Team Derty cleans up nicely against West Coast BB

Making the hefty trip all the way from the deepest, southern-most portion of Texas, the Team Derty-Dirty South Bats already has plenty invested in the TCSB Division I Championships.

So frustration levels threatened to spike for the team after Friday’s early 14-4 loss to the KC Clutch, forcing Team Derty into the loser’s bracket at the Council Bluffs Recreation Complex. But the parade of smart and capable athletes on the team’s roster marched to the plate and took care of West Coast Baseball (CA), 12-4, in a run-rule game that keeps Team Derty in the conversation.

Next up is the KC Clutch again, with the teams meeting up at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Even with leaving runners on at second and third in the first two innings, Team Derty converted enough of the other threats to claim a 7-1 edge after two frames. The squad scored four runs with two outs to finish the game in the fourth inning – Theron Michelis and George Ramirez each drove in two runs in the contest, and Cole Gerlach had three hits, three runs and three stolen bases.

“We’re prepared to make a comeback run. We started off a little slow with the bats this morning, but we’ll be ready – we’ve been in these situations before,” said Team Derty coach Rick Romo. “The boys know how to handle pressure. They’ve been playing up in 12u all year, so we’re making the adjustment back to 11u.”

Jon Romo had a run-scoring triple in the fourth, and Team Derty used five extra-base hits in four innings to take control.
“You have to believe in yourself and know you can work through all this,” Gerlach said. “I just want to work hard, score as many runs as I can and play good defense.”

“We’ll play hard, work through it and succeed,” Michelis said. “We should have been on top of it better that first game today, but it’s in the past. We’ll come back and get to the top. This is really fun, and I’m enjoying it a lot.”
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For West Coast Baseball, Adam Arth had a double, RBI and two runs, and Michael Fernandez added a hit, RBI and stolen base. The team will face Millard United Elite for seventh place in a game Saturday.