Defenders capture EL North crown

It was only fitting for a team as hard-working as the Connecticut Defenders to play more than four hours of baseball on the night they clinched the Eastern League North Division title.

The Defenders were crowned champions Saturday following a 5-3 victory over the Harrisburg Senators in the opener of a doubleheader. It was the team's first division title as a Giants' affiliate and one that was celebrated briefly in the visiting locker room between games of the grueling twinbill.

As is customary for the Defenders, Saturday's baseball activities started much earlier than the first game's 6 p.m. ET start time.

"It's kind of a system the guys buy into when they get here," said first-year Connecticut manager Steve Decker. "The guys who have been around a little will tell them, 'You better come here and you better come to work. We're going to do early work, we're going to do running and hitting.' That's the way we do things."

All the extra practice has paid dividends for a team that's won eight of its last 10 games to improve to 78-54.

"This is a long grind for these guys. It's 142 games and we're on the bus, traveling a lot," Decker said. "And to be able to grind it out is being mentally tough and going to the field every day ready to compete. The winning is a byproduct of the way we prepare to play the game."

Decker was manager of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the short-season Northwest League from 2005-07, leading the club to back-to-back NWL titles in 2006-07. He moved up to Class A Advanced San Jose last season and led the Giants to the best overall record in the California League before taking the helm at Connecticut.

The Defenders are led by All-Stars Brad Boyer and Brett Pill, who enjoyed successive weeks as Eastern League Player of the Week earlier this month. Pill is batting .292 with 15 homers and 97 RBIs in 129 games, while Boyer is hitting .295 with three homers and 41 RBIs in 97 games.

The pitching staff has been buoyed by Madison Bumgarner, who has a team-leading nine wins and has pitched his way to a 1.91 ERA in 18 games since being promoted to Double-A. The former first-round pick is 4-0 in his last 10 starts.

"We've had some timely hitting and our pitching staff does an outstanding job," Decker said. "We've won a lot of one-run ballgames, and that's how you prepare to become a big leaguer is play in one-run games, not in 10-run games."

Although the Defenders have a division title and playoff spot locked up, it's still full speed ahead for Decker and his team.

"We will finish up the season like we do any other game and go out there [Sunday] and get our early work in before the game," he said.