19-0 Glenrock Marlins finish undefeated to become league, tournament champions

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By SCOTT BORKGREN
Reporter/Photographer

The most wins in a major league season since 1920 is 116, accomplished by the Seattle Mariners in 2001. Even then, they had 46 losses and finished with a .716 winning percentage. In an average year, 95 wins will probably win any division in baseball and a 90-72 record often has a good shot at making the playoffs as a wild card team.

In baseball, even the best teams lose sometimes, which makes the Glenrock Marlins 19-0 season that much more impressive.

This team of 11- 12-yearold boys marched through the AAA Casper Youth Baseball League like General Sherman through Atlanta. Eventually, everybody fell beneath their muddy cleats and grassstained pants.

“My favorite part of the season was probably the championship game,” Logan Spiegelberg said. “I had three throw outs to second base and I had never done that before so that was special. I also had a triple and a double and I probably like it just because it was the championship game, too.”

“When it came tournament time we had to step up our game and in the championship we really had to step up our game,” Ty Bloem said.

It was a double elimination tournament, so, because the Pirates lost earlier, would of had to win 2 out of 3 to win first place. The Marlins losing two games was unlikely considering they 18-0 at that point.

The championship game started off a little rocky for these home-town fish. The Marlins gave up two runs in the first inning and were staring at an early deficit. Pitcher Dillan Farley settled down in the second inning and, with the aid of solid defense behind him, held the Pirates scoreless. Glenrock stepped up to the plate and was able to turn back the tide on the Pirates and tied the game entering the third inning. After that, the Marlins were in complete control and built their lead into a 7-3 championship victory.

The game the Marlins were most worried about was actually the semifinal game against the Reds.

“They felt more pressure because they felt like they needed to win,” coach Donnie Stewart said.

After finishing 16-2 the year before, this team knew it was good. The boys said they could have won the league last year, too. It is rare in sports that an athlete’s season actually exceeds his expectations.

“I think my biggest expectation coming in to the year was winning the city tournament. I’ve never won one before. I knew we had a good team and I just really wanted to win it bad.” Spiegelberg said.

The Marlins defeated their opponents by an average score of 10-2. In baseball, even the best teams don’t come anywhere close to putting up those kind of numbers. The team was sure to mention that it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Dan Mangus, who helped coach for 3 1/2 years even though he didn’t have a kid on the team.

This is part of the July 29, 2010 online edition of The Glenrock Independent.

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