MCSN: August 2nd

Cowboys lasso another one

Week 8 Recap

Thu, August 2, 2007

Mustard Seeds' Matthew Jung prepares to hit a pitch from Cowboys pitcher Christine Carroll

Break up the Cowboys.

The In Focus Cowboys won their second consecutive game, this time a 7-6 squeaker over the YMYF Mustard Seeds in the 10 AM game.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 4th inning when the Cowboys put up 2 runs. The Seeds responded with a 5-spot in the top of the 5th inning to take a 5-2 lead but the Cowboys countered with a 5-spot in the bottom of the 5th inning to regain the lead 7-5. The Seeds cut the lead to one when they pushed a run across in the top of the 6th inning but could score no more.

Neither team's manager could be reached for comment. So I'll do it.

The Cowboys now have the same record as the Seeds, with both teams sporting 2-6 records. Who'd have thunk that, considering that (1) the Cowboys lost their first 6 games by an average score of 13-1, and (2) the Seeds cranked out an average of 20 hits in their first 3 games?!?

In the 8 AM game, this season's MVP front-runner almost upstaged the reigning MVP but Crossroads still pulled off the upset over Saltier by an equally tight 8-7 score.

"The key to the upset was to keep my team focused and motivated so that they would realize that records don't mean one team is better than the other," Crossroads manager Anthony Halpin explained. "This helped us stay focused and know that we could beat Saltier if we played our best."

Crossroads scored first and seemed to be comfortably ahead 8-4 going into the bottom of the 7th inning. But MVP candidate Bill Van Tuinen launched a 3-run home run over the fence to bring Saltier to within 8-7. However, like the Seeds, Saltier could score no more.

"We still thought we had a chance right up to the end," Van Tuinen said. "We wanted to send Reed Flora out of the league as winner, but we have to be satisfied with him simply being out of the league. Reed's 4-for-4 performance was a nice swan song for him. He had a lot of family and friends in town and he really put on a show for them."

Crossroads was fueled by Michael Thate's 6 RBI, tying the league record for most RBIs in a game (originally set by the Mustard Seeds' Jeremy Bautista on June 16th vs the Cowboys). Thate also added 2 inside-the-park HRs, moving him to second place for most HRs in the league this year.

"Without a doubt, Thate was the MVP on the field today. The guy hit two inside-the-park home runs and had 6 RBIs in a game where we only scored eight runs," Halpin said. "His performance was almost outdone by [Van Tuinen] who almost lead his team back from a four run deficit in the last inning by crushing a out-of-the-park home run which cleared everything."

"I think if we had played 1 or 2 more outfielders against Thate we might have had a chance to catch his missiles, but he was too much for us today," agreed Van Tuinen. "Luckily, he only had 3 at-bats which limited the damage he could do. I'd also like to recognize Anthony Halpin's exceptional sportmanship: when he knew that the game would be called if our half of the 6th lasted longer than 5 minutes he really sped things up while pitching to give us another shot at batting in the 7th...and it almost ended up costing him the game. So kudos to him for that."

Van Tuinen's HR gave him a league-leading 9 dingers for the season, surpassing the most HRs hit last year by a player (seven, by Thate), with a month of games left to play. Van Tuinen also became the first person in league history to hit three home runs over the fence in a season.

Saltier fell to 5-3, two games behind leader Rock Salt. Crossroads improved to 3-5, just a game behind Covenant.

Speaking of Rock Salt, they crushed In Focus Classic 21-13 in the 11 AM game despite being short-handed. Of course, Rock Salt recruiting heavy hitter Jacob Dodds helped.

Despite the absence of Ryan Varney and Brian White, Rock Salt's two big boppers, pitcher Paul Petschelt made up for the lack of power by hitting two home runs over the fence, the first time in league history that a player has hit two over the fence in the same game. Petschelt also became the second person to hit two home runs out of the park this year, and the 12th different player overall to go yard this year.

"I was not trying to hit homers," Petschelt explained. "I did Starbucks, not steroids. I also decided to use Eric's bat like everyone else does and it was really helpful. It may be corked. That and my broken finger is now coming around after 9 weeks."

“I did Starbucks, not steroids.”

- Paul Petschelt on hitting two over-the-fence home runs in the same game

Rock Salt knocked out 29 hits, a new league record. But In Focus Classic didn't lie down. They scored 13 runs against a team that had been allowing an average of only 5 runs/game to opponents. Does Classic count that as a moral victory?

"You bet I do!" said Classic manager Anne Marie Misovich. "My team played its hardest against them. I was pleased with the performance of ALL of my players. I think if we had played ANY other team that day, we
would have won for sure.

Classic modeled the underdog's never-say-die determination perfectly.

"I told my team in our huddle after the game the same thing that I reported to our ABF yesterday, 'We went down with dignity.'" Misovich said. "No one gave up. Everyone played their best and hardest to the end. What more could a manager ask for? And not only did we score [almost triple] the average of runs allowed by Rock Salt against their opponents, but we scored the most runs at an In Focus game in our two-year history. Really, at the end of our game, I looked at my team in our huddle and saw Peter Moy and Gary Lockwood both sporting bloody knees. All I can say is that my players are spilling their blood for our team's cause. What a picture. What a picture!"

Petschelt cited defense as the key plays in the game.

"The key plays were Eric twice throwing out runners at the plate to kill rallies," he said.

Misovich felt the game was a mismatch.

"Their strength [is the biggest factor in their win]," she said. "They are a stronger team than In Focus Classic. In fact I believe that they are the strongest team in the league... though it doesn't mean that they CAN'T be beaten ;) Because of their strength, though they were missing a couple of their home run hitters, others rose up to the challenge and filled in those gaps. They have so much strength on their team, they can take on a team with a full strong defense and still outplay them, both at the plate and in the field...which is exactly what they did to us."

Misovich helped keep the proper perspective despite the disheartening loss.

"In our closing prayer after the game, our team thanked the Lord for the loss," she said. "That really helped to put and keep things 'In Focus'."

Classic is now 2-5-1 while Rock Salt is 7-1.

In the 9 AM game, the YMYF Defenders beat a short-handed Covenant team 8-5, snapping Covenant's three-game winning streak.

Covenant was without manager Chris Carter, Mark Pirrie and Kyle Radcliff.

"But their biggest loss was not having Shannon 'The Shrill'," said Defenders manager Rob Tong. "Their loss is our gain...esp for our ears. Whew."

Covenant recruited Van Tuinen so they made up for their missing players, at least statistically. Van Tuinen went 3-for-4 but the Defenders were able to hold him homer-less.

"We stole Thate's lotion from him," Tong said. "Look for it on eBay."

Covenant actually took a 5-4 lead going into the top of the 5th inning but the Defenders scored 4 runs and held Covenant scoreless the rest of the way.

The Defenders improved to 6-1-1 while Covenant fell to 3-3-2.

This week's games feature the battle of the titans when #1 Rock Salt battles the #2 YMYF Defenders.

Rock Salt is on a league-record 7-game winning streak, including a 4-0 road record. The Defenders have won their last four games. A half-game is all that separates the two teams' records.

Furthermore, Rock Salt has given up the fewest runs in the league; the Defenders have given up the second-fewest. The Defenders have scored the most runs in the league; Rock Salt has scored the second-most.

The Rock Salt-Defenders game caps a slate of other intriguing matchups.

At 8 AM, a depleted Covenant team takes on In Focus Classic. At 9 AM, the surging In Focus Cowboys challenge Crossroads, as "Bald Thate" Tony Matoian faces off against real Thate. And 10 AM pits Saltier against the YMYF Mustard Seeds, who actually outhit Saltier in their last game but was victimized by two Van Tuinen home runs.

Saltier has now lost two in a row while the Seeds are on a 5-game losing streak.

"We'll be looking to stem our slide vs. the Mustard Seeds," Van Tuinen said. "Both teams are ice cold right now so it's probably a good time for us to be playing each other. Everyone knows Salt and Mustard don't mix well. In fact, mustard is my least favorite condiment of all time. Even if the Mustard Seeds get ahead early, I think we'll Ketchup."