport catcher Ben Swatsky ran it down and then threw to shortstop Brian Ernst covering second base for the 2-2-6 double-play and it appeared as though the Bulls would squirm their way out of the second unscathed. But it wasn't to be as DeAngelis ripped the next pitch to left-center, which scored Hessler from first and it was    3-0 Owls.

    Jon Kalejta worked another outstanding at-bat to start the third inning as he drew a 10-pitch walk and that wound end Wiltrout's night.

    Exit Wiltrout. Enter Ryan Palos.

    After a pop-up, Kalejta took off for second and Zakszeski grounded a single through the vacated hole on the right side for a well-executed hit-and-run single to put runners on the corners with one out. But Palos immediately got out of the jam on the next pitch as he turned a nifty 1-6-3 double-play to end the threat.

    Meanwhile, Laubenstine was cruising, allowing just one hit through three innings.

    But he would find some danger in the top half of the fourth.

    Swatsky lined a double down the left-field line to start the frame. "Swat" took third on a grounder to short and Laubenstine got a strikeout to get himself one out away from ending the inning. But Justin Godusky had other ideas as he ripped the second pitch to deep center for an RBI double and the Bulls' deficit was cut to 3-1. Mike Cudwadie then hit a high chopper just out of Laubenstine's reach between short and third which Cudwadie beat out for an infield single. But the play was not over yet as the throw skipped away at first, allowing Godusky to score and the Bulls trailed 3-2. Adam Ganser worked a six-pitch walk to put runners on first and second, but Laubenstine got a grounder to second to end the inning.

    Palos kept the Owls at bay and Laubenstine settled in the rest of the way, too. But the Bulls would have one last chance in the seventh.

    Cudwadie led off the seventh and chopped a swinging bunt down the first-base side that was tossed into the runner for an error. Cudwadie boldly took off for second on the next pitch and successfully stole the base and the Bulls were in business. After the Bulls shunned a sacrifice bunt attempt, Laubenstine induced a pop-up to third for the first out. Player/manager Pat Lane worked a six-pitch count and then hit a grounder that looked like it would get inside the bag at third for the game-tying hit, but Kalejta made a nice back-hand stab on the short-hop and threw out Lane for the second out. A pop-up on the next pitch ended the game and the season for the Bulls and they could only watch a dogpile of orange and white at the mound as the Owls celebrated.

    "It was a great game," Danner said. "Early on it seemed like we were in control and then they brought in Palos who shut the door on us. You have to give him credit for coming in and throwing the way he did against us on short rest."

    "Our pitchers have kept us in all 10 playoffs games that we have played," said Lane. "I can't say enough these players. We hung in there and never gave up. We got down three runs earl on and it looked like it could get out of hand, but Palos came in and shut them down. We just came up one run short."

    "I thought we were on the verge of getting into their bullpen," continued Lane. "But [Laubenstine] settled down and threw a great game."

    "We kept battling and battling, but I have to give all the credit to [Laubenstine]," said Danner.

    "It was an entire team effort," said Laubenstine. "It was a thrill to pitch this game. My split-finger pitch was working. They have a tough lineup. The key was for me to mix my speeds and locations. I deeply appreciate Matt Danner allowing me to play on this team. It's definitely an honor to wear this uniform."

    Danner also credited Cotellese and DeAngelis not just for their contributions during the game, but just making the game.

    Both of them were making their first start of the postseason.

    "[Cotellese] got a new job," said Danner. "He played the first half of the season and did well and then we missed him in our lineup the second half of the season. And DeAngelis was taking summer classes during the week this season. We were lucky that he skipped his class to be here tonight."

    "It felt great to be able to get here and help this team," said DeAngelis. "[Limeport] is a great team. I am just glad we came out on top. You play all summer for this and that's why I skipped class to be here."

    "We've had great support from our fans all season," said Lane. "I'm just sorry we couldn't win it for them."

    Tom DeAngelis was 2-for-3 with two doubles, Ryan Zakszeski was 2-for-3 with a double and Gary Hessler was 2-for-2 for Gabelsville (30-9). Limeport finished their season at 25-15.