The Lakewood BlueClaws have won their second S.A.L. championship in the past 4 seasons with a 5-1 victory over the Greenville Drive in South Carolina Friday night. Anthony Gose led the way with 2 hits, 2 runs scored, an RBI and 3 stolen bases. Gose, who finished the regular season in a bit of a slump, hit .407 in the 6 playoff games. Troy Hanzawa and Vladimir De Los Santos also had 2 hit apiece, and Lakewood used the strong pitching of Korey Noles (7 ip, 1 run, 6 hits, NO walks) and Austin Hyatt to finish off the Drive.
As good as the pitching was, if I had to pick an MVP of the playoffs, I would have to split it between Gose and Travis d'Anaud. d'Arnaud, who struggled through the first half, hitting under .200 at the All-Star break, had a fantastic second half, raising his average over 60 points, and driving in runs seemingly whenever they BlueClaws needed them. Travis continued his hot hitting in the playoffs, hitting .391 in the post-season.
In my perspective, this title is even more impressive than the first one. In 2006, the Phillies assigned some more experienced players, guys who had played at higher levels, to Lakewood to help the young nucleus. Lakewood does not win in 2006 without the contributions from Mike Spidale, John Urick and Avelino Aprilla. This year's team had no such help, and won the title with the youngest group of players we have had here in the 9 years of BlueClaws baseball!!
Congratulations to the team, the coaching staff, and the Phillies front office for a job well done. I am especially excited for Lakewood hitting and first base coach, Greg Legg. Greg has been a great asset to the Phillies organization, over 25 years as a player or a coach. He was the manager of of Piedmont Bol Wievels in 2000, and moved with the Phillies affiliate to Lakewood to be the first BlueClaw's manager. He was selected by the Phillies in the 1982 draft and has been in the organization ever since, working at all different levels of the minors. He has always had a few minutes to talk to me, and never made me feel like I was intruding. Great job, Legger, congratulations!!
So, where do I get my 2010 Clearwater Thresher season tickets?
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