Tucson Golden Aces edge Australia at MSBL

The Tucson Golden Aces came out swinging the lumber at the Mens Senior League Baseball World Series (MSBL)last Monday (Oct. 19) and crushed Tri Valley 22-4, a team from Sacramento, Ca., at the Goodyear Sports Complex. It was the MSBL World Series opener for both teams and the outcome put the Golden Aces in good position in the six-game round robin affair for the 60-and-over Central Division. But the Golden Aces' bats went silent the rest of the way as the Tucson team dropped three in a row with losses to the Arizona Scorpions, 5-2, the Salt Lake City Dodgers, 10-7, and a team from San Antonio, Texas, 11-2. Tucson did bounce back in the fifth game of the tourney with a 6-2 win over Australia.

Tucson then had a shot at the playoffs late Thursday (Oct. 22)when they took on Canada. But once again the Aces couldn't get the bats going and they lost a heart-breaker, 8-6, to end their tournament hopes. The star player for the Aces was pitcher Bob Fortier from Nashua, NH. Fortier pitched 31 innings in the World Series, including 18 straight innings on the final day--9 against the Aussies and 9 against the team from Canada. Fortier will pitch next week when the Tucson Golden Aces' 65-over-team open their round robin schedule against St. Thomas. The Aces hope the bats will come alive next week.