May 1, 2009 — The National Guard Hummers finally asserted themselves as one of the elite teams of the Bob Owens Slow Pitch Softball league by beating perennial powerhouse Seaborne Stealers, 23-8, Thursday night at the D.C. Canegata Ball Park to claim their first league title.
The Stealers were riding high after defeating the Hummers in game one on Thursday to force the deciding second game, but a great adjustment by the Hummers ace pitcher, Jerry Vialet, proved to be the big difference in the game. Vialet all but shut down the Stealers' big bats while his team was putting it to the Stealers offensively. Even in the earlier 16-12 loss, he had only allowed the Stealers one home run, and with his shortstop calling all his pitches, he was able stay in control throughout.
Unlike the start of game one, when the Hummers struggled to score early in the contest, they came out on fire in the championship clincher. Batting first, they erupted for five runs in the top of the first inning to take the early lead. The Hummers scored five runs on a three-run home run by Neil Davis and RBI singles by Dennis Carter and Eduardo Sanes. The Stealers would tie the game at five in the bottom of the inning on a grand slam off the bat of Angel Torres and a solo shot by Owen Pimentel.
Vialet then shut out the Stealers over the next four innings.
The Hummers on the other hand continued their blitzkrieg in the second inning with six more runs, while the usually staunch Stealers defense was starting to become unraveled. Even though the Stealers made some errors, this game was more about the strong pitching and offensive effort put forth by the Hummers. They all but wrapped up the title in the bottom of the second inning scoring their six runs on two-run home runs by Arthur Canaii and Kai Schjang, a two-run double by Sanes and a Stealers’ error to then lead 11-5.
After a scoreless third inning, the Hummers really sealed the deal in the top of the fourth with seven insurance runs for an 18-5 lead and just about squash whatever fight their opponents may have had left inside. They scored seven runs on two-run homers by Canaii and Cantibol Encarnacion, an RBI double by Carter, RBI Single by Schjang and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Sanes.
The Hummers went on to add two more runs in the top of the fifth on Canaii’s RBI triple and a Stealers’ error while the Stealers were finally able to get on the board for the first time since the first inning with their final three runs of the game. The Stealers scored three on a two-run home run to right-center off the bat of Enrique Soto and a solo blast to right by Angel Torres to trail 21-8.
The Hummers finished the scoring for the game in the top of the seventh with three runs on Canaii’s two-run double and Schjang's RBI ground-out for a final score of 23-8.
Vialet's dominating performance on the mound earned the championship-clinching victory, while stealers ace Sam Ramos took the loss. Top batters for the Hummers were Canaii, 4 for 4 with two home runs and seven RBI, Carter, 3 for 4 with a home run and and two RBIs, and Sanes 3for 3 with two RBIs. For the Stealers Torres was 3 for 3 with a home run and five RBIs and Soto was 2 for 3 with a home run and two RBIs.
