Denton Outlaws win TCL championship

ADLER · August 9, 2005

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Outlaws win TCL championship

Kluber handcuffs Marshals with gem to lock up title

08:44 AM CDT on Monday, August 8, 2005

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

McKINNEY – What started out as a dream just a few months ago for a small group of baseball fanatics in Denton ended with an unlikely scene late Sunday night at Gabe Nesbitt Field.

Pitcher Kurt Pessa pumped his fist, right fielder Kyle Jones squeezed one last pop fly and the Denton Outlaws capped their season with a 3-1 win over the McKinney Marshals in the final game of the Texas Collegiate League championship series.

Denton hit the field for the first time this season, but managed to win a tight game against McKinney on their home field to capture the title.

“When you spend every night for three months playing, you want to get something out of it,” Denton coach Derek Matlock said. “We fought all season long. It’s very rewarding.”

No one had more to do with Denton winning the TCL title in the final game of the playoffs than starting pitcher Corey Kluber. The standout from Stetson took what appeared to be a pitching matchup stacked in McKinney’s favor and turned the tide against the Marshals.

Kluber (4-0) carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and picked up the win after getting the better end of a showdown with Austin Creps. McKinney’s starter posted a 5-1 record during the regular season and was named the TCL’s Pitcher of the Year.

Kluber was named the Most Outstanding Player of the championship series after allowing one run on three hits in the championship game. Creps set a TCL record with 15 strikeouts, but took the loss.

“I knew that their pitcher would hold us to just a few runs,” Kluber said. “I tried my best to match him and give us an opportunity to win.”

Denton provided Kluber all the support he would need in the third inning when Jones came though in a clutch situation.

Jones came to the plate with runners on second and third base and doubled down the left field line. The hit gave Denton a 2-0 lead and ended a slump that saw the Outlaws go 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position since the first game of the series.

Jones later scored on a groundout by third baseman Brian Spear to give Denton a 3-0 lead.

Kluber retired the first 13 batters he faced and made sure Denton would hang onto that lead.

“It was one of those nights when everything seemed to be working my way,” Kluber said.

That was especially true in the sixth inning when McKinney third baseman Scott Gaffney drew a one-out walk and moved to second when right fielder Blake Hurlbutt grounded a single to left.

Denton got out of the jam when McKinney second baseman Matt Cavagnaro hit a roller to shortstop Philip Stringer.

Stringer flipped the ball to second base where Brian McBryde recorded the out before throwing wildly to first while trying to avoid Hurlbutt.

Hurlbutt was called out for interference to end the inning and erase what appeared to be McKinney’s first run of the game when Gaffney scampered home as the ball skipped away from Denton first baseman Andrew Brown.

McKinney finally got on the board in the seventh inning when left fielder Trey Rachal hit a solo home run to left field.

Kluber bounced back by retiring McKinney’s next three batters in order and didn’t come out of the game until giving up a leadoff single to Cavagnaro in the ninth inning.

Pessa came on in relief and recorded the last two outs of the game for the save.

The outcome was especially rewarding for the entire Denton franchise, which overcame a series of obstacles and a few bumps in the road to win the second TCL title.

As a first-year franchise, Denton had to build its roster from scratch. The rest of the teams in the league had the right to retain players who were members of their roster the previous season.

Denton ran through a series of personnel moves and went through a seven-game losing streak midway through the season before finally finding its rhythm late in the season.

“It’s been a long summer, but we kept fighting the whole time,” Kluber said. “There were some down times, but we stuck with it and were able to pull it out in the end.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com

Denton 003 000 000 — 3 7 0

McKinney 000 000 100 — 1 3 0

Corey Kluber, Kurt Pessa (9) and Brett Lewis.Austin Creps and C.J. Ebarb WP – Kluber. LP – Creps. 2B – D: Brian Spear, Kyle Jones

Denton Record-Chronicle Sports

Edited August 10, 2005 by ADLER