MCSN: July 24th

Rock On

Week 7 Recap

Tue, July 24, 2007

Bang-bang play at 3B in the Mustard Seeds-Defenders game

The Game of the Week was a battle of the titans between the two teams tied for the league lead in the standings. They also happened to be teams from the same ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship, aka Sunday School class) during this past weekend's Intraclass Rivalry games. The 9 AM Salt game was played as advertised, going back and forth in an evenly-matched clash until Rock Salt pulled out an 11-7 victory in the end over Saltier.

Saltier jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning but Rock Salt responded with 2 runs in their half. In the third inning, Saltier put up 3 more, but Rock Salt matched them with 3 of their own in their half. Rock Salt scored 3 more runs in the bottom of the 4th inning to take an 8-6 lead. Saltier cut the lead to 8-7 with a run in the top of the 5th, but Rock Salt added 3 more in the bottom of the 6th to go up 11-7 to finish the scoring.

"Rock Salt played a great game," said Saltier manager Bill Van Tuinen. "I don't think there was really anything we could have done different strategically. We played 5 outfielders against their big hitters, but their lineup was solid top to bottom. They were simply the better team on Saturday, but I think we proved we can play with them."

Adding injury to insult, Saltier is losing 3 players.

"On top of losing the game, we suffered a season-ending injury to Jonathan Hauser (broken elbow), and we are facing the loss of 2 more players who are moving out of town....so we've definitely moved from being a Goliath in this league to a David," Van Tuinen explained. "We will all need to pick up our games."

Van Tuinen added to his runaway home run total with a 3-run shot over the fence in the 3rd inning, giving him eight dingers for the year. Van Tuinen is now the first person in league history to hit two over the fence in the same year.

Rock Salt now takes sole possession of first place with a 6-1 record. Saltier drops to third place at 5-2.

Second place in the standings belongs to the YMYF Defenders, who beat the YMYF Mustard Seeds 19-3 at 10 AM in the battle of YMYF.

The Defenders scored in every inning, becoming the first team in league history to accomplish that feat two weeks in a row.

"My pride made me first think we have an offensive juggernaut," Defenders manager Rob Tong said. "But the reality is that we caught the Seeds with a depleted team this week. And we caught the Cowboys with a depleted team last week. So our numbers are inflated and a mirage. Bad pride! Bad pride!"

Mustard Seeds manager Joshua Hall agreed that his team was handcuffed with shorthanded players.

"When you only have nine players available, at least two of them playing with pretty big injuries [Jeremy Bautista (bone spurs) and Hall (rotator cuff)] and the other team stacked with a lot of power, there isn't a whole lot that can be done," he said. "It would have been nice to have another player available for short center, but that wouldn't have made any difference with home runs of the over-the-fence variety that were given up."

Brian Pace and Pat Brown each launched one over the fence, making the list of players going yard 11 players long this season.

The Defenders are now 5-1-1 while the Seeds dropped to 2-5.

The In Focus rivalry game saw an upset as the previously winless In Focus Cowboys stunned a shorthanded In Focus Classic team with a 10-6 win.

Classic played without pitcher Gary Lockwood, third baseman David Cho and outfielder Aleris Fraats. Classic's Brad Hansen was still nursing a hamstring injury suffered the previous week.

"We only had 9 players, and on our defense we really paid for it," Classic manager Anne Marie Misovich said. "I had to shuffle things around quite a bit. Mid-way through the game, John Fraats recommended switching himself and Roberta Hansen, putting her at first. Had I realized she could handle first so well, I would've had her play there the whole game and had John in the outfield. That's where they really killed us.....in our outfield."

The Cowboys put out their biggest offensive output of the season as four Cowboys had perfect days at the plate.

The Cowboys took advantage of a new rule and recruited Joshua Hall to play first base. The new rule allows the Cowboys to recruit up to a total of 12 players, instead of the 8 that is the maximum for all the other teams.

"They only recruited 1 player, even though they could have recruited 3," Misovich noted. "But that was Joshua Hall at first base. That gave them a sure glove at 1st. Yep, I think that helped them."

The Cowboys moved to 1-6 while Classic fell to 2-4-1.

As a side note, the league used new Soft-Touch bases this past Saturday and have had positive feedback on them. They're infinitely easier to install, although takedown is trickier. The bases also breakway from the bottom of the base during a hard slide to help prevent injuries. The base top easily snaps over the bottom of the base.

"John Fraats tested the new base system, sliding in to 2nd," Misovich said. "Yep, they work the way they're supposed to."

The 11 AM game featured Covenant against Crossroads with both teams fielding players formerly in YMYF. Not exactly a rivalry, but an interesting matchup nonetheless.

“The wind from my [swinging] miss was so strong, it almost knocked [Chris Carter] down in the outfield.”

- Anthony Halpin on his attempt to be a home run hitter

Crossroads' Jacob Dodds started the game with what looked to be a two-run inside-the-park home run but was tagged out at the plate when he missed touching home plate. Covenant put up a 5 spot on Crossroads in their half of the first inning. That would be all the scoring Covenant would need as they easily handled Crossroads 14-4.

In hindsight, Crossroads manager Anthony Halpin would've done one thing differently.

"The only thing that I regret about our game is that I tried to go yard against Simone by swinging as hard as
I could at the first pitch I saw," he said. "According to Chris Carter, the wind from my miss was so strong, it
almost knocked him down in the outfield. I eventually fouled out and I think that set the tone for our game. I should have accepted my position as a singles hitter and simply tried to get on base."

Covenant scored four more in the 4th inning to take a 9-1 lead. After Crossroads scored three in the top of the 5th inning to cut the lead to 9-4, Covenant put up another 5-spot in the bottom of the 6th inning to put the game out of reach.

"Simone Halpin carried us to a win by pitching a stellar game," said Crossroads' Dan Fisher. "She worked the zone well and her pitch count was low. That's what we like to see: a high number of strikes coupled with a low pitch count."

Covenant is now 3-2-2 while Crossroads is 2-5.

The upcoming week's games feature some intriguing matchups.

Crossroads gets reigning league MVP Michael Thate back in time to join fellow thumper Jacob Dodds in facing Saltier and current home run king Van Tuinen at 8 AM. Saltier won their last meeting 11-4.

How does Crossroads plan to contain Van Tuinen, who hit a home run in their last matchup?

"I have decided that I will put six people in the outfield so that no grounders will get by them," Crossroads' Halpin warned. "If we are successful doing that, Bill will only get a couple singles."

Van Tuinen looks forward to the showdown with Thate and the rest of the Crossroads squad.

"We're looking forward to facing Crossroads again," he said. "It's always a challenge and a pleasure to go up against the handsome and skilled duo of Michael Thate and Anthony Halpin. I consider them the Batman and Robin of this league, without the homo-erotic overtones, of course. Anthony is one of the most prolific singles hitters in the league despite missing a couple of games, and Thate will be chomping at the bit to get back into action. We're hoping jet lag + TD (traveler's diarrhea) will slow him down some. Jacob Dodds has also been swinging a big bat for them. I think the 8 AM gametime should play to our advantage as the college kids may have a hard time getting up that early."

Waveland Avenue ball hawks will be camping out in the Water Reclamation parking lot waiting for all the home run balls expected in this game.

At 9 AM, the Defenders face a surging Covenant team that has now won 3 in a row.

"We tied them last game [11-11] but now they're on a roll," the Defenders' Tong said. "They've got tough outs from top to bottom. And who knew Shannon 'The Shrill' would be the baddest trash-talker in the league? I dunno if she's going to be out this weekend since her husband is out, but she's got quite a protege with Monie 'The Pony' Halpin, so there's no dropoff in catcalling quality there. Friends, we've got our hands...and our ears...full."

Covenant's Bill Bertsche is ready to administer pain.

"We need to crush their spirits and then take away their will to live," he said."If we can do that, I think we can outscore them."

Covenant's Dan Fisher, acting manager in Chris Carter's place, reacted similarly when asked what's the key to beating the Defenders.

"The who?"

The 10 AM game features the Mustard Seeds against the Cowboys. The Seeds crushed the Cowboys 17-1 in their last meeting.

"The Cowboys of Week 8 are far and away a much different team than the Cowboys we faced back in Week 2," the Seeds' Hall said. "There were some major holes in their defense at the time that have been more than adequately filled, so I'm not taking anything for granted."

And the final game this Saturday, Lord willing, pits league-leading Rock Salt against Classic. In their last meeting, Rock Salt won 9-4.

Classic's Misovich has thoughts as she leads her team against the Goliath that is Rock Salt.

"Yeah," she said. "But I don't think they should be put into print. ;)"