Regular Season Finale a Heartbreaker

Sprawlers squash Marauders' hopes of a second-place finish. Third baseman Laux to sit-out post-season.
By Bob Loblaw, Voice Staff Writer
July 9, 2007

LOS ANGELES, CA. — The scenario that everyone had on their mind coming into Monday night's game was this: beat the Sprawlers and earn a second-place finish in the divisional rankings.

Unfortunately, that is not the scenario that played out on Dedeaux Field, as the Urban Sprawlers took advantage of some key defensive errors on their way to whipping the Marauders 12-3.

Manager Neil Teixeira said this to his team before the game: "We are currently tied for 3rd place in the division at 2-2 with the Urban Sprawlers. Barring a major upset of the ICT Avatars (4-0), our game tonight will be the fight for 2nd place in the division. If we win (and so does ICT), we'll take 2nd. If we lose (and so does CAPS) we'll be stuck in 4th place. So let's get pumped up to win this game!"

Asked about their performance after the game, the manager said, "We played well enough to win right out of the gate but we got tired and made mental errors later in the game. We're going to have to focus and stay determined in order to do well in the tournament."

However, after the loss some players made it clear that they had no interest in playing anymore. Third baseman Jared Laux will be on personal leave in San Diego for the duration of the post-season. Asked if his decision to miss the tournament was made early on in the year he said, "Actually, I just don't really care. It's not a priority for me anymore. I mean, if losing both games means we get out earlier, then you probably don't want me playing third."

Newcomer Dominic Lau told the paper that he feels the Marauders are better off without Laux. "The guy's a cancer in the locker room. When you talk about guys like T.O., well you can add J. Laux to that list too. It's just disappointing, who knows if he ever cared about the team."

But Laux had something to say about that too. "Hey, I played in almost every game. Sure I made some errors, but I also hit a home run in our last game. I got guys throwing me under the bus, and now I hear they're going to replace me with some guy who's never played at 3rd all season - some guy who said he had to go to 'class' on Monday nights and couldn't play, when everyone knows he didn't have class!"

Apparently, that "guy" that Laux kept referring to was co-owner Binh Tran. Tran has been selected as a back-up to Laux for the tournament and he too had some fuel to add to the fire. "All I have to say is that my situation on Monday nights was made clear to my manager. Whatever Laux 'thinks' I said is his business. I kept everything internal - I kept it inside the club. I didn't go airing my dirty laundry out in front of everyone."

With all these team squabbles, can the Marauders actually pull together and win a couple of games in the tournament? Teixeira thinks so, and he's counting on some big performances from bench players.

Now that the regular season has concluded several MAPP players are available to play in the tournament. The secretive manager didn't want to comment too much on the matter, but assured the Voice that we were bound to see a handful of new faces out on the field, including Lau and Tran.

For now, we'll just have to wait and see how this roller-coaster of a season finishes out.

Stats from Monday, July 9th --- Urban Sprawlers vs. MAPP Marauders

Last Name	Batt. %	Slug. %	At-Bats	Hits	1B	2B	3B	HRs	K	RBI	Runs
Barosy	0.000	0.000	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Caldwell	0.250	0.500	4	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Chan	0.500	0.500	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cockroft	0.500	0.500	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Delgado	1.000	2.500	2	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	1
Gebelein	0.500	1.000	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Laux	0.667	1.667	3	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	1
Matsumoto	1.000	1.000	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nguyen	0.500	0.500	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pease	0.000	0.000	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Teixeira	0.500	0.500	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Trinidad	0.000	0.000	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0