A's Clinch First Pennant in 8 Years

Post date: Sep 12, 2015 7:49:43 PM

Anthony Rendon (L), Bryce Harper (R) celebrate with teammates in locker room after A's clinch the Owens/East Pennant

In one of the most dramatic endings to a Pennant race in WFBL history, the A's clinched their first Owens/East crown in 8 years by fighting to a tough 6-6 draw with high-powered and red-hot Brantford, and then waiting out an even more dramatic late night 6-5 victory by Montreal over Boston.

The combination of those two results push the A's 1.5 games ahead of Boston and Montreal with just one game remaining. No matter what happens in the A's matchup with the Expos this coming week, the club cannot be caught by either rival.

Getting there was in no way a simple task, as nothing has been for this hard-working, never-say-die team of often under-appreciated and sometimes outright disrespected group of ball players wearing green and gold.

First, they had to come back in Brantford, where the fans of the host Bisons were in a frenzy thanks to their powerful and red-hot ball club. Riding a massive performance from 1st baseman Edwin Encarnacion, who bashed a half-dozen homers and drove in 17 RBI, the Bisons held a solid lead into the final day.

The A's one final shot revolved around getting a strong performance from rookie callup John Lamb, who had begun the week with an awful outing, and then trying to find an offensive category to slip by. Lamb delivered 6 big innings with 8 strikeouts, pushing the club to a 5 of 6 win in the pitching categories.

The offensive categories still being fought over were AVG, OBP, Runs, and Steals. In the end, the A's rode a final day 4-4 performance from the previously slumping Mike Trout, eeking out a .400-.397 victory in the OBP category to force the tie.

With that result settled by the late afternoon, the team knew entering Sunday night that a win by Montreal would give them the Pennant. The A's also had a slight chance to pull out their own victory, if closer Kenley Jansen could somehow gain a Win.

The latter wasn't likely, and wouldn't happen. The former would come down to the performance of Boston slugging rookie 3rd sacker Kris Bryant, who basically needed a 2-hit game, or a hit and a walk, to clinch it for the Dawgs.

That outcome would push the PH-BO battle for the Pennant, and a MO-BR battle for the final Wildcard spot, into the regular season's final week.

When Bryant crushed a 1st inning homer on Sunday night, Boston was looking good. But as the night wore on, Bryant recorded outs in his next 3 appearances. This still left Boston and Montreal tied, which would keep everything in play if this result held, which seemed almost a sure thing.

But Bryant amazingly got one more appearance in the top of the 9th on Sunday night. When he recorded an out, the Dawgs fell behind the Expos suddenly and dramatically, and the A's just needed the late game to end to clinch the Pennant. That MLB game ended dramatically, with a no-hitter, and the celebration kicked off, both on the field in MLB, and in the A's fantasy dugout.

Meanwhile, while the celebration was going on in Philly, one was also taking place in Montreal, which clinched a Wildcard berth. Boston and Montreal will fight it out once again next week in the WC Game, and the winner will battle the A's a week later in the WFBL Semi-Finals.

The A's get a playoff 'Bye' week next week, after closing out the regular season with an anti-climactic game vs the Expos this week at Liberty Bell Park. The Pennant is the franchise' WFBL-record 8th overall, and their first in 8 years.

Following the clincher, GM Matt Veasey summed things up: "This was completely unexpected. No one in the WFBL believed we could pull this off. This was hard work, all summer long. We never had a breather, never relaxed, never took anything for granted. In 4 of the last 7 years, we've come home with 2nd place. To finally have things fall our way, well, it is extremely rewarding."