Now Playing: Rangers win 1st Ever Sectional Title
Hamburg- Bobby Gagg and Tommy Babcock of the Blue Barracudas led the Rangers (27-4) to a 1-0 victory over the Pequannock Panthers (23-6) in their 1st Ever Sectional Title in front of 500 strong at Harold Sisco field in Hamburg on Friday. Gagg (10-1) earned the victory while striking out 8 batters including Ryan Slootmaker 3 times, and not yielding a single walk. Slootmaker, who was quoted saying "The way we are feeling right now, anyone who is willing to throw against us, good luck" was 0-3 and was fanned 3 times by Bobby Gagg. Other than Gagg, the key player in the game was Tommy Babcock, Tommy threw Justin Bencsko out at the plate while the score was still tied at 0. "When I released it, I knew it had a chance. Cody is a bull behind th plate, so once he caught it there was no way he wasn't making the play." In the 6th inning, Minard Houghtaling started the Ranger rally with a double and Matt Joyce came in to run for him. Joyce advanced to third on a passed ball and then Tommy Babcock drove him in with an opposite field single. "This is incredible," Tommy said "It's the best game of my life and I'm glad it came in such a big situation." The Rangers took the field in the 7th knowing they were 3 outs away from The Sectional Title. The final batter of the game, Ryan Slootmaker, struck out on a sizzling fastball by Bobby Gagg. The Rangers will face Rutherford, the defending Group 2 Champions, on Tuesday in the State Semis at William Patterson University.
Posted by JJ Conrad
at 1:17 PM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, June 28, 2005 11:51 PM EDT
