It ain’t over till it’s over

What a tournament. The Guzzlers Black fought back all the way from the losers bracket to win the ESSL Austria tournament. They totally played 11 games on two days. It was a thrilling way up to the top.

The championship journey started on Saturday. After three round robin games the Guzzlers Black finished on second place in their group with a 2-1 winning record. After winning the seeding round (7-3 against Dream Team) and the first double elimination (DE) game (12:7 against the Grizzlies) they lost the second DE game by a score of 4-3 against the Eagles. With this loss they found themselves in the losers bracket playing the first game against the K.Noah Grizzlies on the next day at 0800 am. Both teams faced each other twice at the tournament with two wins for the Guzzlers Black (12-11, 12-7). However, this time the Guzzlers Black had a better start and won the game 21-8 against the Grizzlies. Next stop were the Los Coyotes. The Dominican team from Austria already beat the Guzzlers Black in the round robin games (12-6) and they were eager to repeat it. But this game was a fight until the end. In the bottom of the 5th inning (last inning of the game) the Los Coyotes were in front by two runs (12-10) and had two outs. Boby Duran hit a ball in the outfield. The center fielder of the Los Coyotes reached for the ball, had it in his glove, fell down and dropped it. Now, the score was 12-11 for Los Coyotes with the tying run on first base. After a walk, Todd Gonsalves hit an inside-the-park homerun to end the game 13-11 for Guzzlers Black. By winning the next DE game against Guzzlers Europe by a score of 8-3 the Guzzlers Black faced the Eagles from Wiesbaden in the championship game. The Guzzlers Black won it 14-10 and forced the Eagles to a second championship game. After two innings the Guzzlers Black were 9-5 in front. But suddenly the Eagles silenced the bats of the Guzzlers and they were not able to score any runs for the next four innings. In the bottom of the 7th inning the Eagles had two outs and were 13-11 in front. But there is a phrase “It ain’t over till it’s over” by Yogi Berra you should always keep in mind. After three singles and two errors by the Eagles, the Guzzlers won the game by a score of 14-13 and crowned themselves ESSL Austrian champions 2016.

Championship Games
Game 1, Guzzlers Black vs. Eagles, 14-10, stats & boscore
Game 2, Eagles vs. Guzzlers Black, 13-14, stats & boxscore

Final Rankings
1. Guzzlers Black
2. Eagles Wiesbaden
3. Guzzlers Europe
4. Los Coyotes
5. Dream Team
6. Grizzlies
7. Toros
8. Bulldogs