MCSN: August 9, 2008

2008 Summer Games

Week 9 Recap

Fri, Aug 15, 2008

Barn Burner's Nicki Heemstra singles to drive in Pat Brown from third against the Moody Blues

MCSN hosted its own Olympic length competition Saturday, working its way through 7 games Saturday morning. All teams played their scheduled, regular-season matches, and then many headed into double-headers of inclement weather makeups. Play turned out more stats than ever before, so let's get started and try to keep it straight!

Still smarting from their loss against the Emoticons last week, the Carter Administration rallied to win against the Eagles 12-5 in the first game of the morning Saturday. Both teams exhausted their efforts on the field; the Eagles went home to nest, while the Carter Administration sailed on the wings of victory to the depths of defeat in their make-up game, losing 14-10 against the Calvary.

The ladies of the Carter Administration, headed by Christie Lee, made a strong showing defensively throughout the morning. “[They] anchored the entire right side of our infield for most of the games,” said assistant to the manager Bill Van Tuinen.

With only 8 players to field 2 games, the Carter Administration struggled to keep positions filled. “We left it all on the field as exhibited by David Cho's heroic double in our 2nd game; he could barely walk due to a pulled hammy, [but he] legged out a double on a ball hit almost to the street,” said Van Tuinen. “It reminded me of Willis Reed coming out of the locker for the Knicks in Game 7 of the NBA championships,” he continued. “The only difference was there was nothing on the line for us, we didn't win the game, and there weren't any fans to notice his bravery.”

The Calvary only fielded 9 players themselves against the Carter Administration. "The Carter Administration tried to out-forfeit us but we gave them a run for their money," said Calvary manager Rob Tong.

In their regular 9 a.m. game, the Living Stones fell to the undefeated Emoticons by the respectable score of 9-4, and took MCSN fans on a trip down memory lane. Repeating their first regular game of the season, the Living Stones improved their previous margin of loss against the Emoticons by 4 runs. Speaking of runs, the Emoticons are pretty mad at Living Stones pitcher Gary Lockwood for not letting them score any. “I have never seen such a dominant performance from the pitcher position. I didn't see a single hittable pitch,” marveled Emoticons shortstop Michael Thate. “ He held us to our lowest scoring total of the year, and the first time we've been held in single digit runs.”

Both teams went on to win the second-halves of their double-headers, respectively. The Living Stones met Fire & Ice at 11 a.m, and were pleasantly surprised to come out on top 15-6.

Living Stones player Isac Malmgren elaborates: “I think I would have to attribute our victory in the second game to the fact that only about half of our team realized we were playing a double header. Most of our losses are usually well planned in advance and require a lot of effort. By the time the second game rolled around, we were just too exhausted and frankly unprepared to pull off another dramatic loss like we were able to produce with the Emoticons. Unfortunately, this has ruined our strategy of lulling the other teams into a false sense of security.”

Playing short-handed, Fire & Ice gave up 9 runs in the first 2 innings but were kept in the game by Hutz Hertzberg and his mighty bat. “Not only did he drive in all 6 runs, he hit for the cycle!” said Fire & Ice manager Mat Smith.

“We were [...] frankly unprepared to pull off another dramatic loss.”

- Living Stones' Isac Malmgren on their surprising win over Fire & Ice

Earlier in the morning for the regular 10 a.m. match-up, Fire & Ice ousted Calvary 13-9. “We were looking to avenge our one-run-loss against them [earlier in the season],” Smith said. Both teams were tied (6-6) to start the 4th-inning, when Jacob Dodds hit a 3-run-home run over the fence and gave Fire & Ice the lead for the rest of the game.

"I'm going to petition the commissioner to test Dodds for steroid use," Tong said after Dodds' home run. "Oh wait...I am the commissioner."

Despite the win, Fire & Ice is looking for more. “We are still in the middle of the pack and ready to do some damage,” said Smith.

The only team not playing double-headers Saturday, the Barn Burners, saved all their energy for their 11 a.m. date with destiny…er…game against the Moody Blues. However, solid defense kept the Barn Burners at bay and they fell 10-4. “Pa Nelson kept us baffled with his variety of pitches,” said Barn Burners’ manager Pat Brown. “Some high…some low…he even has this sidearm delivery that makes the pitch look like it’s coming from third base.”

Nelson, joined by right fielder Angie “Sticky Hands” Coughlin, and an especially alert infield kept the Barn Burners from giving the scoreboard too much work. “We managed just 2 base-runners in 5 innings,” said Brown. “ [The Moody Blues defense] turned a bunch of double plays, which stifled any chances we had for a comeback.”

Prior to that win, the Moody Blues were on a new field...and new territory in the scorebooks, losing easily to the Emoticons 18-6 in a battle of undefeated teams. The much-anticipated matchup had both teams playing with heated intensity, and the Moody Blues looked promising early. However, the Emoticons won the day with impenetrable defense.

“Our defense absolutely handcuffed the much-touted Moody Blues,” boasted Emoticons shortstop Michael Thate. "[They scored] only 2 runs after their 1st inning scoring binge."

Andrea Muresan also got 3 hits and pitcher Simone Halpin anchored the infield with her patented changeup combinations. “We are now 8-0, and I think teams are finally starting to realize that we are a fierce team even though we have smile on our shirts!” shouted Emoticons Manager Anthony Halpin while running victory laps.