MCSN: Aug 3, 2013

Offensive explosions...then defensive lockdowns

Week 6 Recap

By Bill Van Tuinen

Thu, Aug 8, 2013

3:16 Mafia's Keshia Richardson baffled Witness and Orange Crush hitters all day Appropriately, the Roosters opened up play on the first Saturday in August...although, as a team they only had eight players show up, so apparently life has not quite imitated art in the lives of their players. Those who did show put up two runs, early, but Cross the Bases also knows how to get up in the morning and responded with five runs of their own in the bottom of the first.

In the second inning, the Roosters, ironically, had a goose-egg, while CTB (not to be confused with BSB or NKOTB) extended their lead to 14-8 after four innings and the Roosters could only muster two runs in their unlimited fifth inning.

[Editor's note: this dropped the Roosters' record to 2-6.]

After the game, the loquacious, gracious, and always outrageous manager and pitcher for the Bases, Gary Lockwood, had this to say:

“After suffering a disheartening double loss in Week 5, Cross The Bases (5-3) rebounded in Week 6 with a well-played game and a win over the Roosters. The return to the lineup of power sluggers Ethan Sinnema and Jacob Dodds, both absent in Week 5, added some needed oomph to the Bases’ batting order, leading to 14 runs and 20 hits overall. Doubles by utility fielders, Matt Terry and Monica Wright, and triples by Michael Schneider and John Fraats aided the effort and pitcher and I helped my own cause with a bases loaded double and three RBIs. Solid defense, highlighted by Michael Schneider’s running over-the-shoulder catch in short center field and a bang-bang Terron Wright to Monica Wright throw ‘em out play at the plate, kept the Roosters from crowing. I’m pleased with our overall team play. We’re looking forward to crushing the Orange Crush next week.”

Speaking of whom (or is it which?), the Flattened Fruits faced off against 3:16 Mafia in the day's 9am tilt.

The Mafia struck early and often, with every player on the team getting a hit-and-run. Some timely pitching and solid defense helped limit the Crush's output despite 10 hits and 10 walks. Both teams put six runs on the board in the unlimited fifth inning.

Witness and the Killer Beehs faced off next.

“Andy who?"”

- Witness' Rob Tong on 3:16 Mafia pitcher Andy Tisler after Mafia teammate Keshia Richardson silenced Witness bats

Witness jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead and looked to be cruising to victory, but the Beehs would not buzz off and slowly chipped away at the lead. The drama came to a head in the
bottom of the 7th inning with
the Beehs needing two runs
to tie and three to win.

Mayi/Magi Castro laced a single up the middle with two outs that scored the tying and winning runs and the Beehs had another dramatic come-from-behind victory [the last one being their game against the Orange Crush]. Manager Bryan Beeh had this to say afterwards:

"Teams need to start focusing on the hearts of the Killer Beehs, not on our styngers. We have twyce now come from behynd in the fynal at-bat to win. Weeh have hearts of champions. Magi was theh hero this last game. We needed two runs with runners on second and third and sheh singled up the middle like it wasn't a big deal. Sheh made it look easy just like when MJ in Game 6 of the 1996 NBA Finals drained the 12 foot jumper! Despite being hampered by a hamstring injury, Jeremy Huntington played great. Also, Dan Cameron had some great plays in the outfield."

He declined comment on why the spelling of his first and last name flout grammatical norms.

[Ed: Witness manager Rob Tong, back from an extended absence, believes the Beehs also had some unintentional help from an unnamed umpire, who tipped off a Beeh to touch home plate after missing it...just before Witness was about to tag the plate to appeal for the out and take away a run.

["That doesn't take away from some great pitching by Nick Ploegstra," Tong said. "He made a beeh-liever out of me. Or is that a Belieber?"]

In the day's capper, Witness was seeking atonement for its lone loss of the year to the wildly inconsistent 3:16 Mafia.

Witness once again jumped out to an early lead 4-0 after one inning and 6-0 after the top of the third, but Mafia pitcher Keshia Richardson silenced the potent Witness offense after the early outburst. This gave 3:16 the opportunity to narrow the lead, but the Mafia's main hitmen couldn't get much going despite 3-for-3 outings from both Godfrey Gillett and Dan Coughlin. The seven inning affair ended with the Mafia holding on to win 6-4...the same lead they had squandered only hours before against the Beehs.

"We seem to struggle in the second game of double-headers", said Mob boss Bill Van Tuinen, "It's probably a result of our off-season conditioning program. We even benefited from the delayed birth of Andy Tisler's son, so it was disappointing not to sweep today's games."

[Ed: "Andy who?" said Tong, in recognition of Richardson's effective pitching. "But props to our own pitcher Scott Whitaker for outdueling Keshia. The mobsters rang up 17 runs and 23 hits just a couple hours earlier. For Scott and relief pitcher Anthony Halpin to hold them to four runs is an unbelievable job."]