The vaunted Cicero Rattlers rolled into the 481 Sports Center Arena on Saturday night with a roster that included several of the players from the “OG” Rattlers team of 2019, plus several players who jumped into the snake pit in 2020 and 2021.
Of the 10 players who suited up for the 16u Winter Rattlers, the veterans from 2019 included Sean Bombard, Nicholas Capece, Daniel Capp, Kenton Cochran, Lucas Thelen and Connor Pearce. This was the 2nd season for their teammates Jacob Sadowski and Ethan Matthews and the first for Jadien Gunnip and Evan Rumpel.
Gunnip, Cochran, Pearce, Capece, Capp, Bombard, Thelen (hidden), Rumpel, Matthews, (Sadowski at bat)
On this night, the Rattlers would wrap up the program’s first arena baseball era with the excitement and drama their fans have come to appreciate over the years – an exciting, down-to-the-wire nail-biter of a come-back that delivers a victory to Rattler Nation.
Pic: Jadien Gunnip, Nicholas Capece and Kenton Cochran
The Final lineup for the Winter Rattlers: Lucas Thelen; Nicholas Capece; Kenton Cochran; Daniel Capp; Ethan Matthews; Jadien Gunnip; Evan Rumpel; Sean Bombard; Jacob Sadowski; Connor Pearce.
At the start, the Rattlers struggled to reach home despite notching hits. Meanwhile, the Sports Zone home team tallied both hits and runs. By the time the game was half-way through, Cicero was down by several runs.
Cicero started cashing in during the second half of the game, as a flurry of hits by Cochran, Capp, Thelen, Bombard and Capece were topped off by home runs from Ethan Matthews (watch 2-run dinger)…
and Jaden Gunnip (see 2-run dinger below)…
With the score leveled and only a few minutes remaining in the 1-hour game, the Rattlers found themselves at the top of the order. Lucas Thelen started off with a hard hit single…
Nicholas Capece followed Thelen…
…with a blast to center field that put him on 1st base and advanced Luke Thelen to scoring position at 2nd base.
The “last batter” call came out with only a few seconds left before time ran out on the game.
Kenton Cochran stepped up to the plate and, with one strike on him…
…he hit a bouncer down the 3rd base line. Thelen rounded third base as the throw was made from left field and sprinted across home plate for the go-ahead run – and Rattler Nation got treated to a Thelen Celly…
The MVP nod for this game went to Kenton Cochran for several good plays on defense, multiple hits and the game winning single.
After all was said and done, this family wrapped up their 3rd session with a 9-2 record and contributed to a winning overall record for the first indoor era of the Cicero Rattlers. They shared lots of laughs, good vibes, ups and downs (talking about you Covid!). But it was a memorable few years to say the least. Priceless.
2021/22 Winter Rattlers: Nicholas Capece, Daniel Capp, Lucas Thelen, Jacob Sadowski, Ethan Matthews, Jadien Gunnip, Coach David Sadowski, Connor Pearce, Coach Kirk Capece, Evan Rumpel, Sean Bombard