First to Ten Wins!

They say they don't do it on purpose.

Frank made a hell of a play yesterday. With Vintage Terry bearing down on him, the throw sailed toward third base from the outfield offline. Frank did what you are supposed to do - he came off the bag to catch the errant throw so there would be no further advance. But then in a very nifty two step, he tip tapped his toe to the bag, beating Terry there by half a step. It wasn't even that close.

And the call from Pitcher Pete umping at home plate - "Safe" - with a big sweep of his arms.

I mean, Mark Kraft wasn't even present, the most notorious Vintage umpire. Still this is what we get. If they ain't cheating, they blind! Vintage is a walking testament to not have self-umpiring, unfortunately.

It allowed three extra runs to score, creating a tie going into the eighth inning. Once again we had taken an early lead but stopped hitting and let Vintage creep back in until they scored six altogether in the seventh to tie it up.

But we scored one in each of the last four innings, and that was enough to eke out the 11-9 victory. Too close against the other Green lineup but a win is a win. And for this (and putting them out of the playoff hunt), we get to go through it all again next week. What a strange schedule they concocted this year.

Depending on whether we make up the rain out as rumored, we either did or did not clinch the playoffs with the win. Even with it Vintage would have to win every game and we would have to lose every game from here on out. That ain't gonna happen. In other words the magic number is one for us to make the playoffs if there is a make up. So let's take it out on them once again next week, and not give them hope next time.

Chris had the biggest blow of the game, a three run homer in the fourth that produced most of the runs in our only five run inning. The only other extra base hit was vintage Heffe, a slicing line drive down the left field line for a double. Billy and Heffe were the only ones with three hits, but John L drove in two without a hit, and JP got two clutch two out RBI singles. Chris, Frank and Dave R all had two hits plus a walk.

On defense, we were under the big top in the middle outfield. First Paul in the fourth, and then Chris in the fifth made circus catches on balls that turned them this way and that, and Chris added a juggling act to his. The latter also had a great running catch in the first. David P in left didn't get an out but did an outstanding job cutting off a hard liner to his right that prevented extra bases and probably a big inning in the third. In the eighth, Doug made a strong play to his left to get an out on a grounder ticketed for center field, and then Frank closed it out by starting a 5-11-3 double play to John L (strong turn and throw) and JP on first. JP also had a good time catching a tough foul pop in the fifth.

It was too close for comfort but with Leo's helping us as expected by beating the Crows, we leapfrogged back over them into third place again. They have the easier schedule down the stretch, but if we can manage to put Vintage out of their misery next week again, it will come down to our head to head meeting with the Crows in a couple of weeks. It would be a lot nicer to end up third and face the Hornets in the first round of the playoffs instead of Leo's. But I digress. One at a time.

Eat Crow

In a well paced and crisply played game, the WolfPack prevailed over the Crows to retake third place today, 13-9.

There were numerous highlights on offense and defense, and as Frank predicted, the first team to eight runs won. The low scoring game was 3-0, 4-3, 4-5, and 6-5 through seven innings. Someone was going to break out and we were glad it was us when we plated five in the top of the eighth. Dave R. started it when he gapped the right fielders (he's been due for a break for a while) for a triple. Wilbur promptly brought him in with a single to right. Singles by Al and Doug brought in another run, and then Billy smashed his second straight extra base hit, to the same right center gap, and this time, instead of loping into second like he did to start the seventh on a hard shot to left center, he rumbled and hustled all the way to third base. After a walk to Frank, Mike cleaned up the fifth run with a single.

When the Crows answered with three in the bottom half, the 11-8 lead seemed a little precarious. But hits by David P, Chris, John L., and a ground out by JP scored our last two runs in the top of the ninth, allowing the defense to take over in the bottom of the ninth.

With one out, Al made the play of the game. Charley Pastor smashed one up the middle, and Al stuck his glove out from behind the net and snagged it cleanly. The easy out at first took any wind out of the Crows' sails, and soon the third out was caught.

Billy was the hitting hero, 4-4 with the double and triple and two RBIs. Mike was 3-3 with a sac fly, good for three RBIs. David P., Heffe and John L. joined the three hit club. Wilbur had two clutch hits, driving in two runs.

On defense, Wilbur had a magnificent game. His reaction time is like no other old guy. He plays shallow, even on the turf, and still nothing gets by him. He made numerous outs, but the one that stands out is a one hopper, where he chased Mike Nagy back toward first trying to tag him, and then tossed to me to get the speedy Anthony (the batter) out. Then Doug and I completed the double play by getting Nagy in a rundown. It was your standard 4-3-6-3 DP. A  run did score but it got us two outs in the heart of their lineup.

David and Paul and Chris and Billy made some fine running catches in the outfield. The sun was particularly brutal for Chris and Billy on the right side, so really any catch over there was spectacular.

There should be a new stat - two out run scoring hits. Today, Wilbur, David P, and I had them.

Over all, a finely played critical win. We are in third place again, and have a shot to move up as we wind down the season. Now if we can only play like this two weeks in a row!