Game 3

Austin Uniforms - Portland Uniforms

Notes
A compelling match up between two rivals goes late. Ainsworth and Bradley were on the mound. The Roughnecks scored 2 in the first when Munson doubled in two runs. Elijah Dukes tripled, scoring LeCroy. Going into the bottom of 3, Bradley only had given up one hit. The Trappers batted around, and scored 4 runs. Two home runs lifted the Trappers into the lead. Austin came back fast with Greene hitting a solo home run. The next inning, Ainsworth was still in, but he gave up the go ahead homer, and two doubles making it a 7-4 game. Sanchez didn't make his win easy. Encarnacion homered for the second time to make it 7-5. That was all they could score, and Austin takes the lead in the Lommel Division.

Batters
AUS
Dukes 1-4 3B, 2K, 1RBI
Greene 1-3 HR, 1R, 1RBI
Baldelli 0-2 K, BB, 1R
Irons 1-3 1B, 1R
Spivey 2-3 2 1B
Munson 2-3 HR, 2B, 1R, 3RBI
Rolls 0-2 BB, K
Rodriguez 1-3 2B, 1R
LeCroy 1-1 2B, BB, 1R, 1RBI

POR
Bracket 2-3 2 1B, 1R
Burroughs 0-3 2K
Encarnacion 2-3 2 HR, 2R, 4RBI
Pena 0-3 K
Sexson 2-3 2B, 1B, K
Giles 2-3 1B, 2B
Brown 0-3
Berroa 1-2 HR, K, 1R, 1RBI
Simon 0-1 BB, 1R

Pitchers
AUS
Bradley- 3 IP, 6.66 ERA, 1 Ks, 4 ER, 1 BB
Sanchez- 2 IP, 2.5 ERA, 4 Ks, 1 ER, 0 BB W

POR
Ainsworth- 5 IP, 7 ERA, 5 Ks, 7 ER, 3 BB L

Player of the Game- Juan Encarnacion



Virginia Uniforms - Montreal Uniforms

Notes
The first game in Robert Ware's career went great. He was up against Eric Milton, former Bum pitcher who was picked up by Montreal in free agents. However, Milton got the better start of the game. He had a no hitter through 2 innings. Ware gave up singles to the first two batters, but settled down, and got the next 9 batters out. In the top of the 3rd, with Holliman on base, Brad Wilkerson hit a two run home run for the lead. The Bleus loaded the bases in the next inning. Ware then retired the last two batters, and got out of his first real scare. Top of five, the game was busted open. Bubba Crosby homered to start. Wilkerson singled, and Toby Hall hit another home run. That made the score 5-0. The Bleus wouldn't make the game all happy. Guzman tripled to score Bergeron. That would be it as Ware gets his first win of his career.

Batters
VIR
Everett 0-3
Hall 1-2 HR, BB, 1R, 2RBI
Blalock 0-2 K, BB
Byrnes 1-3 1B
Bigbie 0-3
Stokes 0-2 2K
Crosby 1-2 HR, 1R, 1RBI
Holliman 0-1 BB, K, 1R
Wilkerson 2-2 HR, 1B

MON
Gathright 1-3 1B
Guzman 2-3 1B, 3B, 1RBI
Church 1-3 2B
Aybar 1-2 1B, BB
Phelps 0-3 K
Butler 0-2 K, BB
Bowen 0-2
Ortmeier 0-2
Bergeron 1-2 1B, 1R

Pitchers
VIR
Ware- 5 IP, 1 ERA, 2 Ks, 1 ER, 2 BB W

MON
Milton- 5 IP, 5 ERA, 4 Ks, 5 ER, 3 BB L

Player of the Game- Robert Ware



Omaha Uniforms - Orlando Uniforms

Notes
Orlando had the match up in favor of them once again with Shawn Chacon being on the mound. But Kason Gabbard kept it close. The M's got off early, Simms singled, and Abernathy homered to put them up 2-0 in the first. But the very next inning, Atkins homered with Hermida on board to tie up the game. Later that inning, Simms came up with runners on the corners. A double would put 2 runners in scoring position, then Abernathy struck out with the 3-2 lead. In the next inning, Inglett doubled after two batters walked. That would eventually be the game winning hit. Atkins did hit another home run to make it 4-3, but the Cyclones couldn't score off of BJ Ryan in the 5th and fell to 1-2

Batters
OMA
Mathews Jr. 2-3 2 1B
Vidro 0-3
Valentin 0-3
Monroe 0-3
Hermida 1-2 1B, 1R
Atkins 2-2 2 HR, 2R, 3RBI
Ensberg 1-2 1B
Bo. Crosby 0-1 BB
Ellison 0-2 K

ORL
Freeman 0-3
Simms 3-3 1B, 2 2B, 1R, 1RBI
Abernathy 1-3 HR, K, 1R, 2RBI
Grieve 1-3 1B
Crede 0-1 BB
Hillenbrand 0-2
LaForest 0-1 BB
Inglett 2-2 2 2B, 1R, 1RBI
Robels 1-2 1B

Pitchers
OMA
Gabbard- 4 IP, 5 ERA, 1 Ks, 4 ER, 2 BB L

ORL
Chacon- 4 IP, 3.75 ERA, 1 Ks, 3 ER, 1 BB W
Ryan- 1 IP, 0 ERA, 0 Ks, 0 ER, 0 BB SV

Player of the Game- Garret Atkins

Game 2

Austin Uniforms - Portland Uniforms

Notes
Game 2 in the new stadium, and Austin pulls it off. The Roughnecks started early. The 2nd and 3rd batters, Greene and Baldelli, hit back to back homers. In the 3rd, THe same tandem scored 2 more. Greene singled, and Baldelli hit him in again. On the dlip side, Sidney Ponson was dealing. Through his 4 innings, he only gave up 2 hits. In the 5thi inning, Junior Spivey came up with Baldelli on first. Another homer off of Waechter. A rough start for a good starter. But the Trappers fought back. With Bradford in, they hit 3 doubles, and scored 3 runs. This included Ricky Bracket hitting a 2 run double. Encarnacion got out, to end the game.

Batters
AUS
Dukes 0-3
Greene 2-3 HR, 1B, 2R, 1RBI
Baldelli 2-2 2 HR, BB, 3R, 3RBI
Irons 1-3 1B
Spivey 1-3 HR, 1R, 1RBI
Munson 1-3 1B
Rolls 0-2 BB
Rodriguez 1-2 1B
Burke 0-2

POR
Bracket 2-3 1B, 2B, K, 1R, 2RBI
Burroughs 1-3 2B, 1RBI
Encarnacion 0-3 K
Pena 0-2 K
Sexson 0-2
Giles 0-2 K
Brown 0-1 BB, 1R
Berroa 1-2 2B, 1R
Simon 1-2 1B

Pitchers
AUS
Ponson- 4 IP, 0 ERA, 4 Ks, 0 ER, 0 BB W
Bradford- 1 IP, 15 ERA, 0 Ks, 3 ER, 1 BB SV

POR
Waechter- 5 IP, 6 ERA, 0 Ks, 6 ER, 2 BB L

Player of the Game- Rocco Baldelli




Virginia Uniforms - Montreal Uniforms

Notes
Game two north of the border, and the Bleus played better. Gil Meche was on the hill for Montreal. He struggled early though. In the first, Hall tripled scoring Everett, when was hit home by Byrnes. In the second, a two run double by Everett made it 4-0. After that, the Blues only gave up 1 hit. On the flip side, their offense was better. A total of 7 hits off of Looper, but only one counted. Rob Bowen homered in the 4th. They continued loading the bases, just to have Ryan Church fly out to center. Looper only had two Ks in his one run allowed complete game.

Batters
VIR
Everett 2-3 1B, 2B, 1R, 2RBI
Hall 1-3 3B, K, 1R, 1RBI
Blalock 0-3 K
Byrnes 1-3 1B, 1RBI
Bigbie 0-2
Stokes 1-2 1B
Crosby 0-1 BB, K, 1R
Holliman 0-2
Wilkerson 1-2 1R

MON
Gathright 1-2 1B, K, BB
Guzman 1-2 1B, BB
Church 1-3 1B
Aybar 0-3
Phelps 1-3 1B
Butler 0-2 BB
Bowen 2-3 HR, 1B, K, 1R, 1RBI
Ortmeier 0-2
Bergeron 1-2 1B

Pitchers
VIR
Looper- 5 IP, 1 ERA, 2 Ks, 1 ER, 3 BB W

MON
Meche- 4 IP, 5 ERA, 2 Ks, 4 ER, 1 BB L
Woods- 1 IP, 0 ERA, K Ks, 0 ER, 0 BB

Player of the Game- Adam Everett



Omaha Uniforms - Orlando Uniforms

Notes
This game marked the first game in hopefully a prosperous career for rookie Akifumi Koike, the first rookie starting pitcher in CBL history. He got out of trouble in the first when he got Crede to fly out with 2 runners on. The next inning, he struck 2 batters out. Kip Wells was matching him. The first hit for Omaha was with 2 outs in the 3rd. The floodgates opened when Abernathy hit a home run with runners on the corners. The next inning, Simms doubled in Hillenbrand and LaForest to make the score 5-0. Boof Bonser came in for the save, but it was hardly easy. 8 batters came up, two tripled, then a double, a walk, a single. Bases loaded for Hermida, and Bonser gets him swinging. The champions are now in the win column

Batters
OMA
Mathews Jr. 2-2 2 2B, 1RBI
Vidro 0-3
Valentin 1-2 HR, BB, 1R, 1RBI
Monroe 1-3 1B, K
Hermida 0-3 K
Atkins 0-1 BB
Ensberg 1-2 3B, 1R
Bo. Crosby 0-2
Ellison 1-2 3B, 1R, 1RBI

ORL
Freeman 2-3 2 1B
Simms 1-2 2B, BB, 1R, 2RBI
Abernathy 1-3 HR, K, 1R, 3RBI
Grieve 1-2 1B
Crede 0-2
Hillenbrand 0-1 BB, 1R
LaForest 0-1 K, 1R
Inglett 0-2 2K
Robels 1-2 3B, 1R

Pitchers
OMA
Koike- 4 IP, 6.25 ERA, 4 Ks, 5 ER, 3 BB L

ORL
Wells- 4 IP, 1.25 ERA, 1 Ks, 1 ER, 1 BB W
Bonser- 1 IP, 10 ERA, 1 Ks, 2 ER, 1 BB

Player of the Game- Gary Mathews, Jr.

CBL BP Jerseys

Game 1 (Opening Day)

Austin Uniforms - Portland Uniforms

Notes
The tradition continues. For the third strait year, Portland and Austin hook up for opening day. Portland took it in season 1, then Austin won last season. This year, the Trappers won in dramatic fashion. Two aces were on the hill as Willis and Zambrano met again. Both offenses got started, but couldn't finish. Bases loaded in both halves of the 1st, but with no runs to prove it. Timely hitting wasn't good early on for Portland, they had 3 runners on, 2 runners on, then 3 runners on to end the first 3 innings. In the 3rd, Khalil Greene connected for the first home run of the season. Portland answered with a bases loaded walk scoring Encarnacion. In the 5th inning, Sexson doubled off Zambrano. That set the scene for Marcus Giles to hit a walk off home run in the first game of season 3.

Batters
AUS
Dukes 1-3 1B
Greene 3-3 HR, 2 1B, 1R, 1RBI
Baldelli 0-2 BB, K
Irons 1-3 2B
Spivey 0-2
Munson 1-2 2B, K
Rolls 0-2
Rodriguez 0-2
LeCroy 0-2

POR
Bracket 1-3 2B, K
Burroughs 1-3 1B
Encarnacion 0-2 2B, BB, 1R
Pena 1-3 1B
Sexson 1-1 2B, 2BB, 1R
Giles 1-2 HR, BB, 1R, 2RBI
Brown 0-1 BB
Berroa 0-2
Horwitz 0-2

Pitchers
AUS
Zambrano- 4.1 IP, 3.75 ERA, 2 Ks, 1 ER, 5 BB L

POR
Willis- 5 IP, 1 ERA, 2 Ks, 1 ER, 1 BB W

Player of the Game- Khalil Greene



Virginia Uniforms - Montreal Uniforms

Notes
The Bums were guests to Montreal's first game. The Bleus had to go up against a Taylor Cup finalist in the last two seasons, and the best pitcher in CBL history. Mulder was going for yet another win, trailblazing history. To start the game, Adam Everett hits a lead off home run. That was pretty much all they needed. Other than the 4 walks, Mulder hurled. He threw a one hitter in his 4 innings of work. In the 3rd, Toby Hall hit a single, followed by a Blalock home run. 3-0 was a big enough lead for the Bums. But the Bleus thought they could join the fun. In the 5th, Guzman hit a solo shot off Anderson. The Blues' one run was not enough, and lost 3-1.

Batters
VIR
Everett 1-3 HR, K, 1R, 1RBI
Hall 1-3 1B, K, 1R
Blalock 1-3 HR, 1R, 2RBI
Byrnes 0-3
Bigbie 1-2 2B, BB
Stokes 1-3 1B
Crosby 0-2 BB
Holliman 0-2
Wilkerson 0-2

MON
Gathright 0-3
Guzman 2-3 HR, 1B, 1R, 1RBI
Church 0-3 K
Aybar 0-0 2BB
Phelps 0-2
Butler 0-1 BB
Bowen 0-2
Ortmeier 0-1 BB
Tyner 0-2

Pitchers
VIR
Mulder- 4 IP, 0 ERA, 1 Ks, 0 ER, 4 BB W
Anderson- 1 IP, 5 ERA, 0 Ks, 1 ER, 0 BB SV

MON
Young- 5 IP, 3 ERA, 2 Ks, 1 ER, 2 BB L

Player of the Game- Mark Mulder



Omaha Uniforms - Orlando Uniforms

Notes
In the game that the M's unveiled their new championship banners, the Cyclones spoiled the party. Their bats started early, and kept up. In the first inning, when Craig Monroe hit a 3 run home run with Vidro and Valentin on base. The M's scored one off of an Abernathy homer. But the Cyclones got two more wit a Mathews, Jr two run home run. Chuck James struggled the 3 innings he pitched. He was pulled in the 4th for BJ Ryan, who gave up a 2 run homer to super-utility man Jason Ellison. Mark Prior left the game with a 4 inning masterpiece. Julio came in, and had Robels triple in Inglett. But the last batter Jamie Simms grounded out for the win.

Batters
OMA
Mathews Jr. 1-3 HR, 1R, 1RBI
Vidro 1-3 2B, K, 1R
Valentin 3-3 3 1B, 1R
Monroe 1-3 HR, K, 1R, 3RBI
Hermida 0-3
Atkins 1-3 2B
Ensberg 1-3 2B, K, 1R
Bo. Crosby 0-2
Ellison 2-2 2B, HR, 2R, 2RBI

ORL
Freeman 0-3 K
Simms 0-3
Abernathy 2-2 HR, 1B, 1R, 1RBI
Grieve 0-2 K
Crede 0-1 BB
Hillenbrand 0-2
LaForest 0-2
Inglett 1-2 2B, 1R
Robels 1-2 3B, 1RBI

Pitchers
OMA
Prior- 4 IP, 1.25 ERA, 2 Ks, 1 ER, 1 BB W
Julio- 1 IP, 5 ERA, 0 Ks, 1 ER, 0 BB SV

ORL
James- 3 IP, 8.33 ERA, 3 Ks, 5 ER, 0 BB L
Ryan- 2 IP, 5 ERA, 0 Ks, 2 ER, 0 BB

Player of the Game- Jason Ellison

Season 3 Predictions

Taylor Division
1.Orlando Majestics 16-8
The defending champions are back, and have an improved roster. Since last season, they have improved 4 points. The offense was the main improvement from season one, with many players playing up to their potential. Crede, Abernathy, and the utility position were vital, and got big hits. The pitching all came together for one of the best in the game. Chacon, and Wells gained points, while James and Bonser continued to be all-stars. The shortstop position is improved with Jamie Simms playing now, and they were able to keep both Robels, and Francia. With the great roster, and seven games against Montreal, the M’s have a realistic shot at a 16 win season.

Player to watch: Choo Freeman

2.Virginia Beach Bums 13-11
A team that couldn’t get over the hump again, but the Bums are falling behind. The core of the team is returning, but some important players had to leave. Both first basemen retired, one of which was one of the best player in Bums history so far. Doug Mientkiewicz’s bat will be missed, with Jason Stokes is replacing him. The starting pitching is what will support the team the most. Aging aces Mark Mulder, and Braden Looper are back once again, with their rookie Robert Ware starting this season. The team has fallen behind the original teams in a way, not being as strong, but they can still compete.

Player to watch: Robert Ware

3. Montreal Bleus 6-18
The expansion team will have a rough time in the East. The Bleus only have two 6 point pitchers, and three 3 point pitchers. The heart of the order is where their 3 point batters are, which can be a very compelling story. There isn’t much hope for the team until golden boy Rhyne St. Pierre becomes a rookie next season. They can steal some wins, but it will be tough. The teams are better this season, and they are at a large disadvantage. With some luck, they could get an upgrade or two. Since in the last two seasons, the worst teams have had bad records, and 7 wins would be the equivalent of it on a 24 game schedule. Who knows how this team will do. Only Eric Milton has played before, and it is his last season. The team is starting from the bottom and it starts now.

Player to watch: Willy Aybar


 
Lommel Division
1.Portland Trappers 15-9
The Trappers are a team that won’t be bad for a while. No improvement, but their rookie Ricky Bracket replaces the retired Jermaine Dye. The pitching remains the strongest in the league. They have a rotation without a bad pitcher, and Eric Gagne who didn’t give up a run last season. Oh yeah, did I mention three of the best players statistically in CBL History? Juan Encarnacion is just ridiculous, a former MVP Sean Burroughs, and Willy Mo Pena keeping his own. The team will undoubtedly contend this season if they don’t make the Taylor Cup, but they have a good chance to make it.

Player to Watch: Doug Waechter

2.Austin Roughnecks 12-12
Austin just cannot get over the hump. A promising team each year cannot get into the playoffs. The Roughnecks lost their best player, Sean Casey, to retirement. Luckily they drafted a first baseman to replace him this season. Brendan Irons will be holding the fort down at first. Only Elijah Dukes and Khalil Greene are the only other superstars in the field. Their pitching is shaky. Victor Zambrano is now the number one pitcher replacing underperforming Sidney Ponson. The RPs however is the best staff as a whole. But they are old. This is Bradford and Yan’s last season. One thing that wont be bad is the rivalry between Portland and Austin. They open up the season for the third season

Player to Watch: Brendan Irons

3.Omaha Cyclones 10-14
An improved team pitching wise, the ‘Clones are ready to compete. They sucked pitching last year, even though it got better. Prior was an All-Star, Gabbard brought his ERA down some 15 points in 5 starts, and Backe threw a no-hitter against Portland. Now they add their number one pick Akifumi Koike. The offense dropped a point with Morgan Ensberg losing a point. Gary Mathews Jr. was the hitting champion of the league last year, and he is hungry. Sadly, this is the harder division, but they wont be in the basement for long.

Player to Watch: Kason Gabbard