MCSN: June 11, 2011

Two good

Week 2 Recap

Thu, Jun 23, 2011

The second week of the season ended with one less tie than Week 1, but no less action.

In the opening game of the week, the Usual Suspects came from behind three times (including the top of the 7th) to beat the Friars 16-9.

The Friars had a two-run lead going into the top of the 7th inning when they turned to their manager, Jerry Hodge, as their closer, replacing starter Bruce Riegel. After two walks and an infield single loaded the bases, Hodge turned the ball over to Jenkins Ssekendi. Several walks later, Riegel returned shortly thereafter but not before the Usual Suspects got 9 runs in the frame.

"The final score is actually very misleading," Suspects manager Tim Kurtz admitted. "Our two teams were neck-and-neck throughout the game."

Apparently, the Suspects have been griping too much about bad play, despite the team's win.

"Too many people are beating themselves up over their perceived poor play, myself included," said Suspects assistant manager Steve Borgstrom. "They need to remember rule 1: 'Thou shalt have fun and nothing but.' Rule 2 is 'See Rule 1.' If this keeps up, next year we are going to have teams with names like 'The Flagellents', 'Burning Martyrs', and my personal favorite, 'The Hair Shirts'. Imagine what that uniform will look like!"

Both teams were missing important players: the Suspects (1-0-1) played without Bill Van Tuinen and the Friars (0-1-1) were without Robert Martinez. Stephen Hage stepped up for the Suspects, ending the day as one of the team's top performers (reaching base all five times), while Erik Summers demonstrated impeccable hitting prowess for the Friars, hitting the ball to whatever field he wanted and combining with Chris Carter to go 6-for-6.

In the end, what was most disappointing to the Suspects' Rob Tong was the opponent's team name.

"I thought we were playing the Fryers," Tong said. "I was expecting a bucket of fried chicken as their team logo."

The middle game showcased the Nitros' penchant for ties, holding the Home Invaders to a 15-15 deadlock.

"Both our D & O (despite 15 runs) struggled," said Home Invaders skipper Ovi Tisler. "We were very inconsistent on offense. We scored the 5 run max in 2 innings, but struggled the other times. Our offense could have scored more runs if it weren't for the fact that Jerry [Hodge] was umping. Baturoni's strike zone was 6 feet wide and our batters started with an extra strike against them if they accidentally made eye contact with [Hodge]. Maybe he'll be nicer once he finally wins a game!"

No one's offense struggled early, with a combined 18 runs in the first two innings. In fact, the Nitros scored the 5 run max in both of its first two innings, only the second time in Moody Softball history that's been done (first time was by the Carter Administration vs. the humble Mt. Sinai Sluggers back on Aug 15, 2009).

And if not for a change in the Invaders' defensive strategy, the Nitros' offensive bloodbath could've continued beyond the first two innings.

"The key to the game was the 2nd inning defensive repositioning," Tisler explained. "Tim Kerr had the great idea to move to short center instead of playing 4 outfielders straight. He made several outs while basically playing as a 5th infielder. That's free advice to other managers playing against the Nitros."

And speaking of offense, the Invaders' Simon Micula shocked everyone with a moon shot over the fence, complete with a cartwheel upon crossing home plate.

"[Micula] showed up for his first game, never having played softball or baseball before and having gone to the cages only once," said Tisler. "I started him at catcher so he could get comfortable; he was rifling the ball back to [pitcher] Lawrence [Chung] at ~90 mph!"

“I thought we were playing the Fryers. I was expecting a bucket of fried chicken as their team logo.”

- The Usual Suspects' Rob Tong on the Friars

Nitros manager Sam Baturoni grumblingly agreed that Micula's towering drive was the highlight of the game but otherwise simply called the game "interesting."

"They chipped away at our lead during the middle innings and then we scored a few more," Baturoni blandly stated.

For those expecting lofty results from the Home Invaders (1-0-1), "[t]his tie shows that we're human," said Tisler. "Except for the 6-5" 'Ivan Drago-looking' Simon. That guy's a beast!"

In the final game of the week, the Minor Prophets (1-0-1) easily handled the Franchise with a 16-5 win.

The Franchise (0-2) held a 3-2 lead at the end of one, but it was all Prophets after that, outscoring the Franchise 13-3 the rest of the game.

"The game was closer than the score indicates," Minor Prophets manager Dan Coughlin said, presumably with a straight face. "I thought we had potential after our first game and our second game confirms it. We were able to keep the same run production as the first week but improved a lot on defense for a nice victory. We were able to hold a talented Franchise squad scoreless 5 out of 7 innings."

The difference in the game was the Prophets' elite hitting. "Our hitters did a great job finding the gaps in their defense, except for Jeff Martin who hit a bomb over the defense into the top of the trees, but unfortunately it dropped down for a ground rule double," Coughlin added.

Franchise manager Ali Dollard echoed that sentiment. "The Minor Prophets hit really well and found a few holes in our defense," she said. "As my fellow teammate said, 'We were just too holy.'"

Franchise assistant manager Kristen Huntington felt their team aided the Prophets' hitters. "The first play of the game [was key] when we threw the ball away and gave them an inside the park home run," she said. "Besides a nice play here and there (such as Jeremy Huntington's acrobatic bare-handed catch for a force at 2B), things just didn't go well for us on defense from the get-go and we never really turned it around."

Even so, Dollard isn't concerned. "Our bats need to come alive, but we have plenty of time to get everything together before August," she said. Huntington agreed, adding, "We really need to get our bats going. Our scorebook shows a lot of zeros. But I did see some positive things that we will build on---we got nice base-hits from Amy Bennent and Stephen Johnson, so that was good to see. If we get more of the same from them, and then the middle of our lineup gets hitting, we'll be just fine! I think we'll get better with each game."

One bat The Franchise need not worry about is the one belonging to Steve Haake, who hit a bomb into right-center that cleared the trees and the lights, landing on the road. Be warned, those parking over there.

With Week 2 in the books, Week 3 matchups will look eerily familiar. Due to the mens' golf outing, the matchups required rematches from Week 1. And that suits all the managers just fine.

"It'll be nice to get back into our winning groove against the Franchise next week," predicted Tisler. "I might make all my hitters bat lefty to keep the game within 20 runs."

The Franchise's Huntington welcomes it, even if the team will be without both Dollards. "We're looking for [the Home Invaders] to take us for granted and not come with their game-faces on."

Should be an exciting Saturday of games!