In quite a pitchers' duel, White battled and battled our beginning of the season hitting slump to break out a five run top of the eighth, and take an 8-6 lead going into the ninth. We could only score one, and the Cardinal rallied to tied it up. So it was 9-9 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the winning run on second. James 'Chewy' Little, one of the fastest Creakers, came in to pinch run as the winning run. There was a line drive single to RC, and Rich Brown charged it, threw a strike to the mound, and Barry Gronenberg swiveled and fired home to nail the speedy Little. It was an outstanding play to save the tie.
But not. Now I don't want to be the guy that says the opposition wanted to win so badly their player-umpire made a horrendous call at the plate to win the game. Never mind we had three witnesses not involved in the play (granted, maybe a little biased themselves) that all said Chewy was out by at least half a step and it wasn't that close. Never mind I was the catcher and heard the ball pop into my glove when I could still see Chewy rushing by short of the plate. No, I don't want to be that guy.
Oops.
Alas, as Barry said, it's only the first game and we already made the playoffs.
In between we had some heroics, especially on defense and on the mound. Mike Saindon snared two line drives at SS, one deep in the 5-6 hole to squelch a Cardinal rally. Bruce Spencer made the play of the game, chugging in hard from deep left to catch a blooper. That was part of a three fly out inning where Spencer, Brown, and Tom Meyer all made fine catches. Mike Guerrero was a vacuum cleaner all over the infield. One inning he gobbled up a hot shot to the 5-6 hole while relieving Saindon, and then started a 6-11-3 double play to end the inning. In the ninth, he grabbed a smashed line drive headed to right field at 2B to keep the game within reach.
Gronenberg shook off almost a year of rust and performed well, limiting a very good Cardinal lineup to only four runs in the first four innings. Dave Siegel did even better, holding them to just one run in three middle innings.
It's clear our challenge is on offense. We only had a handful of players with two hits, and only three extra base hits. Meyer did burn the Cardinal left fielder and with his speed, flew all the way home. Saindon hit a towering shot that couldn't be caught for a triple. And Spencer hit a gapper for a double.
We'll come back from the disappointment, but don't be surprised if you hear us around town muttering..."Number 9, Number 9, Number 9..." all week.
But not. Now I don't want to be the guy that says the opposition wanted to win so badly their player-umpire made a horrendous call at the plate to win the game. Never mind we had three witnesses not involved in the play (granted, maybe a little biased themselves) that all said Chewy was out by at least half a step and it wasn't that close. Never mind I was the catcher and heard the ball pop into my glove when I could still see Chewy rushing by short of the plate. No, I don't want to be that guy.
Oops.
Alas, as Barry said, it's only the first game and we already made the playoffs.
In between we had some heroics, especially on defense and on the mound. Mike Saindon snared two line drives at SS, one deep in the 5-6 hole to squelch a Cardinal rally. Bruce Spencer made the play of the game, chugging in hard from deep left to catch a blooper. That was part of a three fly out inning where Spencer, Brown, and Tom Meyer all made fine catches. Mike Guerrero was a vacuum cleaner all over the infield. One inning he gobbled up a hot shot to the 5-6 hole while relieving Saindon, and then started a 6-11-3 double play to end the inning. In the ninth, he grabbed a smashed line drive headed to right field at 2B to keep the game within reach.
Gronenberg shook off almost a year of rust and performed well, limiting a very good Cardinal lineup to only four runs in the first four innings. Dave Siegel did even better, holding them to just one run in three middle innings.
It's clear our challenge is on offense. We only had a handful of players with two hits, and only three extra base hits. Meyer did burn the Cardinal left fielder and with his speed, flew all the way home. Saindon hit a towering shot that couldn't be caught for a triple. And Spencer hit a gapper for a double.
We'll come back from the disappointment, but don't be surprised if you hear us around town muttering..."Number 9, Number 9, Number 9..." all week.
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