Cubs Win! Cubs Win!
Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Wheelchair Softball Team Captures the Wheelchair Softball Major League Title For Second Consecutive Year
October 5, 2005
CHICAGO - The RIC Cubs, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's wheelchair softball team, won the 5th Annual Major League Wheelchair Softball Tournament, for the second consecutive year.
The RIC Cubs, sponsored by Cubs Care, the charitable beneficiary of the Chicago Cubs, have had a strong year having just cinched the National Wheelchair Softball Tournament Championship Title in August.
Held September 23-24 at Shea Stadium in New York City, Cubs posted an easy 10-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the opener. Led by third baseman Dino Ramirez (Whiting, IN), who had a 3-4 performance at the plate. In game two, The Cubs defeated their cross-town arch-rival, the Chicago White Sox 10-6 to post a 2-0 record. This win assured the RIC Cubs a berth in the championship game the following day. Still undefeated for the second straight year in the tournament, the defending champions would have to be defeated twice to be dethroned. The Boston Red Sox came prepared and determined to beat the Cubs, and they did in extra innings 10-9. The Cubs held a 9-7 lead into the middle of the sixth, but struggled defensively as Boston rallied for single runs in the sixth and seventh. In the bottom of the eighth, the Red Sox pushed across the winning run to force the Cubs into a second and final head-to-head match up. "We made a lot of errors and suffered from mental lapses in that game, but I knew our guys would wake up," said Keith Wallace, RIC Cubs Coach.
The Cubs' defense came out on fire in the final game and held the Red Sox scoreless for three innings. The Chicagoans nursed a 5-4 lead through six innings. Their offense finally woke up in the top of the seventh inning led by Ramon Canellada's (Chicago, IL) booming three-run double that put the Cubs up 8-4. They finished off the late rally with another insurance run for a 9-4 lead. The Red Sox tallied a rebound pair in the bottom half, but fell way short as the Cubs'defense stiffened again to cap their 9-6 championship victory.
About the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) is dedicated to helping people with all levels and types of physical disabilities regain or improve their physical functions and empowering them to participate more fully in family, social, vocational and leisure time pursuits. The Institute has been ranked the 'Best Rehabilitation Hospital in America' by U.S. News & World Report, every year since 1991 and is the first independent rehabilitation hospital in the country to receive the Magnet award for excellence in nursing services by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.ric.org.
Journalists contact: mediarelations@ric.org, 312-238-6044.
All others contact: webmaster@ric.org.
