On the prior day, I noted that the Blizzard came out ON FIRE, scoring 5 runs in the first inning. Well, if that was "on fire", this must be NUCLEAR! The Blizzard sent 18 men to the plate in the top of the first inning, scoring 12 runs in the process. Truly amazing, highlighted by Jeskey who hit a triple his first time up and a HOME RUN in his 2nd at-bat of the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Seattle went down 1-2-3. This was going to be an easy game, we thought.
Unfortunately, the Blizzard stopped hitting and Seattle started to chip away.with 2 runs in the 2nd and 5 in the 4th and 1 in the 5th. Blizzard got single runs in the 2nd, 4th innings, and took a 14-7 lead into the final inning. Each team scored once, and the game ended 15-8.
On particular highlight to call out was Brian Murphy making a LEGIT fully-extended diving catch in right field. Definitely an ESPN top 10 play!
Hitting Leaders:
Jeskey: 3-3 (3B, HR, BB)
Wilford: 3-4 (2B, BB)
Gordon: 3-4
Connolly: 2-3 (2B, 3B)
Murphy: 2-3
Banks: 2-4
Frattura: 1-2
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Round Robin, Day 1, Game 2 vs. Tulsa
vs. Tulsa Smoke, Sept 3
Having moved down from the A division, we knew that Tulsa would be stacked. However as we entered the game, Tulsa had only 9 players, giving the Blizzard one free out every time through the lineup. On top of that, the player at catcher (clearly a non-player fill-in just to have a legal lineup) would not hit at all, and amounted to another automatic out.
You figure with 2 automatic outs in the lineup, and only 3 outfielders...it would be as easy win for the Blizzard, right?
WRONG!
The Tulsa pitcher was throwing balls at barely 6' height, which had the effect of fastballs, causing the Blizzard to popup consistently, and really not hit many balls hard at all. We even hit into 2 ining-ending double plays.
On top of it all, the Blizzard showed 0 energy from the start of the game -- in part due to a 3 hour wait between games. Lesson learned: we should warm up before games with long layovers!
Blizzard managed only 2 run through the first 5 innings, with only 6 hits and 1 walk. Connolly plated Jeskey in the 1st, while Frattura plated Maldonado in the 5th with a single. Meanwhile, Tulsa scored 3/0/2/2/1 in the first 5 innings, mounting a 8-2 lead.
In the bottom of the 6th, Tulsa would plate 2 more runs to take a 10-2 lead -- following a 1-2-3 top of the 6th from the Blizzard. In the 7th, the Blizzard led off with 2 hits. a double by Gordon and a triple by Jeskey. But the next 3 batters had 3 fly-outs and teh game ended with Blizzard losing 10-4.
The final team tally was 7-26 with 2 walks. That will not cut it in slow pitch softball (although to be fair, this was likw modified pitch softball)
Hitting Leaders
Jeskey: 2-3. 3B 2R
Frattura: 1-2.
Sherwood: 1-2
Round Robin, Day 1, Game 1 vs. Austin
vs. Austin Fusion (Sept 3, 2019)
After keeping Austin scoreless in the top of the first, The Blizzard came out on fire in the bottom half scoring 5 runs, highlighted by a 2-run bomb by Chris Connolly. Maldonado, Jeskey and banks also had RBI hits in the inning.
The next couple of innings were harmless, as Austin scored 1 run in each of the 2nd/3rd/4th innings while the Blizzard scored none in the 2nd and 3rd, with only 1 hit and one walk mixed in. In the fourth, the blizzard had a quick 2 outs to lead off, but managed to score two runs sparked by the bottom of the order. McAndrews and Yaeger each got singles with runners ending up on 2nd and 3rd thanks for Matt speeding to 3rd base, drawing a throw, with Yaeger moving up behind him to second base. Then wilford followed up by a clutch 2-out, 2 RBI single.
The 5th had limited damage, with Austin scoring 2, but leaving 2 stranded. The Blizzard answered with 1 of their own as Jeskey led off with a single, and came around to score with another 2 out RBI, this time by Frattura.
At this point, Blizzard had a slim 8-5 lead. But in the 6th, it went downhill quickly.Austin scored 7 times, with each of the first 6 batter getting hits and subsequently scoring. There was no answer from the Blizzard, who went down meekly with a 1-2-3 6th, although the 3rd out was an intentional out by Yaeger as time was about to expire (so we could have another full inning to play).
Down 12-8, the Blizzard let up a cheap run in the 7th as a result of 2 infield errors. Again after making the first 2 outs of the inning, the Blizzard managed to scratch across 2 runs thanks to an error by the 3B of Austin, which would have been the final out. Maldonado and Murphy followed up with RBI singles to capitalize, but the Blizzard would end up losing 13-10.
Hitting Leader
Maldonado: 4-4 1R
Jeskey: 3-4 3R
Wilford: 2-3, 1BB. 1R
Connolly. 1-4. HR
Murphy. 2-4. 1R
Yaeger. 1-2 1R
Monday, September 2, 2019
The eve of the tournament
And so it begins...
Tomorrow morning, The Blizzard wakes up super early to go and play our first 2 round robin games, versus Austin and Tulsa. With the first game at 8:50, the boys will be arriving at 7:30 AM to get in some batting practice. Now THAT TRULY IS EARLY when you have to be out of the hotel by 7 AM!
The cast of characters this year:
- Chris Connolly
- Garrett Gordon (First W.S. with Blizzard)
- Matt McAndrews (First W.S. with Blizzard)
- Tim Yaeger
- Ed Banks
- Kevin Jeskey (First W.S. with Blizzard)
- Brian Murphy (First W.S. with Blizzard)
- Sandro Frattura
- Craig Sherwood
- Diego Maldonado (First W.S. with Blizzard)
- Jon Wilford
- "Tark Malacci" (inside story here..not his real name. (First W.S. with Blizzard))
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