Ryan Day The Citizen

AUBURN - So there the Auburn Doubledays stood, perched on the railing of the visitor's dugout in Staten Island, their eyes focused on the pile of pin-striped jerseys on the field.

Moments after a crushing, season-ending loss in Game 2 of the New York-Penn League championship series, the Doubledays watched as their title hopes slipped away into the hands of the opposition.

But nevertheless, there they stood, side by side for the final time - a testament to how Auburn came together as a ball club during the 2005 season.

"As a manager you always have fond memories of a team," said Doubledays' manager Dennis Holmberg. "I'll remember how these guys fought and gutted out wins. After a slow start they came together and meshed as a ball club as well as any team. They played a heck of a month of August."

When the players put on the Doubledays uniforms for the first time back in June, they were strangers and played like it for the first couple months. Auburn couldn't find a groove early on and Holmberg's streak of consecutive Pinckney Division crowns looked to be in jeopardy.

It wasn't until Aug. 2 that the season made a U-turn and the Doubledays went on a tear. After a 9-3 loss to the Staten Island Yankees, Auburn was 20-21 and team consensus was they were underachieving.

"You could definitely tell we weren't playing as well as we were capable of," said Auburn first baseman Nick Thomas. "There's a lot of talent on this team. I don't know how to explain our rocky start."

In a closed-door meeting with his players following the Aug. 2 loss, Holmberg tried to resurrect his squad by labeling the rest of the season as the "New Season." It was just that for Auburn, as they finished the regular season blazing, going 25-9 in the home stretch to finish with a record of 45-30.

"When Dennis sat us down it was really a reality check," Auburn reliever Paul Phillips said. "I think if we wanted to win (the division) we had to change our outlook. When you look at the "New Season" the stats speak for themselves. For us, we didn't feel like we were playing that bad, but by Dennis telling us we needed to step it up, it made us a better team. After that, we wanted to show him that we can play better."

The Doubledays' turn-around helped them gain a nine-game advantage over the Batavia Muckdogs and win their fourth straight division crown. There's no coincidence that the wins piled up as the team chemistry improved. By the end of the season, the Auburn players had grown very close and acted like they had been teammates for years.

"It's unbelievable," Ryan Patterson said. "All season long you could see our potential and we took off in the second half and played well down the stretch. It's a great bunch of guys."

Aside from the wins, the Doubledays' second-half play was a highlight reel all its own.

On Aug. 14, Auburn welcomed Batavia to Falcon Park to resume a suspended game. On July 7, the Doubledays and the Muckdogs played into the early morning and after 20 innings of play, the score remained tied, 5-5. The game picked up right where it left off after a 37-day delay and the Doubledays scored off the bat of catcher Josh Bell in the bottom of the 22nd. The 22-inning contest is the longest game in NY-P League history.

On Aug. 26, the Doubledays entered the history books again, this time with a combined no-hitter. Robert Ray pitched five scoreless innings and reliever Adrian Martin threw four scoreless innings to no-hit the Muckdogs. It was the first Auburn no-no since 1998.

Aside from the extra-inning game and the no-hitter, the Doubledays trademarked the late-game rally and solidified themselves as the "Cardiac Kids." On Aug. 6, Auburn trailed Oneonta 6-3 in the bottom of the 10th and the game looked lost. A Cory Patton two-run home run instilled some faith in the Falcon Park crowd, edging Auburn closer 6-5. After a Matt Cooksey walk, Nick Thomas dialed up a two-run, walk-off homer to give the Doubledays a dramatic come-from-behind win.

Auburn showed that the comeback wasn't an aberration, as they rallied in the ninth at Mahoning Valley on Aug. 28. Patton's two-run homer and Jacob Butler's two-run double helped Auburn overcome a two-run deficit to defeat the Scrappers 9-8.

"Winning some dramatic games late, it energized us," Holmberg said. "We were energized by the no-hitter, we were energized by the 22-inning game. It worked well for us in the weeks to finish the season. It all turned around Aug. 2 - that's the day we began playing together and pulling together."

The regular season was also highlighted by plenty of stellar personal performances. Patterson solidified himself as the league's most dangerous bat, finishing third in average (.339), first in RBIs (65) and tied for second in homers (13).

Patton led the league in long balls with 14 and Phillips finished second in the league with 13 saves. Patterson and Patton as well as catcher Brian Bormaster and third baseman Jermy Acey were also league all-stars.

The Doubledays steam-rolled through Oneonta in the playoff semifinals, defeating the Tigers by a combined score of 33-9. The Auburn bats were hotter than they had been all year and the championship dreams were becoming a reality.

Unfortunately for the Doubledays and their re-invigorated fans, they hit a roadblock in the NY-P League finals. The Staten Island Yankees shut down the Auburn offense and swept the Doubledays 2-0 to capture the league title. In Game 2, the loss was that much more heartbreaking, as the Doubledays' bullpen couldn't hold a 2-1 lead and a game-winning RBI single by Staten Island's Reegie Corona sealed Auburn's fate, losing 3-2. Although the season ended on a sour note, no Auburn player could say the 2005 season wasn't a success.

"It's definitely a positive from where we're coming from," Bormaster said of Auburn's playoff run. "To play like we did and win two playoff games, the year was definitely a success. I'm real proud of these guys, we fought until the finish and just came up a little short."

The Doubledays' success may have meant a little more for Holmberg, who has guided Auburn to prominence in his four years as manager, but had been knocked out of the playoffs in the semifinals the previous three years. Nobody knows better than Holmberg that making the championship series is a huge success for any ballclub.

"You got to get to the dance before you can party," Holmberg said. "It was a huge accomplishment to beat Oneonta. The first series is always the hardest to win."

Although the Doubledays' season ended on a sour note, Holmberg says the teams' progression throughout the season is the true characteristic that trademarked this year's team.

"I don't want the success of the season to hinge on a bitter loss," Holmberg said after the championship loss. "Games like this build character in players as well as managers. I don't think you can overlook the accomplishments of what this team did all season."