Atlantic City Tournament
National Adult Baseball Association - Tournament Edition
Game Ending - May 28, 2007.

Noles Dealt Poor Hand in AC
Atlantic City, NJ

Sand dunes, ocean breezes and the boardwalk provided a picturesque setting for the 2007 NABA Atlantic City Tournament. The 18+ open division featured 10 teams with a combined 18 league or tournament championships. The New York Seminoles, a five time NYC Champion, began the tournament with aspirations of adding another title to their bucket of shells.

The first game, Saturday afternoon, featured a match up between with the 2006 RVNABA League Champion Paterson Phillies. Led by 2005 NABA World Series MVP 1B Rich Aleman, the Phillies looked for a return to the Atlantic City championship game they reached in last year’s event. But, the Seminoles, countered with crafty veteran RHP Jose DeJesus. DeJesus (9 Inn., CG, 2 ER, 8K) using a mixture of pitch selections and varied deliveries reminiscent of Satchel Paige, stymied a Phillies offense that entered pool play with .314 team batting average in 2007 RVNABA league play. Energized by the stellar mound performance, the Seminole offense quickly raced to a 6-2 3rd inning advantage on a Nephty Cruz (2-5, 2 RBI, 2 Runs) two run scoring single and Mitchell Pena's (2-4, 3 Runs) RBI single to rightfield. Three runs respectively by the Noles, courtesy of 3B Chris Aguilera (3-4, 3 RBI) and 1B Carlos Cruz (2-4, 2 RBI), and Phillies in the remaining four innings gave the Seminoles an eventual 9-5 opening game win and a 1-0 record.

Sunday morning had a scheduled meeting with the 2005 NABA National Champion Irvington Cardinals. Defensive miscues left the Seminole squad with an early 5-1 deficit. But the Noles offense, led by a bases loaded single off the bat of Pena, erased all notions of a walk over with a 5 run fourth inning and 5-5 score. A three run 5th following consecutive errors provided the Cardinals with an 8-5 edge. After a matching two run 6th inning for each squad moved the score to 10-7, single RBI's by LF Nathan Moffie and Nephty Cruz sent a slugfest that saw every Seminole score a run into the 8th with the Noles trailing by one. All hopes for a comeback were thwarted, however, when the 3 hour time restriction was applied. Thus, ending the game in the 8th and handing the Cardinals a 10-9 shortened victory. The loss, which evened the Seminoles pool play record at 1-1, set the stage for an elimination bout with the New City Outlaws

Margate Park fielded the backdrop for an afternoon pairing between the Seminoles and the 2004, 05', 06' defending tournament and 2003 WRWBL League Champion New City Outlaws. Staked to an early 1-0 lead in the first frame, compliments of LF Nathan Moffie's first homerun, the Noles provided an early glimpse into their quick strike abilities. An action that would be repeated on this day. Following a game tying run in the Outlaw third and a single posting in the 4th, the Noles again quickly pushed ahead 4-2 with a three run fifth in large part to a Joe Capogna (2-5, 3 RBI) two run double to the left centerfield wall. Single runs in the 7th an 8th inning, including Pena's first pool homerun, pushed the lead to 6-4 heading into the ninth. Looking to damper Nole's RHP Manny Reyes (9 Inn., 3 ER, 9K) impressive outing and prevent his first tournament win, the Outlaws staged one more fight in defense of their crown. Following two walks and infield single, a defensive miscue with 2 outs created the break needed. The Outlaws plated two runs and forced a 6-6 tie. But the Seminoles, on this day, proved one frame better. Leading off the 10th, a single by SS Joe Alvarez (2-4, 3 SB, Run) proved costly. Consecutive steals of both 2nd and 3rd by Alvarez and subsequent walk to Moffie (1-4, 2 runs) brought C Nepthy Cruz to the plate. Cruz answered with a double into the left centerfield gap which plated two runs and solidified an 8-6 victory and an end to the three year Atlantic City Championship reign of the Outlaws.

The Seminoles, standing at 2-1 in pool play, looked toward a deserved advancement into the playoff round scheduled for Monday. But within an absurd NABA tie breaking rule, the Noles, were inexplicably eliminated from contention when tournament rules failed to recognize "head to head" play. In contradiction to logic and basic rules in all competition, the NABA ruled that "runs allowed" would determine the elimination process, not "head to head" results. As a consequence, the Seminoles and New Jersey Clippers were listed as “eliminated" in favor of the advancement of three teams (Paterson Phillies, NJ White Sox and TriState Titans) that were each defeated in pool play by either the Seminoles or Clippers. Protests filed were nullified when it was determined there was not enough time to review stated arguments. Each of the three teams were assured advancement and would not be reversed. A black mark for the NABA and bitter end in a tournament that would have been labeled a success prior to the unjust playoff selections.

Key Stat:
Phillies/Titans/White Sox runs allowed each based vs. opponents that held a collective 7-27 pool record.
Seminoles/Clippers runs allowed each based vs. opponents that held a collective 11-7 pool record.