Last week of regular season was punctuated by records and rebounds

By Dave Hoffenberg

Sushi Yoshi has one more chance to avoid a winless regular season after dropping all three games last week. Monday they got blown out twice by First Stop and Wednesday they lost to Rock Warriors but were happy the game went all seven innings.

Rock’s MVP was Nate Trainor who saw his first action of the season. He went three for four with a walk, home run, two runs scored and three RBI’s.

Rock Warriors vs. Chasin Tail

Last Tuesday Rock Warriors (Rock) battled Chasin Tail (CT) in what turned out to be the doubleheader of the season. Both games are in competition for “Game of the Year” honors. In the first game, Rock started with two quick outs but still managed to put three runs on the board. Buddy “Not the Dog” Bartlett was one of those with his solo homer.

CT quickly answered with five runs off of multi-run home runs by Russell Gallo and Greg Whitney. Mikey Davis Jr. scored in the second to cut the lead in half and then CT went down 1-2-3 including a “Cold Beer K” to Alex Polli. Rock went cold in the third and fourth. CT Captain Dakota Booska scored in the third and his team added three in the fourth to open up a 9-4 lead.

The fourth saw another “CBK,” a rare one by Duane “Peacemaker” Laughlin. CT scored two in the fifth to stretch their lead, 11-4. Whitney suffered a “CBK,” the third of the game delivered by Warren Bombardier. Rock Captain Josh Stevens blasted a two-run homer and Bombardier bombed one in the sixth to cut the deficit to four runs. CT’s Raf Robles knocked one over to give his team a 12-7 lead, going into the seventh. Rock had a big inning, scoring five runs to tie the game 12-12. Polli got out with his second “CBK” of the game. CT quickly got to two outs before Booska drove in Gus Ruby with a double for the game-winning RBI, 13-12.

Game 2: records and comebacks

They immediately played again and Rock set multiple league records with one they didn’t want. Rock’s bats were en fuego to start the game, putting on a hitting clinic. Teams are allowed a maximum of five home runs per game with every one thereafter being an out. Rock set a record getting all five home runs in the first inning, scoring a record 15 runs in the process. Nothing could go wrong for them, lots of jubilation on their sideline. The home runs were hit by Bombardier, Davis, Kevin Duprey, Stevens and Bombardier again.

CT kept their composure, getting four runs back, including a three-run shot by Gallo. Rock fired up some singles in the second, scoring three to take an 18-4 lead. Collin “Dizzle”Clark scored for the third time that game. CT chipped away with a bunch of singles of their own, putting another four runs on the board.

Rock’s bats went cold, ice cold. They only managed two hits the rest of the game. Stevens knocked two over the fence, which only counted for outs. CT had a seven run fourth to cut the deficit to just three, 18-15. Then CT got two more in the fifth to only be down one.

Bartlett got a lead-off double in the sixth but his team couldn’t get him home, which proved costly. Gallo scored the tying run and CT took their first lead of the game (19-18) after Shannon scored.

Fans were in disbelief. This was the biggest collapse in league history. After they were facing the 15-run deficit, Laughlin told his team “It’s only the first inning. We can come back.” They sure did! And they held off Rock in the seventh to complete the biggest comeback in league history.

Rivershed vs. Chasin Tail

Rivershed (RS) battled CT in their last regular season game. Rivershed kept CT in check to start the game and quickly got two outs. Unfortunately for them, they committed a few errors allowing CT to score six unearned runs.

Nate Mispel led off for RS with a solo shot but his team couldn’t follow suit to keep the deficit at five. Booska got a solo shot in the second. Gallo tried stretching a double into a run but was thrown out at the plate after DJ Dave in right chucked it to Luke Carey to Will “Bye Bye” Burdick for a big out. RS couldn’t ride that momentum and went down 1-2-3 including a “CBK” to Tyler “Rattled” Radil. Robles scored in the third to stretch the lead 8-1. They had a chance for more with two on and two out but Tall Tom Gilligan made a diving web-gem catch, robbing Luis Shannon of an RBI. DJ Dave Hoffenberg suffered a “CBK” but Mispel hit a double and eventually scored. Booska and Gallo scored in the fourth to take an eight run lead, the biggest of the game.

RS had a big fourth, scoring five runs off RBI’s from Joe “Krugzz” Krugklak, Dan Sesko, DJ Dave, Mispel and Burdick. They too had a chance for more but Tall Tom was robbed by a web gem, a taste of his own medicine. Both teams scored three in the fifth but Krugzz suffered a “CBK.”

CT added three in the sixth but RS could only add one. It was Mispel who scored after hitting a triple which got him the cycle. That’s a rare occurrence when someone gets a single, double, triple and homer in the same game. RS had a chance for more but Ronzoni Hacker hit into an inning ending double-play. Gallo and Whitney hit homers in the seventh to give CT a 19-11 win. Cue the fireworks.

 Standings

1)    TIE:Chasin Tail 8-3         Rock Warriors 8-3        First Stop 8-3

4)   Rivershed Sluggers 3-8

5)   Sushi Yoshi 0-10

Upcoming games

Wednesday, Aug. 3 Library Field on River Road (start of the playoffs)

• 5:50 p.m. No. 4 seed Rivershed Sluggers vs No. 5 seed Sushi Yoshi
• 7 p.m. Winner of 5:50 game vs No. 1 seed

Monday, Aug. 8 Library Field on River Road (playoffs)

• 5:50 p.m. No. 2 seed vs No. 3 seed
• 7 p.m. Winner of above game vs winner of 8/3 game

Wednesday, Aug. 10 Library Field on River Road (playoffs)

• 5:50 p.m. Loser’s Bracket Elimination Game
• 7 p.m. Loser’s Bracket Elimination Game