Beavers Celebrate First Title in Franchise History

Milwaukee Overcomes 5 Elimination Games to Clinch Championship

MILWAUKEE -  The Beavers stared another "great season/disappointing finish" scenario square in the face a handful (5) times in this year's version of post-season baseball.  It's well documented that Milwaukee was in their 4th straight city championship series and had yet to end the season with a "W".  It didn't help that their usual nemesis, the Brown Deer Supreme Builders, stacked an even stronger roster than the team that swept the Beavers in the 2013 (and 2011) finals.  The Builders entered the series with a 20-1-1 record and lost their only game in early May.

The Beavs didn’t have a bad year themselves.  Even if they ended the season on a loss, they could have hung their hats on another division championship, plenty of wins and even a strong showing in their first appearance in the Wisconsin Amateur Baseball Classic, featuring top squads in the Midwest.   They entered the playoffs with a 14-4 league record, which included an 8-game winning streak to finish the season.  One season highlight was a come from behind victory in which they were down 3-1 with 2 outs in the 9th vs. the Popes.  Down to their last bullet, Doug Martin tied the game with a 2-run shot and 3 more runs in the 10th clinched a 6-4 victory.  Going on to win the division for a second straight year meant a two game bye for the playoffs. 

Postseason play began with a matchup against the Titans. "Big game" (Matt) Burke cruised and a 7-run 4^th inning sealed a Milwaukee 9-1 victory.  On to the semifinals where a familiar foe in the Irish came streaking into the picture.  The Irish (13-5, 1 game behind Beavers in the division) won 11 of their last 12 regular season games and beat the Mudhens 2-1 to reach the ALCS.  Their winning ways continued as they beat Milwaukee 6-3 to take a 1-0 series lead.  The Beavs responded though, outscoring the Irish 19-5 in the next 2 games by scores of 10-1 and 9-4 to reach the finals for the fourth consecutive season.  As expected, a familiar foe was waiting.

The Builders steamrolled through a mediocre National League, hitting double digits offensively 11 times (20+ runs 5 times) throughout the regular season.  They beat the Beavers 12-5 in their only matchup in ’14 and posted video game-style stats with a line-up full of .400+ hitters and a hard-throwing pitching staff.  A 2-0 sweep of the Brewers put the defending Rock League Champs in repeat position. 

Defense wasn’t perfect in these finals and it proved costly for both teams, especially in Game 1.  The Builders took advantage of early mistakes and scored 4 unearned runs to take a 4-0 lead after 3 innings.  Beaver starter Alex Rejniak shut down the Builders the rest of the way, allowing Milwaukee to score late to make it 4-3 but couldn’t push across the tying run in the 9^th, putting themselves (again) in a 1-0 series hole. 

Game 2 started the same as the first, as early mistakes again backed the Beavers into a corner and a 4-0 hole after the first inning.  Each team traded punches this time around, as Milwaukee responded with 3 runs of their own in the second, the Builders with 2 in the 3^rd and the Beavers again with 3 in the 4^th (game tied at 6 after the 4^th if you’re scoring at home).  This game it was the Beavers who capitalized on mistakes as they scored twice in the 6^th and added another in the 7^th to take a 9-6 lead.  This was definitely the game of the series as the potent Builder lineup, as usual, wouldn’t go down easily.  Beaver ace Matt Burke lasted into the 8^th inning until closer Alex Raver was called upon to close the door.  They scored one in the 8^th and another in the 9^th to crawl within one, but Raver escaped with go-ahead runners in scoring position to seal the 9-8 Beaver victory.  It was the first time in recent memory that Milwaukee had bested their rivals.

Both teams entered Game 3 finale with weathered pitching staffs and hungry lineups that had tallied a combined 43 hits in games 1 and 2.  What now seemed like tradition, Milwaukee put themselves in a 3-1 hole after 3 innings.  Then things broke loose in top half of the 4^th.  The Beavers used 8 hits to score 9 runs and sprinted to a 10-3 lead.  Despite the lead, every single guy on both rosters knew the game was far from over.  Flashback to 2011 for a moment, where the Beavers led the same Builders 9-1 in the Milwaukee Baseball League championship (then a 1-game series).  Builders go on to win 12-9.  Back to the bottom half of the 4^th inning in this year’s version of the championship.  Builders hit a 3-run homer to cut the deficit to 4 (10-6). 

Alex Rejniak, Game 1 starter, relieves starter Garrick Day to stop the bleeding.  He allowed just 2 hits over the next 4 2/3 innings and his offense tallied a few more to take a 14-6 lead.  Beaver and Milwaukee baseball veteran, Joe Cefalu added a RBI in the 9^th inning with a sacrifice fly to right.  Fellow long-time teammate John Kuhn also had a solid appearance, ripping a ball to LF but was robbed on a diving catch. Alex Raver slammed the door in the bottom of the 9^th.  With 2 outs, he induced a ground ball to shortstop Justin Barkhurst.  The only player to play every single inning of 28 games in 2014, lobbed a final assist over to Martin at 1B, and the long anticipated pile-up on the pitcher’s mound finally happened.   

It took some time, but it was worth it.  The Milwaukee Beavers (20-8 overall) won 5 elimination games, mostly coming from behind, to win their first league championship in franchise history.  Thank you to everyone who’s been on the journey.  Keep it tight.  Go Beavers.