The Seguin River Monsters have risen to the top of the Texas Collegiate League as they were able to outlast the Brazos Valley Bombers to win their first league championship in just their second year.
The season did not get off to the best start, as the River Monsters were 7-16 at the All-Star Break, but things started to click for the River Monsters as they were able to turn around in the second half of the season, going 12-11 to secure their first playoff birth in team history.
With a playoff birth secure, the road to the championship would not come easy for the River Monsters as they were to face the Victoria Generals, who had a tremendous second half of the season, going 19-5 (35-15 overall), the in first round of the playoffs.
Hosting their first playoff game in game one of a best-of-the-three series, the River Monsters would dominate game one with a 10-3 victory. The River Monsters would travel to Victoria to close out the series, needing to win one more game.
Game two of the series would be a back-and-forth matchup between the two teams, as the Generals would survive to play another game, winning 12-9 in a game that went well over four hours. With a decisive game three, the winner goes to the championship; on the line, the River Monsters would take advantage of a costly error by Generals to jump out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. From there, the River Monsters dominated as they were able to able close out the first round of the playoffs with a 6-2 victory to head to their first TCL Championship Game against the Brazos Valley Bombers in Bryan, TX, on Saturday.
Through the first four innings of the Championship Game, both teams seemed to be evenly matched as the game would be tied at 0-0 until the fifth inning. With two runners on for the River Monsters, Garrett Felix would drive in a pair with a two-out double to give the River Monsters the lead. The River Monsters would tack on another run in the fifth on an RBI double from Alex Gonzalez to put the River Monsters up 3-0. The Bombers would get a run back in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single from Parker Airhart to cut the River Monsters lead to one heading into the eighth inning, but that would be all the Bombers could manage as the River Monsters would go on to win, 3-1, and take home their first Texas Collegiate League title in team history.
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