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Same team, similar outcome. This year it took six games, but
the team of Quentin Jensen, Mike Breen, Joe Yerdon, and Marc
Ceccucci are the 2001 Major League Wiffleball champions. It
is their second championship in the league's two year existence.
Brian Glasser also filled in as a replacement in two of the
six games.
 Team
Two, as they were known, simply because their captain, Quentin
Jensen finished the regular season as the Number 2 ranked player,
got off to a great start taking the first three games of the
series. They got off to a great start in Game One, scoring two
runs off opposing pitcher Shaun Breen before he recorded an
out. However, Shaun Breen settled down and scattered just three
hits and allowed no runs after that. He also got a boost from
Matt Dahlin who hit a leadoff homer and RBI double in the first
inning off Team Two starter Quentin Jensen to tie the game at
2-2. The game remained tied into the 8th inning when Dahlin
gave up 3 hits, including an RBI double by Marc Ceccucci who
drove home the game-winning run. Team Two went on to win the
longest game in MLW history 4-2.
 In
Game Two, we saw a rematch of Game 4 of the 2000 World Series:
Joe Yerdon vs. Eric Coons. The result was similar, as Joe Yerdon
got a 6-5 win and took a 2-0 lead in the series. His team hit
4 home runs off Coons, who pitched 4 innings. Yerdon also pitched
4 innings, and manager Quentin Jensen called in Mike Breen to
close out the game, and he went on to get the only save of the
2001 Wiffleball World Series.
 Game
Three was another nail-biter, but again, Team Two got the victory,
this time 1-0 in extra innings thanks to a walk-off homer by
Quentin Jensen in the 6th off reliever Shaun Breen. Breen came
in to relieve Matt Dahlin who pitched the first four innings.
Jensen also picked up the win as he pitched the top half of
the 6th inning, and put his team ahead 3 games to none.
 Team
One refused to be swept and had an offensive surge in Game Four.
The team won the game 16-4 in 4 innings via the 10-run rule.
Team Two starter Marc Ceccucci allowed 9 runs in the first inning,
including 3 home runs by Matt Dahlin. Dahlin went 7-for-8 with
6 home runs, a double, and 13 runs batted in, which is more
RBIs than any player would have in the entire series. Jim Breen
pitched well enough to earn the victory and avoided the sweep.
 In
Game 5, Mike Breen took the mound hoping to close out the series.
He was up against Shaun Breen, who pitched 3 shutout innings.
Mike Breen looked to be on a roll, but loaded the bases in the
top of the third with only one out. Mike got Matt Dahlin to
pop out, but then fell apart. Jim Breen started the rally with
a 2-run double, and the team went on to score a total of 9 runs,
all with two outs. With such a big lead, Shaun Breen was convinced
by teammate Jim Breen to come out of the game and let Jim pitch.
Team Two proceeded to hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home
runs off him (yes, that's 4 in a row) before being pulled. Eric
Coons was put in, but had a similar result, giving up 2 runs
to 3 batters. So staff ace Matt Dahlin was forced to come in
to keep the game close. Team Two recovered from the damages
and went on to take Game 5 by a score of 12-6.
 Unfortunately,
for Team One, they ran into Quentin Jensen in Game 6. Jensen
pitched a one-hitter to win the Wiffleball World Series 4 games
to 2. He was later named MVP for his pitching and clutch hitting.
The game could have been tied 0-0 at the end of five innings
if it had not been for Jim Breen's costly mistake in the second
inning (there are no "errors" in MLW). In a Jose Canseco-like
play, Jim Breen misjudged a Mike Breen fly ball and knocked
it backwards, over the fence for a home run. This was the only
run scored in the game.
The series was a very memorable one which, like last year, probably
could have gone either way, and ended up with Team Two winning.
The players will now take a several week break before some of
them participate in some interleague games with teams from Long
Island, New York and Wilmington, Delaware. |
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