2008 World Series

In a repeat match up of 2007, The Damascus Oaks squared off against the Orange County Outlaws. There were a few differences, OCO had the home field advantage, and both teams had moved to new ballparks. The teams entered evenly matched as each team had won over 100 games. Damascus was seeking redemption from a come-from-ahead loss in last year’s 7 game series. The Outlaws were trying to prove they are comparable to their teams of the 90’s. The DAM(n) Oaks struck out 73 Outlaws and H. Matsui’s went 11 for 25 (440) with 4 dbls, a HR, and 5 rbi to grab series MVP, but despite the K’s, OC put up a strong offensive show against very good starting pitching and hung on for their 2^nd consecutive championship by beating Damascus 4-3.

Gm1: OCO 7-3, J. Lackey was staked to an early lead, and had only 1 poor inning, when C.Pena hit a 6^th inning homerun and DAM scored 3 times, but OC quickly countered in the bottom half on T. Wiggington hr & C.Figgins SF, in fact OC had 3 SF in the game.

Gm2: DAM 6-4, E.Bedard was nasty, striking out 11 in 7.2 IP, but he also gave up 10 hits and won because J.Posada’s bid for a 3 run <> came up just short. OC out hit Damascus 12-10, but had 11 LOB. M. Lowell’s 2 run single and J.Dye’s 2run bomb were the key blows. H.Matsui had 3 hits for the victors & M.Redmond had 3 for OC.

Gm3: OCO 7-2, AJ Burnett was wild and C. Wang was not is the story. AJ walked 5 & allowed 10 hits leading to all 7 OC runs. C.Figgins had a big day with 4 rbi on 2 hits that included a rare hr. H.Matsui had 2 more hits for DAM, but Wang & Co. held the 3,4,5, & 6 hitters to 0-15.

Gm4: DAM 7-2, a reversal of game 1, J.Vasquez got the early lead and mowed down OC with 9 K’s in 8 ip. He gave up 2 runs and 7 hits. The Oaks sealed it with 4, 6^th inning runs, highlighted by H.Matsui’s 3 run shot. J.Lackey took the loss, but J.Zumaya threw the gasoline on the fire.

Gm5: OCO 7-4, perhaps the pivotal game. OC didn’t hit much vs. E.Bedard, but they made ‘em count. G.Anderson homered & M.Bradley returned from an injury in gm 2 to smash a 2 run homer. R.Halladay shutout DAM for 6 straight. But the 7^th opened with 4 consecutive DAM hits eventually accounting for 4 runs and the lead. Bedard had allowed only 3 hits & whiffed 13, but a M.Young “E “opened OC’s 8^th and the Oak bullpen disintegrated. PH’s from Abreu & Morneau (dbl) tied it and yet another ph double (fbcfx) from A.Beltre capped off a 4 run inning.

Gm6: DAM 3-1, another strong SP performance went for naught as C.Wang led 1-0 before DAM erupted for 3 runs in the 7^th. Each team only had 5 hits, but Burnett was a little better striking out 9.

Gm7: OCO 4-3, M.Lowell homered in the 1^st & DAM added a 2^nd inning run to build a quick 3-0 lead. But both offenses were streaky for the entire series as OC got 5 of their 8 game hits in the 2^nd and scored 4 runs. The decisive hit came from D.Jeter. J.Vasquez added 10 more K’s in 6.2, but suffered the loss. J.Lackey toiled 5 journeyman innings whiffing none, but getting the win. 4 OC relievers allowed only 2 singles to close out any Damascus hopes.