The 2016 MVABL Championship series would feature two teams making their first ever trip to the finals, the Camden Redlegs and the Mad River Machine. The Redlegs earned their first #1 seed which granted them a 1st round forfeit victory versus the Stars before a two game sweep of a hot hitting Wright Knights squad. The Machine, who entered as the 4 seed, knocked off two perennial powerhouses by defeating the Dayton Rangers in the opening round and the 2 seed South Dayton Slammers in the semi-finals. They scored a whopping 42 runs over their 5 playoff games making their way to the finale.

At the conclusion of the regular season, the Redlegs ranked 2nd in the league with 223 runs scored while the Machine ranked 3rd at 205 runs scored. With both offenses capable of putting up big numbers, the series was shaping up to be a high scoring affair. Somebody must have forgotten to tell game 1 starters Kevin Campbell and Matt Clark about those numbers though as they locked horns early on and found themselves in the middle of a pitcher’s duel as they fought to keep their respective teams in the game. Campbell, having a knack for shutting down potent offenses throughout his career, would live up to his reputation.

The Machine drew first blood in the top of the 1st when Cameron Calhoun dropped a perfect bunt single down the 3rd base line, stole 2nd, and scored on a ground out. Campbell then buckled down and struck the next two batters out ending the inning. The Machine added on in the 2nd when Brennan Sokowoski singled and stole 2nd to start the inning and scored on a single by Aaron Maggard.

The Redlegs then finally broke through against Clark and put a run on the board, bringing the deficit to 2-1. Kyle Arend singled with one out and stole 2nd and was promptly plated on a base hit by Joey Watson.

Matt Clark helped himself out in the top of the 4th by driving in a run to extend the Machine advantage to 3-1. In the 4th Paul Wilson got on base, swiped a bag and was driven in by Sokowoski to make it a 4-1 game.

The Redlegs continued to threaten but Clark would constantly shut down any potential rallies as he stranded 9 Redleg base runners in the game.

Kyle Arend was able to put another dent in the Machine lead in the 6th. Matt Mattice singled with 2 outs, Jacob Robinson worked a walk, and Arend drove Mattice home with a base hit. Clark again settled in and recorded a punch out to escape the jam.

Campbell went back out in the top of the 7th and recorded a quick strikeout before Paul Wilson doubled, but then came the rain. The field quickly became unplayable and officials were forced to call the game complete, giving the Machine a 4-2 win in game 1.

Game 2 was pushed back to Sunday at a 1:00 start time. The Redlegs, with their back against the wall, would need to win 2 straight in order to take the Championship.

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