Beaver Times 2009 Edition 2

It started off innocently enough. Belle grounded out harmlessly to the secondbaseman. Then three straight singles brought in one run, another fly out and the Beavers were up 1-0 with two down in the first...then it happened. Thirteen straight Beavers reached base and when the dust settled the Beavers were up 15-0 after one half inning. Mixed into the hit parade were homers by Mobilly, Sonoma, Kid and Big John. To pour salt on the wound, the home team posted a goose-egg. In the top of the 2nd our newest addition, Sonoma's cousin Jake led off with a drive to right center, he was about to hold at third when he realized that he could beat the relay home, another homerun and an upset ondeck hitter, Pat "Tanner" Richmond yelled out, "YOU TOOK MY SAC!". Read into that as you may...

The Beavers added another four runs that inning and had a comfortable 20-0 lead after 1 1/2 innings. In the second inning our third-baseman arrived, Chirs "Sabo" Smuda. Until he arrived we played our lefty infield reserve, Dupper at third. With a runner on first a grounder was hit down the line of third. Basically, the only time a left-handed third sacker would be of benefit, Dupper fielded the ball while sliding and turned and threw to Tanner at second for the forceout. This play was glimpse of what was to come from our defense. Where the defense was a sore point in the opening week, it was incredibly sound this week. Sabo stepped in at 3rd in the second and fielded several balls without error. In fact, the only error was an over throw to first, which had minimal impact on the final score. Kid played an inning in the OF early in the first game and made a difficult play over his shoulder look routine. For the most part we were sound all the way around.

Dogs in the Bathtub was the name of our opponent, a hold-over from last season. Though they came into the game with an identical record of 2-0 as the Beavers, they were absolutely no match. They plated a total of 7 runs late in the first game, but it was not near enough as the Beavers rolled to a 22-7 victory. Beaver of the Game is a tough call for game one. There were so many good box score lines and fat stats due to the 22 runs. Rake went 2-2 with a walk and a sac/error and scored each time, Kid missed the cycle by a triple, Mobilly hit the first HR of the first inning and really propelled the onslaught, Jake went 3-3 with a 2B & HR and Tanner went 3-3 in his first game of the season. I will give the nod to Mobilly with his big HR in the first.

Game two started off relatively the same way. The Beavers were able to chase around 7 runs in the bottom of the first, highlighted by the longest homerun of the year; Sonoma launched one to straight centerfield that rolled to the backstop of the opposite field. Needless to say, he was able to jog around the bases (maybe twice). It was his 4th HR of the early season and by far the most impressive. The first inning ended with a whimper as Big John took a hefty swing, only to dribble the ball back to the pitcher. Tanner appropriately labeled that AB in the score book as "Dribbler to Pitcher".

Big John's antics did not end there. After two fly balls soared past Belle, our left fielder, Big John yelled out, "I gotta tell ya, I'm a pretty good ballplayer!". Those of you who know Big John know that he is not on the team for his glove. Little did we know that his inflated ego would haunt him at the plate as well as in the field. After proclaiming his prowess as a ballplayer, we let him play left field as well as shortstop. For the most part the ball did not find him at either position...except for a ball to the hole at short. Big John lumbered over towards it and slid to make the play - only to have the ball strike his knee and bounce towards the left field line. He proudly showed off the immediate lump on his knee upon returning to the bench. At bat he fouled out for a strikeout and popped out to left field. Big John, just keep your machismo to yourself!

Back to the game...

In the second Sonoma launched yet another HR and extra base hits by Jake and Jimmy D (this week sans mustache...BOOOOO!!!!) brought in another four runs. The Beavers were able to score in every inning of the second game - putting a total of 20 runs on the board for a second straight game. About half way thorugh the second game we decided to start taking it easy on the Dogs. Balls that could have been HR or triples, were cut to singles and doubles...except for Sabo. This guy, I guess, does not know how to "play down". He kept stretching singles into doubles and scoring from 1st on singles. Good thing there are not bean-balls in softball.

Late in the game when the defense was shuffled significantly there was a single to left center. Rake was out there that inning and fielded the ball and let loose on the throw home to try to nab the runner headed for the plate. Tanner was playing C for this inning and caught the throw from Rake and applied the tag to a surprised runner - first put out at the dish this year.

To round out the game the Dogs were able to put together one strong inning where they scored 5 runs, but again it was not enough to over come the surging Beavers. Even with 4 K's against the Beavers; Kid & Keith in game one and Jimmy D and Big John in game 2 the Beavers were able to score a combined total of 42 runs in two games.

Final score of game 2: Beavers 20, Dogs in a Bathtub 9
Beaver of the Game: Sonoma for a 3-3 performance - 2 HR and a single (where he stopped running).

Next games are Wed May 13 at 6 & 7 on Field #6 (the good field). Also, it is Parties in the Park night in Clayton, so come join us for a double header and then roam over to downtown Clayton for the rest of the festivities.