Rangers Make a Quick Exit From NBC World Series

The Valley Rangers’ first visit to the National Baseball Congress World Series was painfully short. Not only will the Rangers come home without a win, they’ll come home without having played a complete game.

The Rangers dropped a 16-9 decision to the Palm Beach (Fla.) Bulldogs on Wednesday in a game that was stopped after eight innings in accord with a tournament regulation that halts play when a team trails by six runs after seven innings.

The Rangers’ first game in the double-elimination tournament was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Valley pitchers walked nine batters--six in the first three innings--to help Palm Beach gain the victory at Lawrence Dumont Stadium in Wichita, Kan.

“You walk too many guys and good teams always capitalize,” Ranger Coach Frank Des Enfants said. “The team was really pumped for this game; maybe the two guys we had on the mound were overthrowing a little bit.”

After Valley scored twice in the first, Ranger pitcher Kevin Rooney walked the bases loaded, then gave up a grand slam to Eddie Sisko. Two innings later, Palm Beach’s Bill Scalazetti hit another grand slam to give the Bulldogs an 8-2 lead.

In the sixth, the Rangers pulled within 10-9 when Kris Kaelin hit a bases-loaded triple, then scored on an error. Kaelin was two for five with four runs batted in and catcher Eric Vargas went four for four.

Palm Beach scored three more runs off Rooney and Tim de Grasse in the sixth and three more in the eighth.

“I was disappointed after the first game, but when I think about the whole season, I never dreamed we would go to the World Series,” Des Enfants said. “It was an excellent experience.”