Leroy “Dedo” Simmonds saved his best for last. After losing a potential series clincher to the Cobras Sunday night at the D.C. Canegata Ball Park in a relief role, Simmonds took the ball on Wednesday with the Raphael Jackson Double A Baseball finals deadlocked at two games apiece.
He turned in a masterpiece of a pitching effort that allowed the Yankees to clinch the championship with a 13-0 victory.
Still suffering from an injury to his foot from a lawnmower accident, Simmonds hobbled his way around the mound, scattering seven hits over nine innings in getting the shutout. He also helped his own cause with the bat, going 2 for 4 on the night with a home run and five RBIs. It also helped that his team turned in its best defensive effort in the finals.
It was easily the largest crowd to witness a local baseball game in years, according to fans in attendance, and much of the unexpected turnouts can be attributed to the new kids on the block, the Cobras, and the run they had in this year’s playoffs. Their fans were easily the loudest and most festive in the stands, especially with their merengue rhythm section to keep them dancing. However they did not get to do much celebrating Wednesday, as Simmonds was in total control from start to finish.
After a scoreless first inning, the Yankees scored all the runs they would need in the bottom of the second, plating four runs on a two-run double by Simmonds and two Cobras errors.
They added three more runs in the bottom of the third to extend their lead to 7-0. They scored three runs on RBI singles by Carlos Morales and Jermaine Lynch and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Simmonds.
The score would stay that way until the bottom of the fifth, when Simmonds blasted a two-run homerun high over the left field fence to push the score to 9-0.
The 2009 champs then picked up two unearned runs in the sixth and two more runs in the 
bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Jose Morales and an RBI ground out by Eric Perez to complete the scoring for the game at 13-0.
Even with a 13-0 lead heading into the ninth inning, some Yankees fans were still nervous, remembering some of the Cobras huge comebacks, especially the one where they overcome a 12-1 deficit to beat their team last Saturday. However Simmonds was having none of that, as he coerced the Cobras into two easy ground balls and a pop fly to set them down in order in the top the ninth, setting off wild celebration by Yankees fans in the stands.
Simmonds got the complete game, shutout victory for the Yankees while Angel Torres Sr. got the loss for the Cobras. Top batters for the Yankees were Simmonds, 2 for 4 with a home run and five RBIs; Steve Simmonds Jr., 2 for 3; and Jose Morales was 2 for 5 with an RBI. For the Cobras Jose Rivera, Joshua Torres, and Jonathan Garcia were all 2 for 4.
