Last night, there was a chance of scattered showers. Games for the most part went as scheduled. The Holy Balls/Welfare Warriors game had to be called early at the end of the 3rd inning as ominous clouds and lightning was heading our direction. We packed up and left the field at 8:10 PM, literally three minutes later it began to pour. Thanks for everyone who helped us pack up (and setting up). Teams are now 6 games deep into the 24-game season and the standings couldn't be any more interesting. Maroon $quad are boasting a 6-0 record with Holy Balls on their heels at 5-1. The Terrorhawks are in 3rd place with a 3-3 record. Beaver Fever and Pink Penguins lost two in a row last night which brought their records to 2-4, tying for 4th place. And then there's the Welfare Warriors who are still winless with a 0-6 record. But ask their team captain, Jeremy Litton, what he thinks and he says otherwise. Here's last night's scores:
Terrorhawks 10 ----- Pink Penguins 0
Pink Penguins 14 ----- Holy Balls 23
Holy Balls 10 ----- Welfare Warriors 0
Welfare Warriors 0 ----- Maroon $quad 14
Maroon $quad 12 ----- Beaver Fever 2
Beaver Fever 4 ----- Terrorhawks 10
The Terrorhawks staged quite the comeback and recovered to a .500 record by winning both of their games. They mercy-ruled a team for the first time in their first game against the Pink Penguins. Next they faced Beaver Fever for the first time since last summer. Beaver Fever had never lost to the Terrorhawks until last night when they were defeated 10-4. Smith threw for the Terrorhawks against the Pink Penguins and clenched the shutout while Andrew Hankins took the mound for the first time against Beaver Fever. He did well striking out 6 batters and only allowing 4 runs. The Terrorhawks have really brought new life to their bats by hitting 6 home runs last night.
The Pink Penguins lost both of their games last night primarily for the same reason - walking runs in. This is an issue the Terrorhawks had last season and now it's facing this new franchise. Thelmer Damron has been the team's go-to pitcher for most of the season so far. Lately, Ryan Miller has been taking the mound a bit to experiment with his nasty curve ball. But Field 1 has a bit of a disadvantage for pitchers - the wind blows towards the outfield, making it incredibly difficult to control the ball. Both of the Penguins games were played on Field 1 and is probably largely to blame for why they walked 18 batters (9 runs were walked in). The storm that was moving in no doubt is the cause of the strong gusts. But will the Pink Penguins be able to bounce back?
Holy Balls did not mess around at the field. They won both of their games by humongous margins (10-0 versus Welfare Warriors and 23-14 against Pink Penguins). Brent Thompson dazzled at the plate, hitting 5 HRs and bringing in 13 RBIs, not to mention picking up a win on the mound. Kevin Lawrence also did well on the mound picking up a win and a save. Holy Balls remain strong at second place with a 5-1 record having lost only to Maroon $quad. Speaking of which, Maroon $quad crushed their opponents. They mercy-ruled the Welfare Warriors 14-0 and beat Beaver Fever 12-2. They hit a combined 18 HRs in both games! It is mostly thanks to this team that the league has hit a total of 105 HRs to date this season (39 of which are from the Maroon $quad). Josh Hager remains as the team's default starter but lately James Clagg has been relieving on the mound, picking up a win and a save last night.
The Welfare Warriors had a new player at the field, Luke Davis, who did most of the pitching. The Warriors have been in need of a strong accurate pitcher and may have one in Davis. He pitches near the zone but lacks significant velocity. Speed is something that can be developed over time, however, as getting it to the strike zone is the top priority of any pitcher. Given enough time on the mound this team could finally have their first taste of victory very soon. Below are a few pictures from last night's action. CLICK HERE to see the rest of the photos.
