Last Thursday, the Douglas Tiger baseball Joe DiMaggio League team's summer season was on its very last legs.
Douglas had just lost to Galena 16-3 in the double-elimination Joe DiMaggio State Tournament and was faced with the prospect of staying alive through the weekend with just nine players available.
After stringing together an improbable five consecutive wins, however, the Tigers qualified for this weekend's 44th annual Joe DiMaggio World Series at Wooster High School.
It's the first time Douglas has ever qualified for the World Series.
"I've never seen anything like it," Douglas coach Bruce Jacobsen said. "We definitely were starting to get that feeling that the summer was winding down. Guys were getting a little tired and all of the sudden, we came together.
"We won two on Friday and then it became a matter of how many more we'd have to win to extend our season another week. The guys just went out there and got it done."
The state tournament is generally played in the second week of July and, under the assumption it would be the same this year, a number of Douglas players had previously-scheduled family vacations and obligations in other sports.
Instead, the tournament was played in the third week of July and the Tigers were left without a number of key players, including all-league pitchers Kameron Van Winkle and Matt Thomas.
The team started the tournament with 11 players, beating McQueen 9-4 on Wednesday with junior Ryan Ford on the mound and losing to Galena on Thursday.
The number dwindled to just nine by Friday as Cody Begovich took to the mound for the first time in his high school career and threw a one-hitter in a 15-0 win over Wooster.
Leo Trebotich tossed another one-hitter that afternoon as Douglsa defeated the Sparks Legends 10-0.
Douglas got some help from a former player Saturday as Tim Rudnick pitched the team to a 9-2 win over Galena and Ford picked up his second win of the tournament in a 16-0 drubbing of the Reno Knights.
Begovich pitched Douglas to a 9-5 win over Manogue Sunday morning, which clinched the World Series berth for the Tigers. Douglas lost to the Reno Muckdogs 11-1 in the tournament championship.
"With nine guys, we didn't have any options," Jacobsen said. "But the guys just started hitting, up and down the lineup. During the five-game win streak, we didn't have any less than 15 hits in any of those games.
"We went with what we had and the kids gave it all they had. They found a way to make it happen with limited resources. It was incredible, basically nine guys winning eight games in five days."
Jacobsen noted the performance of Brett Parks, Shane Fencl, Cody Lommori, Sam Cochran and Jake Connolly at the plate as well.
Jacobsen said the team will get some players back for this week's tournament, but will be losing some others.
"We still should have more than nine," he said with a laugh.
Douglas opens the World Series Friday at 11 a.m. against South City PAL. They'll face either the Sierra Sundevils or San Carlos on Saturday in the double-elimination tournament.
Other competing teams are the Reno Muckdogs, the Vallejo Spartans, the Tri-County Gamblers and Pacifica.
The tournament will run through Tuesday with all games being played at Wooster High School in Reno.
For more information, visit www.joedbaseball.com.
