NALB 2022 World Championship Series

K. Fields
2022-10-08T13:31:26-04:00
Baseball

2022 World Championship Series - Stade Maples (80-82) vs. Luisville Beasts (94-68)

Game 1: Stade 9, Luisville 1
Game 2: Luisville 11, Stade 6
Game 3: Luisville 4, Stade 0
Game 4: Stade 8, Luisville 3
Game 5: Stade 5, Luisville 4
Game 6: Luisville 7, Stade 0
Game 7: Stade 3, Luisville 1

Series MVP: Luís Vergel (Stade Maples)

The Stade Maples were making their seventh appearance in the World Championship Series. Previous trips had been disappointing for Maples fans with five defeats in six tries. Their lone championship was in 2006. The 2022 Maples team was devastated by injuries to its pitching staff and snuck into the playoffs with an 80-82 record. The Luisville Beasts on the other hand were preseason favorites to win the championship. After downing the 105-win Brooklyn Knights, the Beasts were a heavy favorite over the Maples.

Game 1: Braulio Crame (19-9, 2.41 ERA) vs. Noel Trevenot (12-7, 3.22 ERA). Stade's starter looked good and Luisville's starter did not. That was the difference. Trevenot was roughed up for six runs and he was pulled in the third inning. Although the Beasts had NALB's top offense, it was the Maples that put on a hitting display. Stade clubbed four home runs in a 9-1 rout.

Game 2: Dave Kirby (3-5, 4.84 ERA) vs. Paco Rivera (16-10, 3.80 ERA). The Beasts got off to a quick start with three runs off of Kirby in the first inning. Paco Rivera couldn't hold the lead, however. The Maples scored against him in the second, third, and fourth innings to go ahead 5-3. After five innings, Stade was in charge 6-4. Luisville's lineup is more than capable of winning a slugfest and that's exactly what happened. The Beasts scored late and often to even the series with an 11-6 comeback win.

Game 3: Whitney Sanders (14-11, 3.72 ERA) vs. Renato Balcazar (10-13, 3.52). The Maples hoped for a spark at home in game three but they didn't get it. Although Balcazar delivered a quality start, Whitney Sanders was even better. Sanders pitched into the eighth and combined with closer Ed Boudreau for a 3-0 shutout.

Game 4: Porfiro Quiñones (8-1, 2.59 ERA) vs. Trip Taraz (1-1, 5.29 ERA). After getting shutout in game three, the Maples responded with an offensive show. They scored eight runs on sixteen hits, which included two home runs. Trip Taraz pitched a solid six innings, allowing three runs. Stade's bullpen took care of the rest as the Maples cruised to a series tying 8-3 victory.

Game 5: Noel Trevenot vs. Braulio Crame. The final WCS game in Stade was a classic. If some of the playoff games felt like heavyweight fights, game five was like an old bare-knuckles boxing match. You didn't know how long it was going to last but the winner was the last man standing. The Maples failed to hold a 4-2 lead and couldn't put the Beasts away. Luisville scored two runs in the eighth and the game went into extra innings. Both teams battled back and forth, using 17 pitchers and every position player available. When the dust settled, there were a total of 34 hits. The game winner was a walk-off single in the bottom of the 21st inning by Francisco Soa. The Maples prevailed 5-4 in an 8 hour 12 minute game that finished at 4:17 AM.

Game 6: Dave Kirby vs. Paco Rivera. The Beasts were happy to be back home in Luisville. Unfortunately, they were in the unenviable position of having to win both games remaining to take the title. They were fortunate that starter Paco Rivera brought his "A" game. Rivera had all of his pitches working as he threw a complete game five-hit shutout. The Beasts bats delivered 13 hits and 7 runs. The 7-0 blowout ensured there would be a winner-take-all game seven.

Game 7: Renato Balcazar vs. Whitney Sanders. Having won game six at home, the confident Luisville Beasts hoped to ride the momentum to a World Championship. Unfortunately for them, it was not to be. The Maples were poised and seemingly unaffected by the vocal Luisville fans. In the second inning, Lerrin Ruíz doubled and José Arzate singled to put Stade up 1-0. In the top of the sixth inning, Ruíz hit an RBI single to make the Maples lead 2-0. In the bottom of the sixth, Manuel Montaya doubled to score a run for the Beasts. They could do no more, however, and left runners stranded on second and third base. Hippolito Núñez added an insurance run in the eighth inning when he launched a solo homer to left field. Closer Miguel Catarino finished the game to give the Stade Maples a 3-1 victory. They are NALB World Champions for the second time in franchise history.

Maples left fielder Luís Vergel was named the World Championship Series MVP. Vergel hit .324 (11 for 34) with 2 HR and 5 RBI.