TL1 Arkansas Travelers

Travs Win Texas League Crown

Published on September 16, 2008 under Texas League (TL1)
Arkansas Travelers News Release


Dr Pepper Ballpark, Frisco, Texas - The Arkansas Travelers won their seventh Texas League title on Monday night with a convincing 11-3 victory over the Frisco RoughRiders in the fifth-and-deciding game of the finals. Every starting Traveler collected at least one base hit and scored a run, while seven batters drove in a run. Coby Smith, Brian Stavisky and Wil Ortiz led the club with two RBIs apiece. Stavisky capped a seven-run rally with a two-run homer (2). Ortiz's two-run double was the big hit of a four-run third inning. The Travs won eight of their last ten games dating back to the regular season and finished 6-2 in the postseason.

The Travelers finished the regular season with the lowest win total ever for a Texas League champion. Their 62-78 record ranked third worst in the league, but due to a 36-34 record and a tiebreaker over Springfield they won the first-half North Division title and slumped badly in the second half. The Travs lost eight of ten games before the playoffs began, then swept second-half North champion Northwest Arkansas in a three-game first round series.

Frisco took the lead in the first inning against starter Dan Denham, who lasted four innings. Elvis Andrus singled with one out and advanced to third on a double by Jose Vallejo. Nate Sutton made a great diving play on a hard smash by Dustin Majewski, but Andrus scored on the play.

Frisdo's young flamethrower Neftali Feliz held the Travs to no hits over two innings, but Chris Pettit began the third with a fair ball past third base for a triple. Coby Smith followed with a shot to the same spot Pettit's triple went, down the third-base line for a game-tying double. Feliz then hit Sutton with a pitch and Ortiz hit a chopper that also held the third-base line knocking in two more runs with a triple for a 3-1 lead. Hank Conger's sacrifice fly to deep right brought in Ortiz for a 4-1 lead.

The 'Riders managed a run in the fourth inning off Denham when Emerson Frostad knocked in Majewski with a blast past first base. Pettit threw Frostad out when he tried to stretch the base hit into a double.

Alfredo Gonzalez relieved for Feliz in the fourth inning and limited the Travs to one base hit over two innings.

The Travs put the game out of reach in the sixth inning and got some help as the 'Riders committed three errors. Arkansas bunted the ball four times and rallied for seven runs on six base hits.

Conger started the onslaught with a leadoff single against Andrew Laughter. Ben Johnson laid down a sacrifice bunt which first baseman Chad Tracy dropped for an error. Corey Smith followed with a bunt single that Laughter threw wildly over first base. Conger scored on the play for a 5-1 lead while Johnson took third. Mark Trumbo then bounced a single up the middle to score Johnson. The throw from centerfield got by Frostad behind the plate allowing Smith to score from third base. Pettit sacrificed moving Trumbo to third base, then he scampered to the plate as Coby Smith squeezed a bunt in front of the plate and beat the throw while Trumbo scored. Smith stole his way to third base before Sutton scored him with a hard single to center. Stavisky capped the inning with a blast to straight-away centerfield off Brandon Puffer for an 11-2 lead.

Travs lefty Barret Browning (2-0) pitched the fifth and sixth inning striking out four batters over two innings and was awarded the victory.

Francisco Rodriguez pitched two innings and allowed one run on John Whittleman's solo homer (1). Rafael Rodriguez closed the game with a perfect ninth inning.

NOTES: The championship is the Travs' seventh since joining the Texas League in 1966 and second since becoming the double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels in 2001...2001 was the last league title for the Travs (awarded championship after leading best-of-seven series on 9/11/01)...the last championship that Travs won in a completed TLCS was 1989...Conger's 13 RBI led all double-A or triple-A players during minor league playoffs...

Time of game was 2:50 and the paid attendance was 3,082.

The Arkansas Travelers would like to thank all their fans, sponsors and supporters duirng this record-breaking championship season. We'll see you next year in 2009.

Check out the Arkansas Travelers Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Texas League Stories from September 16, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central