Bulls reclaim throne as Masters champions

Just one year after falling to the Somerville Alibrandis in the 2020 Masters Finals and coming up short in their bid to defend the 2019 title, the Bistro 781 Bulls are back on top of the Masters division as 2021 champions.

With a 4-2 victory in Game 4 of the 2021 Masters Finals, the Bulls defeated the Avi Nelson Rockies three games to one in the best-of-five series, exorcising the demons from last year's Finals loss with their second Masters title in the team's 3-year history.

"We added more depth, pitching this season," said the 2021 Masters MVP and Bulls Assistant Manager Johnny Hayes in between puffs of his victory cigar. "We have a lot of really high baseball IQ guys in our dugout. Adding 'Mags' [to the roster] was huge for us - he's a difference maker."

Hayes was referring to Mike Maguire, who hit .480 (12-25) with a 1.199 OPS in the regular season and was one of several key players acquired by the Bulls in the offseason, along with Kevin Kelley (12-29, .414 Avg.), Ryan Radabaugh (11-32, .344 Avg.), and Dave Lightbody (5-12, .417 Avg.), all of whom played a significant role in the Bulls' successful pursuit of the championship.

In the 2021 regular season, skipper Kevin Lyons led the revamped Bulls to an 11-5-1 record, tying the Gigantes for the league's second-best record, but securing the No. 2 seed in the postseason due to the head-to-head run differential.

Offensively, the Bulls led the league in several categories, including average (.378), hits (188), runs (135), slugging % (.463), and OPS (.913).

Shortstop Johnny Hayes (26-54, .481 Avg., 14 RBI's, 21 Runs, 5 2B's, 2 3B's) fueled the offense with a team-best .481 average and a league-leading 26 hits and 21 runs scored, earning himself Masters MVP honors.

Jon Tenney (5-0, 2.53 ERA, 27.2 IP, 25 K's) once again anchored the pitching staff, tossing 30% of his team's innings in the regular season. The Bulls' ace finished 4th in Cy Young voting with a 5-0 record and 2.53 ERA in seven regular-season starts.

The 2nd-seeded Bulls' postseason began with a 2-1 series win over the No. 7-seeded Metro Red Sox (8-8-1), in a best-of-three quarterfinal matchup that went to a decisive Game 3.

Tenney posted a 2-0 record in the series, tossing five strong innings in both Games 1 and 3, before giving way to 63-year-old Franz Strassman who closed out each game with two scoreless innings of relief.

The Bulls moved on to the semifinal round to face the No. 8-seeded Boston Dodgers (3-11-3), who reached the semis for the first time in franchise history, after pulling off a stunning two-game sweep (5-3, 8-6) of the defending champion and top-seeded Alibrandis (13-2-2) in the quarterfinals.

The Blue and White looked to keep their magical season alive with another upset win in the semis, but instead saw their playoff hopes dashed. Behind stellar pitching and a balanced offensive attack, the Bulls completed a three-game sweep (4-3, 15-2, 10-2) of the Dodgers, putting an end to their Cinderella season.

All three of the Bulls' starting pitchers (Austin, Fucarile, Tenney) earned a win in the series, while the offense hit .444 as a team. Thirteen different players collected at least one hit in the series, including a HR from Johnny Hayes in Game 1.

For the third straight season, the Bulls advanced to the Masters Finals, where they would face the No. 4-seeded Avi Nelson Rockies.

The Rockies claimed the 4-seed with a 10-6-1 regular-season record, backed by a pitching staff that ranked 1st in the league with a 1.80 ERA and 1.147 WHIP.

Ethan Solomon, the staff's ace and 2021 Cy Young Award winner, composed a 3-1 record with 33 strikeouts in 23 ⅓ innings, and finished second in the league with a 1.20 ERA.

The 4th-seeded Rockies opened up 2021 postseason play with a best-of-three quarterfinal matchup against the fifth-seeded South Shore Giants (9-7-1).

After splitting the first two games of their series in two tightly contested contests, the Rockies broke out for 8 runs on 12 hits in Game 3, and rolled to a convincing 8-1 win in the series-deciding game. Pitcher/Manager Tony Anderlionis (7 IP, 6 H, ER, BB, 3 K's) earned the complete-game win, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits to go along with 3 K's.

With the Game 3 victory, the Rockies secured the franchise's first playoff series win in their four-year history, earning themselves a trip to the semifinal round where they faced the No. 3-seeded Los Gigantes (11-5-1).

In what was a low-scoring best-of-five semifinal bout that saw four out of five games decided by a single run, the Gigantes took the opening game of the series, 4-3, on an 8th inning extra-innings walk-off hit from Darwin Hernandez (1-4, 3 RBI's).

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Manny Delcarmen (2 IP, 2 H, 5 K's, 0 ER) relieved the Gigantes Game 1 starter Jose Aquino (6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 K's, 3.50 ERA) in the 7th, and earned the vulture win, pitching two scoreless innings of relief while striking out five of the six batters he faced.

The Rockies came right back with a 4-3 win of their own in Game 2, tying the series at one game apiece behind a 3-for-3 night from the Rockies' CF Nate Knowles, and a complete-game effort from Ethan Solomon (7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 8 K's, 3.00 ERA) in his 2021 postseason debut.

The two squads alternated wins again in Games 3 and 4, setting the stage for a fifth and deciding game to see who will meet the Bulls in the Finals.

In the do-or-die game, the Rockies again turned to Ethan Solomon (7 IP, 7 H, R, 10 K's), who tossed a second-straight complete-game 7-hitter, allowing just 1 run while striking out 10. He also chipped in on offense, going 3-for-3 in the cleanup spot with an RBI and a run scored.

With a 2-1 Game 5 win, the Rockies advanced to the Finals for the first time in franchise history.

The 2021 MSBL Masters Finals featured a first-ever playoff meeting between the No. 2-seeded Bistro 781 Bulls and the No. 4-seeded Avi Nelson Rockies, with the Bulls owning a 4-1 lifetime regular-season record over the Rockies heading into the series.

The best-of-five series got off to a 'grand' start, as Jon Tenney of the Bulls faced off against Mike Barthel of the Rockies in Game 1.

The Rockies jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the 1st, after loading the bases and scoring on a wild pitch.

Two innings later, they doubled their lead to 2-0 on a Steve Miller RBI-double in the 3rd, his second extra-base hit in as many at-bats.

In the bottom of the 5th, the Bulls' offense came alive, tying the game at 2-2 on a clutch two-RBI double from Kevin Lyons.

The score remained tied until the top of the 7th when the Rockies staged a two-out rally and retook the lead 4-2, on back-to-back RBI-singles from Barthel (1-2, RBI, 2 BB) and Solomon (1-3, RBI).

Down to their last three outs of Game 1, the Bulls' Steve Busby (1-3, R) and Ryan Radabaugh (1-2, 2 R, BB) began the bottom of the 7th with back-to-back singles, ending the night for Barthel (6 IP, 9 H, 4 R, BB, 2 K's), who handed the ball over to the sidearm specialist Dave Worthley, in relief.

The first batter Worthley faced was lefty Joe Perna (2-2, 2 R), who was awarded first base on catcher's interference when his swing on Worthley's 2-1 offering knicked the catcher's mitt.

With the bases now loaded, the Bulls' catcher Brendan Eygabroat (1-3, R, HR, 4 RBI's) stepped up to the plate. On the second pitch of his at-bat, Eygabroat etched his name into the history books with a walk-off grand slam that hit the left-field foul pole and capped off an improbable 6-4 comeback win for the Bulls. Eygabroat was mobbed at home plate by his teammates.

According to our research, there has been no other instance of a game ending on a "walk-off-the-foul-pole" grand slam in baseball history.

Feeding off the momentum from their thrilling Game 1 win, the Bulls took a quick 1-0 lead in the 1st inning of Game 2, on a two-out double from Tim Hart (1-3, 2B, R), followed by an RBI-single from Steve Busby (1-2, RBI, BB, 2 SB) after a 9-pitch at-bat off the Rockies' Game 2 starter, Ethan Solomon.

After the rocky first inning, Solomon (7 IP, 2 H, R, 2 BB, 13 K's) settled down and held the Bulls hitless for the remainder of the game, while striking out a postseason career-high 13 batters. Solomon improved to 3-0 in the postseason after the Rockies' offense struck for four runs in the 3rd en route to a 5-1 Game 2 victory.

With the series tied 1-1, the Bulls turned to Jeff Fucarile (7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K's) in the pivotal Game 3, while the Rockies countered with Tony Anderlionis (6 IP, 4 H, 4 R, BB, 3 K's).

The Bulls were first to get on the board, plating two runs in the 4th on a sac fly from Mike Maguire (0-2, RBI) and an opposite-field RBI-double from Tim Hart (2-3, 2B, 2 RBI's) that one-hopped the wall in left-center next to the 379-foot sign at Monan Park in Boston.

The Rockies responded with two runs of their own in the very next inning, tying the game 2-2 on an RBI-single from Jason Ackerson (1-4, RBI, SB) and an errant throw from the Bulls' catcher on a stolen base attempt by Ackerson that allowed Mike Tufo to score from third.

Not to be outdone, the Bulls flexed their offensive muscles again in the 6th, scoring two runs on back-to-back hits from Dave Lightbody (1-3, RBI) and Tim Hart, to retake the lead, 4-2.

With the two-run cushion, Fucarile came back out for the 7th and recorded two quick outs before the Rockies threatened on a pair of singles from Ackerson and Hadden. With Miller representing the winning run at the plate, Fucarile was able to settle down and get him to line out to end the game and secure the 4-2 victory. The Bulls climbed within one game of the Masters championship.

Game 4 featured a rematch of Game 1 starters Jon Tenney and Mike Barthel, as Tenney looked to close out the series and capture another championship for the Bulls, while Barthel looked to extend the series to a decisive Game 5.

In what felt like a replay of Game 3, the Bulls held a 2-0 lead through 3 ½ innings, only for the Rockies to come back and tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the 4th, with both sides taking advantage of a couple defensive miscues.

In the 5th, the Bulls composed another two-out rally on back-to-back singles by Eygabroat (1-2, R) and Lyons (2-3, RBI). Kevin Kelley followed with a sharply-hit ground ball to Miller at SS who overthrew Ackerson at 2B trying to get the force out, allowing Eygabroat to score the Bulls third run of the game.

The Bulls tacked on another insurance run in the 7th, which was more than enough run support for Tenney (7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, ER, BB, 3 K's) who closed out the final two frames, securing the 4-2 win and the Bulls' second Masters championship in three years.

In their postseason campaign, the 2021 Masters champions posted an 8-2 record, outscoring opponents by a combined margin of 66-32. Tim Hart was the postseason MVP, batting .464 (13-for-28) with 5 doubles, 8 RBI's and 4 runs scored. Tenney was the MVP-pitcher with a 4-0 postseason record and 1.81 ERA.

Congratulations to the Bulls on winning their second Masters championship, and hats off to the Rockies on a fantastic season and their first Finals appearance.