CORONAVIRUS SPIDDLE CORONAVIRUS LEAGUE WINNERS TOO MUCH FOR SWALLOWS CHAMPIONS…WAS THERE ANY DOUBT? CHAMPIONS-A RETURN TO NORMALCY CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS TO CHAMPIONVILLE The Verdict is in….. The Championville Champions got the better part of „THE DEAL‟, as it has become known in CVL circles. As #2 seeded Tamaqua started the Championship series, it appeared that due to timing, they may have gotten the edge on Championville. Jerry Reuss, the 2nd half Championville Ace was forced to sit out the first two games after winning game 7 of the playoffs with Lickmyville. While Tamaqua had their entire pitching staff rested by „boiling‟ the Wieners in a 4-2 playoff run. However, destiny stepped in. The Ace of the Tamaqua staff, JR Richard, pitched only 2 1/3rd innings before being sidelined with an undisclosed injury (Championville fans are saying his HEART wasn‟t big enough). Instead, it was Andy Rincon, acquired in „THE DEAL‟, who started for the Champions and easily won game 1, putting the Champions ahead 1 game to 0. Championville manager Champ Harris, then assessed his staff and determined that Bill Gullickson was the right guy to stymie the Swallows in Game 2. And he was right, Gullickson pitched 6 innings and gave up only a single run, while Ken Brett (another player named in THE DEAL) came on and finished up with 3 outstanding innings of 1 hit baseball. On to game 3, and Jerry Reuss finally got his turn. Again, he pitched the Champions to another win with a solid 8 innings, before Ken Brett came on to relive in the 9th inning for the win….. and before the Swallows could swallow, the Champions were up 3 games to 0. And ALL 3 GAMES were won on the arms of the pitchers acquired in THE DEAL from Tamaqua. Game 4 was an inconsequential win for the Swallows as JR Richard decided he could pitch again. But game 5 was all Championville. The Swallows left 17, yes SEVENTEEN, men on base in 9 innings and saw the Champions commit 4 errors, but the Swallow yielded to the Champions in 11 innings with a game winning, walk off, hit by Bill „Wickets‟ Buckner. So, what‟s left to understand? The Champions GM Johnny got the better part of „THE DEAL” and helped his team not only make it to the playoffs, but also defeat both the #1 Big Nuts and the #2 Swallows. Our Bill Buckner - .615 Avg, 2 Doubles, 5 RBI’s vote is GM Johnny, GM of the Year. 1 Saturday CORONAVIRUS NEWSPAPER W.P. CRONKITE April 4, 2021 SPIDDLE EDITOR -THE DIGITAL NEWSPAPER- With the win, the Champions, who‟ve had their outspoken detractors this season, proved they can win in any decade, with any players, using any rules. Unlike some other teams who may be „one season wonders‟, or teams that can‟t seem to „finish‟ and make it out of the playoffs (think Institutional Losers here), the Champions overcome and usually always find a way to win. The only thing that prevented the Champions from winning two STRAIGHT season CVL Championships (2020 Summer & 2020 Winter) was a single strike in game #5 of the CVL summer championship series. GM Johnny found the right players at the right time. Manager Champ Harris played the players in the right positions, the right spot in the batting order, and at the right time. The result? Another Championville Championship. Over 45 years of baseball excellence continues at Championville in 2020, and the future remains bright, well into the future. Championship Series Summary: Game 1 was looking to be an easy win for the Swallows. With their Ace, JR Richard, on the mound and Championville forced to rest their Ace, Jerry Reuss, the Swallows were looking to jump out in front quickly. But then the game was played. The Swallows jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, with the help of 3 infield errors, by three different fielders, and a single. Andy Rincon, the Champion starting pitcher, finally took control and struck out 2 batters and forced a third to fly out to sure handed Micky Rivers. The Champions quickly settled down and got the run back in the top of the 2nd when Reggie Jackson drew a walk, and Bill Buckner hit a double down the line to score him. Then the unthinkable happened to the Swallows, as Richard pitched to the first batter in the top of the 3rd, he suffered an undisclosed injury, and had to be removed from the game. From there,,,,, it was all but over as the Champions feasted on reliever Marty Bystrom with 5 straight singles in the top of the 4th to plate 3 runs, and the game was effectively over. Rincon (nicknamed The Razor), threw a complete game, 3 hitter and went 2 for 4 at the plate to help himself to the win. Game 2 had Bill Gullickson starting for the Champions, against „Jamie Lee‟ Curtis of the Swallows. Curtis was the proud owner of a 7-1 record, with a 2.84 ERA in the regular season. Gullickson, had just a 4-4 record, and a 3.31 ERA entering the game. Again, the Swallows were heavily favored to win game 2, at home to even the series. But for a second straight night, someone forgot to tell the Champions. The Champions jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd inning off of a solid homerun by Ellis Valentine, who was a last-minute replacement for Reggie Jackson in rightfield. The game stayed that way until the top of the 6th inning when Ricky Lee Henderson coaxed a walk from Curtis. Henderson stole 2nd base on the first pitch to Mickey Rivers, and in the process, caused Carlton Fisk the Swallows catcher to hurry the throw to 2nd and the ball ended up in center field (E2)… while Henderson ended up at 3nd base. Manager Harris immediately signaled Rivers to attempt a squeeze play, and on the 4th pitch to Rivers, he laid down a picture perfect sacrifice bunt which plated Henderson. Champions now led 2-0. In the top of the 7th inning, Dave Stapleton, 2nd baseman who replaced Willie Randolph after „THE DEAL”, hit a towering shot that easily cleared the fence in right field for a homerun. Champions now led 3-0. In the bottom of the 7th, the Swallows coaxed a walk and a double off of Gullickson to score their only run of the game. With no outs, and a Swallow on 2nd base, Champ Harris went to the bullpen to get Ken Brett, another player from Tamaqua in “THE DEAL”. Brett proceeded to get the next three batter to fly out and ground out, and he was out of the inning. Brett threw the next 2 innings as well, giving up only a single, and it was suddenly Championville up 2 games to 0! Worse yet for the Swallows, Jerry Reuss was scheduled to pitch in game 3!! Game 3 went exactly as expected, with Jerry Reuss going 4-0 in the post season, and another Championville win. The Champions got on the board first in the bottom of the 3rd, when with two outs, they strung together 4 straight singles to go up 2-0. Reuss pitched 8 strong innings, giving up 2 runs in the 6th inning which temporarily tied the game at 2-2. However, in the bottom of the 6th, Reggie Jackson smashed a homerun into the upper deck at Champion Stadium. That, and another Ken Brett, 10 pitch save in the ninth inning, was all the Champions needed. Championville was up 3 games to 0. Game 4, was the Swallows last „hurrah‟. In what turned out to be the most inconsequential game of the series, Tamaqua finally got the win they were hoping for. With their Ace deciding to return to the mound after some mysterious injury in game 1, they managed to win the game with a 4-run outburst in the 5th inning on 5 hits. Ron Guidry pitched 4 innings and gave up 2 runs and was relieved by Roger Erickson who also allowed 2 runs. Championville scored a run in the 6th inning as Oscar Gamble reached on an error and Bill Buckner plated him with a run scoring double. That was all the scoring for either team as the Swallows took the 4-1 lead to the bank for the victory. Richards, after being spotted the 4-run lead, apparently showed no signs of the “injury” he received in game 1, as he earned a complete game win, giving up only 1 run on 5 hits. Game 5 was extraordinary in may ways, for both teams. It showed the heart of the Champions, and the lack of intestinal fortitude of the Swallows. The Swallows jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the expense of Championville‟s starter Andy Rincon, and a shaky defensive performance. And it looked like that may be all the runs Tamaqua needed to secure win number 2, as „Jamie Lee‟ Curtis was coasting through the first 4 innings with a perfect game. Then the Champions struck. Maybe the pressure of the moment got to Curtis, or the Champions had merely decided that they had seen enough. Leadoff hitter Ellis Valentine, again inserted into the lineup to counter Curtis left-handed pitching, smashed the 5th pitch over Lee Mazzilli‟s head in center field. Curtis, now with his no-hitter and perfect game lost, proceeded to throw a wild pitch to Robin Yount which moved Valentine to 3rd base.