Page 49 - November 2020

The Champs Are Here CPD Finest wins Fire and Police World Series
n BY DAN CAMPANA
n PHOTOS BY DEBBIE STRADER/MELISSA SPORTS
Just when the Chicago postseason bubble burst with quick October exits by the Cubs and White Sox, the CPD Finest proved to be the baseball heroes the City needed and deserved.
The Finest traveled 900 miles to Dallas for the Police and Fire World Series and didn’t leave empty-handed, clinching the title with a 7–1 championship game victory over the Philadelphia Police Department.
“It was awesome. We went down there and kicked some ass,” Finest Manager Vince Macias said.
Aside from benefiting from warm temperatures in north- east Texas, the Finest had a few tight ballgames that had them sweating during the championship march.
Chicago opened the tournament with a 10–3 win over the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, but it took a seven-run explosion in the eighth inning — an extra inning for that game — to clinch the win. A Kyle Huber grand slam opened the flood- gates to the victory.
A pool play tie against Philly, secured on a clutch CPD defen- sive play to cut down the potential go-ahead run at the plate, helped the Finest avoid a more difficult path to the title. Later in the tournament, Chicago needed a four-run sixth-inning rally for a walk-off win over their friendly rivals from the NYPD.
Despite the early uncertainty about being able to play this year and a sometimes rough regular season marked by injuries and shorthanded rosters caused by work obligations during a tumultuous summer of unrest in the city, Macias’ message to the team was simple: “Stay persistent.”
“Baseball is about getting into a rhythm,” he added. “I knew that at the right time we were going to click. Once we got rolling, there was nobody better than us.”
On the field, that meant solid pitching and defense, bolstered by key hitting on a team filled with guys ready to contribute however they could. Macias highlighted Tyler LaFlamme, who has spent two years on the job and with the Finest, as “fearless” on the mound and ready to play anywhere to help the squad.
“This is a very humbling game to me and I am always will- ing to make sacrifices and be selfless for the team in order to give the Finest the best chance to win,” said LaFlamme, a 25th District officer who used his extensive college baseball postsea- son experience to lock in for his start in the game that clinched CPD’s spot in the championship.
“The biggest thing I kept telling myself was, ‘I’ve been here before,’” LaFlamme continued. “Being able to reflect on my past experiences throughout college baseball definitely helped me mentally pull through pivotal moments in Dallas.”
Another key performer, David Matthews, who Macias called the team’s season MVP and the best hitter in Dallas, credited a team-first approach for his tournament success.
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