The Healdsburg Prune Packers are champions of the California Collegiate League baseball world, running the table in the recent CCL playoffs, including an 8-7 victory over the San Luis Obispo Blues (SLO) in the title game.
The Packers took on the best the CCL had to offer in the championship series held in Lincoln, home of the Lincoln Potters. It was the first time that this playoff series was held in Northern California, and the first time that a Northern Division team had won the title. The Packers accomplished the feat in the historic 100th anniversary season of since their inception in 1921.
Following the championship game, manager/GM Joey Gomes hoisted the massive trophy at the closing ceremony.
“It’s magical,” Gomes said, “Just absolutely magical to do it in the 100th year.”
This was Gomes’ eighth year leading the Packers.
Healdsburg shows heart, resiliency
The CCL playoff competition consisted of the winners of the northern and southern divisions and the next three highest winning averaged teams. In addition to the Packers and the Blues, the other competitors were the Lincoln Potters, Arroyo Seco Saints (Pasadena), and the Conejo Oaks (Thousand Oaks). The Packers were the top seed based on their season record of 24-7 (.852 winning percentage).
The format for the games was a five-team, double-elimination tournament – lose two games and the team is eliminated.
The Packers’ four-game journey through the series played out like a Hollywood script.
It began with an embarrassing loss to the San Luis Obispo Blues. Nothing went right for the home-town team, including faulty pitching, shaky defense and poor offense. The final score of 12-7 immediately put the Packers in the losing bracket with their backs to the wall. They had to win every game to be the champion. And win they did.
Their next opponent was the Conejo Oaks, who had just eliminated the host Potters from the tournament. In the tenth inning of this tightly fought contest, the Oaks had moved ahead to lead by 8-7. With two outs and a man on second base, the Packer’s last hope was Hance Smith (Cal Berkeley). Smith smacked the first ball over the left field fence, and the Packers moved on to the semi-final round.
The team breezed past the Arroyo Saints (12-1) and readied for a rematch with the team who had beaten them in their playoff opener, the SLO Blues. This time, there was no run-away. The lead see-sawed throughout the game, but the Pack were able to stem the late-inning Blues rally to win 8-7.
The most valuable player of the series was Brayden Runion (University of New Mexico), who hit a blistering .588 (10 for 17), including one homer and nine RBIs. Runion was quick to credit his manager for his success.
“Gomes preaches ‘heartbeat,’ just trying to control your nerves and adrenaline,” Runion said. “I get some 0-2 counts, and I’ll just step out, regroup and just say, ‘heartbeat,’ and then just get right back in there and do my job.”
The most valuable pitcher was Charlie Hurley (USC), who pitched six strong innings and silenced the potent SLO bats for six innings, giving up just three hits.
The Prune Packers will have 10 months to savor their first CCL championship, returning to Recreation Park next June to defend their title.
