It was another great night of wiffleball at St. Cloud Commons park last night. The Holy Balls were unfortunately unable to attend Week 8's games and as a result forfeited their series against the Maroon $quad, giving the Maroon $quad a 14-0 record thus far this season. This latest blow gives Holy Balls a 10-4 record and they will undoubtedly fall in the rankings after raising to #24 this past week (their highest spot int he rankings yet). The Maroon $quad have seemed to stall out at #6 in the rankings (for two straight weeks) and wins as a result of forfeits will probably not aid them in cracking the top 5.
But not having two games due to forfeits really gave the rest of the teams plenty of time to get their games in and the Terrorhawks and Welfare Warriors played their only make-up game from Week 6 (which was rained out). The Pink Penguins had a 2-game set against Welfare Warriors and they were both nail biters. Welfare Warriors have been showing improvement and some real heart on the field as of late and the Pink Penguins were not going to have it easy. The first game was one of the lowest scoring games of the season with the Penguins winning 2-1. The Welfare Warriors nearly tied it up in the bottom of the 5th with 2 base runners but struck out to end the game. Trey "Dub" Hathaway did some great pitching in that game and struck out 8 batters, which might be a record. Hathaway had plenty of help from Ryan Miller who hit two solo shots during the course of the game. Game 2 was another close one with the Pink Penguins up to bat in the bottom of the 5th with a 2-2 tie game. Paul "Pauley" Smith popped up first thing and it was looking like the game was going into extra innings. Ryan Miller (who hit 2 HRs in this game as well) got on base with a single followed by Hathaway hitting a dramatic game-winning 2-run home run to win the game. Both games were spectacular and fun to watch.
The Terrorhawks and Beaver Fever have carried on their rivalry with each other from last year into this season. The first game of the double-header was a high-scoring game that came down to the wire. Josh Smith pitched against Beaver Fever for the first time this season and got the win. Andrew Hankins hit 3 home runs in this game, one of which was a grand slam, and brought in 8 RBIs. Josh Smith went 6-6 and hit 2 home runs. Julie Meadows hit her first career home run during this game as well. Beaver Fever hit well but just could not get enough runners home. The Terrorhawks scored at least one run in every inning and took the lead in the bottom of the 4th inning and held Beaver Fever after to end the game. Final score was 13-9 Terrorhawks victory. Game 2 was a much lower scoring game. Josh Smith hit a solo shot in the top of the 1st and that was the only run the Terrorhawks would score the whole game. Hankins kept Beaver Fever scoreless until the bottom of the 5th when Greg Sowards hit a game-winning 3-run home run.
