2003 GAME AND TOURNAMENT SUMMARIES

Santa Rosa Memorial Day Tournament, May 24th, 25th and 26th

The Lizzards began the 2003 season with a successful showing in the 5 homerun limit division of the Memorial Day Tourney finishing in 3rd placed out of 13 teams. In their first game of the tourney the Lizzards jumped on BB’s early and often and then held on in the later innings for a 20 to 15 victory. Next the Lizzards faced the Wizzards. The Lizzards put some runs on the board but also gave up a lot of runs, mostly on errors as they went down to the Wizzards by a score of 18 to 12. Late Saturday night the Lizzards took on the Panthers in a do or die situation. The Lizzards played well for most of the game, and held a 5 point lead going into the 7th inning, but the Panthers rallied to tie the game up. The Lizzards came up in the bottom part of the 7th inning looking to end the game. Vidal Trujillo would get things started with a double, then Mike Tapia pulled through with a game winning RBI single to send the Lizzards into the second day of the tourney. On Sunday the Lizzards faced Wackenhut. The game was a back and forth battle for the first few innings, but the Lizzards eventually stepped up their defense while continuing to put runs on the scoreboard. The game was called in the 5th inning on the 10 run rule with the Lizzards winning 28 to 18. Next the Lizzards faced the Rebels, and behind a strong defensive effort and another solid hitting display the Lizzards again won on the 10 run rule, 21 to 11. Next up the Lizzards took on Santa Rosa Medical Clinic, a team made up of some young Santa Rosa Lion baseball players, and several Lizzard rejects. The game was delayed for half an hour due to a heavy rain storm. Some repairs were made to the field and although the rain continued to come down the umpires made the decision to play the game. The field was a giant mud puddle, and there was no relief in sight as the rain continued to come down.. The conditions made playing the game a lot more difficult than normal, but it also made it a lot more fun. It was a back and forth game for the early innings, but the Lizzards rallied for a 5 run late inning lead and then played solid defense, to defeat the kids/lizard rejects by a score of 16 to 11. The Lizzards found themselves only one game away from the championship. Standing in the way would be JC Contractors. The Lizzards came out smoking, scoring 6 runs in the first inning, but the offensive production stalled out, as the Lizzards would only score 5 runs over the next 6 innings. The Lizzards defense played well, keeping them in the game. Going into the bottom of the 6th inning the Lizzards were only down 4 runs, but JC Contractors rallied for 5 runs to take a 9 run lead. The Lizzards had one last chance in the 7th inning, but it was not to be as the Lizzards went 3 up 3 down. Final score 20 to 11.

Once again it was a great showing by the Lizzards on and off the field. The Lizzards sticks were on fire for most of the weekend, and their defense while not perfect was solid when it needed to be. Off the field it was another weekend full of beer and the usual Lizzard hijinks.

Tourney Highlights:
5 Lizzards combining for a team tournament record 29 homeruns. Vidal(11) Dave (7) Marty (6) Andrew (3) Jimmy (2)
Grand Slams by Vidal and Marty
Marty, Vidal, Shadow, and Jobba all hitting over .700
Mike Tapia’s game winning hit against the Panthers
Many great outfield plays by Vidal, Dave, and Andrew
Miguel’s pitching. The pitching may not have been the greatest, but the other antics made up for it.
Miguel trying to run the bases with his pants weighing about 40 pounds.
Dave’s phantom diving catch


The PLA for this tourney changed hands over the course of the weekend. The decision had already been made to give it out to one Lizzard, but another Lizzard decided to go on a mission on the last day of the tourney. Names will be witheld, but all that has to be said is that if this Lizzard drinks Bud heavy’s every tournament he will win the PLA every tourna