By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
After two consecutive years of holding the SoCal Vintage Base Ball League championship title, the Crestline Highlanders lost to the Temecula Dear Bros. by a score of 504 in a hard-fought game in extreme heat.
Since Perris beat the first-place Fullerton Fire Knockers that same day, for the first time in SoCal Vintage Base Ball history the Highlanders aren’t in the championship finals and the game will be played off the mountain.
The scoreboard of the playoff game against the Dear Bros., who will be playing for the championship on Oct. 5.
The playoff game was played in Temecula where Highlander team captain Chris Dodd said, “It was hotter than Hades! It was 90 degrees at the start of the game at 9:00 a.m. and just got hotter and hotter.” The teams actually advanced the start time of the game from 10 a.m. to 9 a.m. due to the predicted heat. The temperatures probably gave the Dear Bros. a slight advantage, as they are more accustomed to the heat than the Highlanders. “We did our best but came up a run short,” Dodd said.
The Highlanders were the highest scoring team this season with 88 runs; the next highest scoring team was the first-place Fullerton Fire Knockers, which had only scored 66 runs during the regular season. Since the Fire Knockers also lost their last playoff game, neither of the two highest scoring teams are playing for the championship this year. Fullerton will receive the Founder’s Cup trophy at the championship game as they had the best regular season this year.
The championship game will be Temecula against Perris, which is scheduled to be played on Oct. 5 in Lake Elsinore, weather, air quality and fire conditions permitting.
Dodd will be going to the game to present the Heritage Cup trophy to the SoCal. Vintage Base Ball League championship winner. The three-foot-tall Heritage Cup trophy has been on display in the Crestline Chamber of Commerce office for the past two years, since the Highlanders were back-to-back league champions. Prior to that, the Riverside Smudgepots were the champions.
The Crestline Highlanders had a great season and were in third place as they entered the playoffs with a great potential for winning the league championship for the third straight year. Their massive scoring power has intimidated the other teams; several teams had forfeited games to them this past season because of their inability to field a team. However, the Highlanders did lose the first game of the season because a couple of players were unable to attend due to job requirements; that loss destroyed their consecutive two-year winning streak.
That loss also placed them a half game back from first place and made them play from a half-game back position when the playoffs began.
Every previous championship game had been played at Twin Peaks’ Harich Field. Most teams appreciated that because the temps are more favorable on the mountain during this time of year.
Vintage base ball plays by 1886 rules and uses replica equipment, balls, bats and uniforms from that era, almost 140 years ago. The league plays with heavier wooden 44-ounce bats than are currently used in professional baseball. They play with custom handmade balls, which get softer as the game progresses, since they use the same balls all game long. The players finance their own teams and play seriously, but for the fun of the game.
“The Crestline Highlanders want to thank our sponsors, the Crestline Chamber of Commerce and Rim Rec and Park, for their loyal support, as well as Crestline and the entire mountain community for their unwavering support,” added Dodd.
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