57.34 Blazers Hoist First Ever Johnson League Pennant

[Bob Breum]

Montreal beat the Las Vegas Hustlers in six games to accomplish a franchise first: Winning the Johnson League pennant. The Blazers have been regular participants in postseason play over the years, but this is the first time that they have won the league championship since the BBA expanded to 32 teams back in 2029. Prior to that, they were part of the Frick League. There, they won the championship in 2011.

Montreal’s rotation delivered five strong starts after losing game one 7-0. Juan 'Oz' Cruz was dominant in both his starts, throwing 5⅓ and then 7 shutout innings, winning each of them. Staff ace Kinzo Iwamoto delivered eight innings of shutout ball in his start, but the Blazers failed to score while he was in the game, and eventually lost, 5-2 in ten innings. Ricardo Negrete allowed just one run in 7⅓ innings and earned the win. Nelson Thompson allowed only two earned runs over seven innings, also getting the W.

Catcher Calvin Johnson was named series MVP, hitting .526 in 19 at-bats.

[trmmilwwi]

Calvin coming up big! Nice!! Great season all things considered.