MCSN: July 21, 2012

The Believas' Rob McMahon takes a swing at the Transformers

Battle for the Ages

Week 4 Recap

Mon, Jul 30, 2012

The first game of the morning featured the Transformers vs. Believas.

Given the Transformers' average age of 41, many would assume that most of the team wakes up at 5am and has had coffee and read the newspaper by gametime. However, it appeared the Transformers' most fearsome opponent of the season might have been their alarm clocks as they started with only 8 players including a sub.

The players they did have appeared wide awake as they jumped out to a 7-1 lead after two innings and extended it to 15-1 by the time the Believas (2-4) rallied to score six runs in the top of the 6th.

The Transformers (6-0) were led by Jason Kaminsky going 5-for-5 with four RBIs and four runs scored and Robert Martinez, who continued his perfect season at the plate going 3-for-3.

Ageless wonders Pa Nelson, Michael Schneider, and Bruce Reigel each made significant contributions on offense and defense and had some of the younger players in the league clamoring for an age limit.

Cannon's Rebekah Myers takes a rip against the Believas Spectator Sam Baturoni was heard questioning the fairness of a universe that awards these men discounts on dinners served before 4:30pm combined with such athletic prowess.

In the 9am game, the Believas continued their hot bats from the previous game's last inning, putting up a 5-0 lead after two innings.

The still-winless Cannon fired back with five runs of their own in the next two innings to tie the game at five.

However, the Believas answered with three runs in the bottom of the 4th and Cannon fired blanks in the top half of the 5th and final inning for an 8-5 final.

The Believas' Tim Kurtz and Godfrey Gillett led the Believas (3-4) attack, while the Eric(k)s continued to fuel Cannon's offense.

Cannon (0-6-1) was missing some firepower as they had only eight players, but still managed to hold the Believas' balanced offense largely in check.

With early game formalities over, the season's marquee matchup arrived.

The Transformers defense tries to keep Dan Coughlin from passing the plate Not only was it the top two teams in the league, but it featured the league's oldest team, The Transformers, vs. the youngest, Pass the Plate.

The excitement was palpable and nervous energy rippled throughout Clarendon park (although it may also have been the last vestiges of Pa Nelson's breakfast of prune juice and Ensure).

The game started as expected with the Transformers opening with four runs and Pass the Plate counter-punching with three runs of its own.

But over the next four innings, the Transformers proved they were Primed for the day with 15 unanswered runs against a Fallen group who only rediscovered the joy of passing the plate in the bottom of the 6th with two meaningless runs, as the Transformers cruised to a 19-5 victory.

One notable accomplishment for Pass the Plate (5-2) was becoming the first team all year to put out Robert Martinez as Jeremy Huntington snagged a floating liner over the middle.

Even so, Martinez finished the game 5-for-6 with five runs scored and was one of six players to record four or more hits for a Transformers offense in which every player got at least one hit.

Pass the Plate's Les Carter takes a shot against the upstart Killer Beehs The day concluded with Pass the Plate facing the Killer Beehs in a rematch of their close game from the week before.

The Beehs were looking for sweet revenge, and after two innings, trailed 2-1 in what looked to be another nail-biter.

However, Pass the Plate's bats finally woke up and they scored 11 runs over the next three innings to put the game out of reach with a 13-5 final, led by strong contributions across their lineup.

Manager Jeremy Huntington was impressed with his team's ability to bounce back from getting spanked in the first game and perhaps their youthful exuberance contributes to their resiliency.

After a week off, league play resumes this Saturday and playoff positioning will be in focus over the final two weeks of the season. The league is adopting a double-elimination playoff format for the first time ever, with a play-in game for the #4 and #5 seeds.

Pass the Plate will be looking for payback against the Believas while the Killer Beehs will be looking to sneak into the #3 seed with a double-header against Cannon and Believas, their two primary competitors for the slot.

In the day's finale, Transformers will battle Cannon in a game where Cannon hopes to use the mid-day heat and a finishing time bumping up against Transformers 4pm dinner reservations to shock the world.