Commish Corner – Week 3!
This is a periodic report when we have interesting happenings on the field – enjoy!
Top News
1. Check out the nice article on baseball in Prince William County in the Prince William Living magazine. Legends is mentioned, and actually has one of our pictures the Commish took during last year’s Finals…they mention it is from the Potomac Nationals, so go figure…so we can compete with a Single A professional team?! Here is the link: http://www.princewilliamliving.com/
2. The Cards, Expos, BlackSox, Canes and Warriors remain undefeated…..can they all win again next week?
3. Warriors FINALLY play their FIRST Legends game…and beat the 2010 Spring Season Champs!
Game of the Week!
Hurricanes / Hillies / Hurricanes 6-1‘Canes Perspective
In what surely must be the Legends Game of the Week, the Hurricanes and Hillies met at Leitch Park for the weekly Sunday Night league matchup under the lights of Dale City.
The game opened strong for the Hurricanes with a big 1st inning two-run homer blast by rookie Legend Ben Deen. The Canes managed a third run on some small ball a few innings later with a set-play double steal of second and home (Ben Deen again!), however, strong pitching from both teams kept the score at 3-0 for the majority of the game.
For the Canes, the combined pitching efforts of Greg Budnik, John Dean and Alex Budnik managed to maintain the upper hand on the mound however, and held the Hillies to a single hit through 8 innings and gave up only three walks. Bolstered by solid work behind the plate by Nick Hockman and Glenn Wright (only two stolen bases allowed) and highlighted by two key outfield assists from center by Eric Ottenheimer to throw out two Hillies runners at third, the Canes definitely brought their "A" game in the field (only one error for the Canes defense).
Only after adding a few runs in the bottom of the 8th inning, highlighted by a couple insurance runs on a key single by Jordan Blevins with 2 outs, were the Canes able to breath easier in this most exciting of Legends games, picking up their second victory of the season, 6-1.
Legend of the Week! New Legend Ben Deen (2 for 2, with two walks, 2 RBI's - his HR being the game winning RBI - and a steal of home, combined with lots of excellent defense at shortstop!)
Deen, sporting the awesomely cool ‘Canes team hat!
P.S. The Hurricanes would also like to acknowledge Sammy of the Hillies, who, with two outs in the 9th inning and a runner on second, broke up the Canes bid for a shutout by doubling off the right center fence in not only his first Legends hit and RBI, but his first hit since beginning to play competitive baseball! Great job, Sammy.
Hillies’ Perspective
“Commish won’t let us change our team name, so we don’t want to win, and we sure as heck don’t want to submit a report on a game lost!” a prominent Hillies player was overheard stating.
Rebels / Cards / Cards 9-0Cards’ Perspective
CARDS HIT ON ALL CYLINDERS IN WIN
The Cards moved to 3-0 with a solid 9-0 win over the Rebels at an overcast Robert E. Lee High School Memorial Park Stadium Field Grounds. Skipper Danny Whyte, Mike Romano, and Joel Robinson managed to hold the Rebels hitless through 7 1/3 innings (Staples Shifflett should have caught the pop-up behind 1st base. Nice (cough) try, Mike. E-3.), surrendering only a clean single in the 8th. The Cards were also solid on defense, with Joe “Whammy Part I” Wirth making a smooth play at 3rd with none out in the 8th. At the plate, Cardinal hitters racked up 11 hits including 3-baggers by Keith “Whammy Part II” Davidson’s son, Joel and Mike Romano. Robert “Buzz” Bzyzqdzkwqzkszxzzdr, though hitless, remained hot with two lashed outs (he’s also getting good grades in school). The Cards bats went cold after the 5th, though, managing only 2 singles in the 8th and no runs. Returning manager Whyte on the Cards lack of late O: “People better start hitting or they’ll be sitting.” When reminded that league rules prevent benching players, Whyte said, “I quit.” Other Cardinals played, but none of them did anything worth mentioning. Oh wait, Paul “Flat Tire” Fluellen had two hits and lived up to his nickname on the basepaths. The Cards look to continue their winning ways in two weeks, since we’re taking a week off for Mothers Day even though there’s maybe one mother in the whole league. There should be doubleheaders that day, get all the husbands out of their wives’ hair.
Rebels’ Perspective
Rebels came back from a 3-week hiatus to face a tough Cardinals Team only to see scoring opportunities evaporate as they came up. Although disappointed in their loss, Rebels had the opportunity to see how the game is supposed to be played in watching Cards No. 5, very young son of No. 59, who ripped a bases-clearing triple down right field line and executed awesome defensive plays at short....Rebels highlights included middle reliever Scott Day pitching for first time since his HS days (many years ago) and Dave "Mr. Serious" Narins shutting down Cards offense in 8th and 9th. Rebels look to pick up their game after taking care of wives, mothers, girlfriends, mistresses, etc., after this Sunday...
Redlegs / Explorers / Explorers 14-11Explorer’s Perspective
In a battle of winless but hungry teams each coming off close Week 2 losses to tough opponents, the Explorers overcame some rough innings in the middle of the game with a strange, final-at-bat comeback to post a 14-11 win at Lee. Starter Bruce Aft shut out the Redlegs for two innings as the Explorers built a 3-0 lead, thanks in part to Donnie Dye's 2-runsingle in the 2nd. However, Aft then had to depart to preside overa baby-naming ceremony. "Yep. He just up & left," remarked one Explorer infielder, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Redlegs punched through for 4 runs each in the 3rd and 4th innings to take an 8-7 lead, and although Dye, on the hill in relief, settled down to blank the hosts in the 5thand6th, the Reds' pitchers were equally tough, holding the visitors scorelessfor three straight frames. Things looked bleak when the Redlegs added 3 runs to their lead in the bottom of the 7th, as the time-limit approached. However, abettedby 4 walks, a hit batsman, and clutch hits delivered by Dye, Rene Perez and Chris Oullette, the Explorers rallied for 7 runs -- 5 of them coming after two were out. Perez, whose son waslooking on to see Dad play the hero,delivered the go-ahead blow. "Itold [the kid], 'Your Dad's gonna do it'," said Explorers'3B/catcher Jim Horacek. Regular catcher Adam Scott set down the shinguards and pitcheda scoreless bottom-of-the-8th to notch the save, as the time limit kicked in.
Out at the plate!
“Bear” of the Redlegs and Rene of the Explorers share a laugh.
Redlegs’ Perspective
Manager Ken Petrocelli is still in shock after watching his bullpen and infield meltdown and give way to the Explorers first victory. When asked about the game's ending, Petrocelli stated "It was a nightmare! No further comments please!". The Redlegs have fallen to 0-3 after the 14-11 loss, but vow to turn things around after the break. Commish supplemental comment: “If I were not Commish, I would disband the team after this debacle!”
BlackSox Perspective
The two teamstraded blows early with the BlackSox pulling away to winone over the hard-hitting Thunder ball club. Aaron Beachwent 2 for 3 with thego-aheadhome run solo shot in the 4th inning; and Gary Migliaccio, fresh off the 'greatest snow in the world' ski slopes of Utah, went 4 for 4 with2 HBPs and SB.Kiel Stone continued his hot hitting streak (2 for 2 with 4 walks, and SB);Jeff Cavano (2for 4, with suicide bunt and SB), JamesBoyd (2 for 4)and Mike DeMarr (2 for 5) contributedmulti-hit games.Luke Arseneau (1 for 1 with 4 walks), Bryan Stountenburgh (1 for 3 with 2 walks)and Jason Abel (1 for 3 with 2 walks)kept late game rallies going with timely hitting and goodpatience at the plate. Great pitchingfrom Vinnie Robles,Mike DeMarr and BryanStoutenburgh proved the difference as the BlackSox pulled away from the Thunder in the late innings.
Thunder Perspective
The Thunder werefinally able to complete a 9 inning game Sunday despite a 30 minute delay to find bases.Bothsideseventuallyjust grooved out squares into the dirt. Fortunatley we were able to get thebases a couple ofinnings into the game.
It was once again a rough day for the Thunder in a 20-6 loss that actually was an improvement if you ignore the score. The Thunder only walked a total of 5 runners for the day. The Black Sox just continued toput the ball in play.They hit it where we werentand alsoexposedsome weaknesses as our infield and outfield were finally put to the test. Even with many errors the Thunder were able to pull off 2 double plays. SS Seth Carney stood outwith his clutch interceptionof a throw down to 2nd when the Black Sox tried a double steal and caught the 3rd basemen getting a little greedy going for home. He also had an amazing catch running back from short to shallow center and colliding with CF Victor Martin. It was a scary moment as both arenowok, but resulted in Seth removing himself from the game. He also went2-3.An extra week off forMothers Daywill certainlygive many players time toheal from this game.
Dan McNealy pitched 4 innings giving up 8 runs. He also blasted a towering solo shot to deep center field.Manager Paul Conklin pitched 5 inningsin what seemed to be at least 110 pitches to give up the other 12 runs. No idea how his arm held up for that long.Unfortunatley for theThunder this may be a weekly thing as we were without our only other pitcher and no other optionson the mound.
Abe Doctor, Victor Martin, Kevin Bannan, and Jason Quinn all doubled to drive in a run. Manager Paul Conklin was awarded the inglorious Golden Sombrero, which will never be spoken of again, and hopefully soonforgotten.
An extra week off for the Thunder is greatas someareas are starting to improve. An optomisticKevin Conklin says" We got a lot of talent on this team.We'rejust another practice or 2 away from our first win".
Padres / Expos / Expos 8-7Expos’ Perspective
Talk about a nail-biter, the Expos squeezed out an 8-7 victory over a tough Padres team. After spotting the Padres 4 runs in the bottom of the first, the Expos bounced back in top half of the second with 3 runs. After giving up 1 run in the bottom of the second, the Expos scored 3 in the 4th, and 1 each in the 5th and 7th innings while keeping the Padres scoreless for innings 3 thru 6. The Padres scored 2 in the 7th to make it a one run game. The field at Long Park is beautiful but the grass was so long that grounders barely made it to the dirt. It made for some interesting plays.
Padres’ Perspective
After getting off to a quick four run lead in the first inning, the Padres' bats went to sleep for the rest of the game as they fell 8-7 to the Expos. After a couple of first inning walks and a pair of RBI singles by RJ and John, the Padres took a quick 4-0 lead. As usual, Murph and Jayson kept the Pads in the game with strong pitching, but the Expos continued to add runs throughout the game and the Padres just couldn't string together hits. After falling to 1-2 on the season, questions are starting to surface around the Padres organization. Is it time for a managerial change? Maybe a shake up in the line up is in order? Perhaps the new hats they are sporting are, in fact, a curse. Either way, the team believes that their offense will eventually turn around. This team has been successful in the past, so there is no reason to believe that they won't get themselves straightened out.
Nationals / Warriors / Warriors 19-9Warriors’ Perspective
After monsoon season toyed with the patience of thousands of Warrior fans accross the country, the newest addition to the Legends league finally graced a baseball field forits firstofficial game.The home crowd didn't know what to expect as this roster is full of players were relatively unfamiliar to the Nationals' faithful.
The Nats shut down the Warriors in the first inning and took advantage of walks, passed balls and some timely hitting to go up two runs. In the second, the Warriors bats started moving and the boys put up their first four run inning of the season. Starting pitcher, Ryan Paulsen settled in and held the Nationals scoreless over the next four innings.
Behind alert baserunning by Chris Smith, Jeff Leieritz and Matt Gustafaro, The Warrior lead grew. Paulsen hit a key two run triple to set the Warriors apart. Andre Boone launched the team's first home run of the season. Assuming the three spot in the lineup, manager John Barlette, posted three singles and two RBI's.
Leieritz stepped onto the mound in the sixth inning. The fresh arm struck out seven in the next three innings. The Nationals did get a little hot closing the gap to a score of 6-12 as the seventh inning came to an end. Against the Nationals four pitchers, the Warriors seemed to have an answer. Chris D'Ericco, Kurt Rosell and Dan McGuire combined to get on base nine times and tallysix runsfrom the lower third of the lineup.
In top of the eighth and final inning, theWarriors pulled away withseven runs, capped off by a three run home run by David McDaniel. The Nationals scored three runs but were slowed by Leieritz' fastball. After two strikeouts, a diving catch by McDaniel ended the game.
A sellout crowd is expected for the Warriors home-opener on the 15th at Leitch Park against the Thunder. Some tickets are still available, but they won't last long.
Nationals’ Perspective
After dropping to a disappointing 1-2, all is quiet in the Nats’ camp. Rumor has it, stud shortstop Al Torres is shopping for a change to a playoff favorite!
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Story and pictures courtesy “the Commish” with game reports by the managers