The Citizen
Glenn Gaston / Special The Citizen
The Auburn Doubledays hold up the New York-Penn League championship trophy after beating the Brooklyn Cyclones, 4-1, on Friday night at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn.
The Auburn Doubledays hold up the New York-Penn League championship trophy after beating the Brooklyn Cyclones, 4-1, on Friday night at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn.
BROOKLYN - It was just a matter of time, six years in fact, before Dennis Holmberg got exactly what he deserved.
The Auburn Doubledays manager has six Pinckney Division titles in his six-year tenure with the team and now he can add another highlight to his illustrious resume.
A New York-Penn League championship.
“I'm speechless,” Holmberg said. “Just like everybody says, we're probably going to want some time to let this sink in. Maybe it's tomorrow, next week or next year. It means a lot right now, but like I told the players, it's been 37 years of pro baseball for me. I've played on some championship teams, I've managed so many division championships and we didn't know what would come. Tonight was a very special night and it's obvious - this is a special team.”
The Doubledays completed their incredible season at Keyspan Park on Friday night, by defeating Brooklyn 4-1 to earn their first title since sharing it with Oneonta in 1998. Auburn last won the championship alone in 1973.
After a Brad Emaus home run had highlighted each of the previous three playoff games at Falcon Park, a couple of his teammates decided to get into the action on Friday, helping to conclude the championship run with a bang. Catcher JP Arencibia and second baseman Darin Mastroianni took turns smashing two-run home runs for all of Auburn's scoring.
“Their starter had been pitching great out there, keeping us off balance,” Arencibia said. “I was fortunate enough to see a good pitch and I put a good swing on it. Once we got up, we were the team to beat.”
The catcher's two-run blast in the fifth that also scored Manny Rodriguez, was his first homer since Aug. 9 at home against Oneonta.
“It's weird, usually I'm known for hitting home runs,” Arencibia said. “But I've just been working hard with Justin (Mashore), trying to get better every day. It was just great team play out there.”
Mastroianni added some insurance when he hit his own deep ball over the left-field wall in the sixth. Ben Zeskind scored as well on Mastroianni's fourth homer of the season.
“(Michael Antonini) had been pitching a certain way and he got me on a foul ball,” the second baseman said. “I just needed to see one pitch and fortunately he put it in the right place - I got a good swing on it and that was it. I was fortunate to get a pitch I was looking for.”
Antonini lasted through six and did a solid job, hurling seven strikeouts, scattering four hits and one walk. Both teams managed just five hits, but the Doubledays needed only two. Toronto first-round pick Brett Cecil had a rocky start, but lasted seven innings. Despite giving up a Micah Schilling home run on his second pitch of the game, he recovered quickly, throwing eight strikeouts, scattering four hits and one walk.
“After the first inning, I just figured it out,” Cecil said. “They took advantage of everything they got in the first inning, but they're a tough team to compete with and they have really good hitters. I just made an adjustment. I listened to my catcher and shook it off.”
It was Arencibia who made the defensive plays of the game, throwing out Lucas Duda at second in the second and then repeating the play from his knees to catch Paul Reyes stealing in the fifth.
“He can do it all,” Cecil said of Arencibia. “He can throw batters out from his knees and obviously he can hit, as we saw with that two-run shot. He gets it done when we need it.”
Alan Farina completed his second spectacular outing as a closer during the Doubledays' championship run. He struck out five in the final two innings, including Schilling, Jake Eigsti and Joaquin Rodriguez in order - without throwing a ball - to end the Doubledays' dominating season. Farina also pitched three shutout innings to end the Doubledays 6-0 win over Oneonta in the first round of the playoffs.
“Farina has been hurt a little bit during part of this season, but has continued to work hard,” Cecil said. “We sometimes make fun of him for working out too much, but we can tell that it pays off. He's been pretty much lights out this whole week.”
Before the reality of what they accomplished this season even sank in and before the champagne soaked the visitor's clubhouse, Arencibia tried to put the initial feeling into words.
“It's awesome,” said the Miami native. “The coaching staff, the fans #) everything has been great. It's a great feeling to be a champion.”
As the 2007 New York-Penn League Champions charged the mound in celebration after Rodriguez's strikeout, Holmberg stood alone watching his team, in the dugout, embracing the emotion of what he had just accomplished. But he'll tell you, this title isn't for him.
“This is for Auburn,” Holmberg said. “This is for the people that work in the (Doubledays) office in Auburn, and this is for Leo. I said from the beginning that this season was going to be dedicated to Leo and it came to pass tonight.”
The Auburn Doubledays manager has six Pinckney Division titles in his six-year tenure with the team and now he can add another highlight to his illustrious resume.
A New York-Penn League championship.
“I'm speechless,” Holmberg said. “Just like everybody says, we're probably going to want some time to let this sink in. Maybe it's tomorrow, next week or next year. It means a lot right now, but like I told the players, it's been 37 years of pro baseball for me. I've played on some championship teams, I've managed so many division championships and we didn't know what would come. Tonight was a very special night and it's obvious - this is a special team.”
The Doubledays completed their incredible season at Keyspan Park on Friday night, by defeating Brooklyn 4-1 to earn their first title since sharing it with Oneonta in 1998. Auburn last won the championship alone in 1973.
After a Brad Emaus home run had highlighted each of the previous three playoff games at Falcon Park, a couple of his teammates decided to get into the action on Friday, helping to conclude the championship run with a bang. Catcher JP Arencibia and second baseman Darin Mastroianni took turns smashing two-run home runs for all of Auburn's scoring.
“Their starter had been pitching great out there, keeping us off balance,” Arencibia said. “I was fortunate enough to see a good pitch and I put a good swing on it. Once we got up, we were the team to beat.”
The catcher's two-run blast in the fifth that also scored Manny Rodriguez, was his first homer since Aug. 9 at home against Oneonta.
“It's weird, usually I'm known for hitting home runs,” Arencibia said. “But I've just been working hard with Justin (Mashore), trying to get better every day. It was just great team play out there.”
Mastroianni added some insurance when he hit his own deep ball over the left-field wall in the sixth. Ben Zeskind scored as well on Mastroianni's fourth homer of the season.
“(Michael Antonini) had been pitching a certain way and he got me on a foul ball,” the second baseman said. “I just needed to see one pitch and fortunately he put it in the right place - I got a good swing on it and that was it. I was fortunate to get a pitch I was looking for.”
Antonini lasted through six and did a solid job, hurling seven strikeouts, scattering four hits and one walk. Both teams managed just five hits, but the Doubledays needed only two. Toronto first-round pick Brett Cecil had a rocky start, but lasted seven innings. Despite giving up a Micah Schilling home run on his second pitch of the game, he recovered quickly, throwing eight strikeouts, scattering four hits and one walk.
“After the first inning, I just figured it out,” Cecil said. “They took advantage of everything they got in the first inning, but they're a tough team to compete with and they have really good hitters. I just made an adjustment. I listened to my catcher and shook it off.”
It was Arencibia who made the defensive plays of the game, throwing out Lucas Duda at second in the second and then repeating the play from his knees to catch Paul Reyes stealing in the fifth.
“He can do it all,” Cecil said of Arencibia. “He can throw batters out from his knees and obviously he can hit, as we saw with that two-run shot. He gets it done when we need it.”
Alan Farina completed his second spectacular outing as a closer during the Doubledays' championship run. He struck out five in the final two innings, including Schilling, Jake Eigsti and Joaquin Rodriguez in order - without throwing a ball - to end the Doubledays' dominating season. Farina also pitched three shutout innings to end the Doubledays 6-0 win over Oneonta in the first round of the playoffs.
“Farina has been hurt a little bit during part of this season, but has continued to work hard,” Cecil said. “We sometimes make fun of him for working out too much, but we can tell that it pays off. He's been pretty much lights out this whole week.”
Before the reality of what they accomplished this season even sank in and before the champagne soaked the visitor's clubhouse, Arencibia tried to put the initial feeling into words.
“It's awesome,” said the Miami native. “The coaching staff, the fans #) everything has been great. It's a great feeling to be a champion.”
As the 2007 New York-Penn League Champions charged the mound in celebration after Rodriguez's strikeout, Holmberg stood alone watching his team, in the dugout, embracing the emotion of what he had just accomplished. But he'll tell you, this title isn't for him.
“This is for Auburn,” Holmberg said. “This is for the people that work in the (Doubledays) office in Auburn, and this is for Leo. I said from the beginning that this season was going to be dedicated to Leo and it came to pass tonight.”
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