MCSN: August 15, 2009

Final exam

Weeks 9 & 10 Recap

Wed, Aug 26, 2009

Inferno scores a run against Moody & the Blowfish

Double the trouble or double the fun? Some teams are still deciding. Rain weather makeup games, scheduled on top of regular play, had everyone playing double-headers Saturday.

The Diamond Kings started off with a pair of wins, beating the Battalion ...get these crazy odds... the second time this season 19-12.

“It was nice to see the Colonel have a full squad this time,” said Diamond King manager Rob Tong. “[Battalion] hit the ball pretty well and the game was more competitive than our first game with them,” in reference to the Kings' 23-3 win on July 25.

Tong talked up strong offense overall and a great showing from big hitter Brian Pace. Pace hit an out-of-the-park home run Saturday, his second over-the-fence HR this season, which put him in the league’s leader spot in that category, as well as in overall home runs.

At 9 am, the Diamond Kings went on to beat the short-handed Bombers 16-6 in a makeup of their Week 9 rainout.

“This time, the Bombers fielded just enough players to avoid forfeit [and may] have become the first team to play a game without girls for the first time in league history,” said Tong.

“We had seven people show up for both games and were lucky that we could find one sub that our opposing mangers approved so we could play the games,” countered Bombers manager Anthony Halpin.

The Diamond Kings (9-1) managed 20 hits in 5 innings and the Bombers (7-3) struggled to fill holes in the outfield.

“I think they were happy to avenge their defeat earlier in the season because when they hit home runs, they danced around the diamond instead of running," said Halpin.

On the adjacent field, Carter Administration got a fin…er, win…from the Blowfish, squeaking out a 12-11 win in the second 8 a.m. slot that was a makeup of their Week 9 washout. The tit-for-tat game ended in dramatic fashion with Carter Administration's Will Fieber making a game-winning catch to shut down a potential lead-run scoring Blowfish player.

“Will showed some standout play in left field with some great catches the whole game, and [his] leaping across the body catch to end the game sealed the deal,” said manager Chris Carter.

“I think Will just wanted to see his dad [Blowfish's Lawrence Fieber Sr.] go down,” added Carter Administration assistant to the manager Bill Van Tuinen.

Carter Administration superstar Kristen Huntington also blasted an inside-the-park home run that brought fans to their feet and Blowfish players to their knees, literally.

“[Outfielder] Steve Mason crawled on all fours after [her] ball in left field…literally crawled! It was ugly!” exclaimed Blowfish manager Ali Stoltzenbach.

But Blowfish had some big hitting of their own, as Eric Bartl hit two homeruns for the day, in only his second showing on the field this year. Tyler McElhaney added to the Blowfish greatest hits collection with an out-of-the-park homerun, his second this season. However, several missing key players still plagued the lineup: Pa Nelson was still out for hand surgery and Ryan Dollard was excused to learn how to set himself on fire at stuntman school.

The Carter Administration (8-2) kept their day’s winning streak alive against the Mt. Sinai Sluggers, beating them 15-5 in the main 9 am game.

“Jerry is looking to reshape the old image of umpires. He is all about fashion and trying new things.”

- Carter Administration's Chris Carter on umpire Jerry Hodge's attire

“We are really starting to gel as a team heading into the playoffs,” said Carter. "We play selfish ball and really keep the team spirit as our driving force.”

Carter Administration bats provided driving forces all their own, sending balls deep into the outfield all game. Carter hit two home runs over the fence, and Jeremy Huntington added one more over the fence, which had fluorescent shorts-laden umpire Jerry Hodge scouring in the trash can for a game ball.

“Jerry is looking to reshape the old image of umpires,” said a respectful Carter. “He is all about fashion
and trying new things. From his spandex top to his fluorescent colors, we never know what Jerry is going
to bring to the game. Could next week be an 80s tie-die? No one knows!”

The two Carter Adminstration wins, coupled with the Bombers' loss to the Diamond Kings, assured the Carter Administration of the #2 seed, which means they will avoid facing the Diamond Kings until the Championship Game if both make it that far.

We’re only halfway done.

Moody & the Blowfish rebounded from their loss to the Carter Administration by beating the Inferno 15-1 in the main 10 a.m. game, but Inferno themselves bounced back against the Mt. Sinai Sluggers later in the day, beating them 8-2, giving both teams split records for the day.

“Moody & the Blowfish fed us a big piece of humble pie in Game 1 of our double header,” said Inferno manager Dan Coughlin. “But Saturday was a tale of two games [and] we were able to turn it around in the second game.”

Inferno (5-5) played their second match on the adjacent field as their Week 9 makeup game, and Coughlin said the change of venue helped.

“The fenceless field helped us put together back-to-back home runs to get the lead and we were able to get some insurance runs late," Coughlin said. "We were happy to get our regular season back to .500.”

Moody & the Blowfish wrapped up the season above .500 at 6-4, good enough for the #4 seed and a rematch next week in the playoffs with the the #5 seed Inferno. Meanwhile, the Mt. Sinai Sluggers finished their season 0-10, the first time in MCSN softball history that a team went winless in the regular season.

Bringing up the rear of the schedule, Battalion (3-7) ended their day with a second defeat against the Smithereens 17-10 in a makeup of their Week 9 game.

“We came in wanting to finish this weekend strong, and we had the biggest offensive showing of the year against Battalion,” said Smithereens manger Mat Smith.

The Smithereens scored 17 runs in 4 offensive innings, two of which were called for the 5-run limit.

“I have been waiting for this to happen all year, and we finally ended out dreaded 6-game losing streak!” exclaimed Smith. "Everyone in the 8-person lineup had at least one hit and run, making the win a true team effort."

The Smithereens (2-8) might have tired themselves out with the offensive showing though, as they went up against the rested Bombers in the last main game and lost 13-10.

“We didn’t have a chance to get our breath,” said Smith.

The Bombers built an early lead that the Smithereens couldn’t catch, despite a late rally of 4 unanswered runs and strong defense.

“The Smithereens got back in to the game with the help of Jacob Dodds catching every ball within 200 yards of him,” said Halpin, “But we found our swing [and] were able to hang on for the victory.”

The Smithereens became the league's #7 seed for the playoffs and will face the #2 Carter Administration. The Bombers' earlier loss dropped them to the #3 seed and they will face #6 Battalion.

August 15th ended regular season play, and the prospect of playoffs this Saturday has everyone in a tizzy. As Inferno manager Dan Coughlin said, “We all know the real season is the playoffs.” The Diamond Kings will open the playoffs with a first-round match up against the Mt. Sinai Sluggers, but aren’t taking any chances.

“As the saying goes, it's hard to beat a team three times in a season, especially any team with Ovi Tisler on it, so we'll have our hands full,” says Tong. “But win or lose, what I'm looking forward to most about our upcoming game is to see what fashion statement Sluggers' manager Arick Guzman makes on the field.”