For the second week in a row, Team Cuervo played mostly great defense and had timely hitting and put away the Maroons 18-17. It was a back and forth game with five lead changes. They were up 3-1, we came back to lead 7-4 in the third, they roared back with a five run fourth to go back up 11-7. We traded three run innings in the sixth and zeroes in the scoreless seventh. But Gold dug deep with a five run eighth and three run ninth, and held off Maroon in the ninth with the tying and winning runs on base.
We only had eleven players, and infielders Donn King, Andy Steinberg, Tom Sciarrino, Jeff Kravin, and Chuck Howlett each made at least one great play. We turned a double play on Mike Piscotty on a hot shot to shortstop.
Play of the game was a grounder to the substitute Rover's right, and being left handed he caught it on his forehand side but didn't have time to turn to throw back to second. At the last second I saw that 2B Howlett was getting to second slower than I thought, so I kind of lunged and flung a backhanded wild throw. I swear Chuck, who might be all of 5'5", elongated like a cartoon character and snagged the ball (before it got out to right field) for the force out. Bravo Chuck!
However, the best infielder might have been Jay Edwards, who caught most of the game. Twice there were dribblers in front of the plate, and he pounced on them like a cat. On the first one he fired to King at first. Then he outdid himself in the ninth with the game on the line and got a force out on the lead runner by throwing to Steinberg at 3B. It's a rarity for a Creaker catcher to jump out and get one out in a game much less two on balls hit like that.
Outfielders Charlie Uhlman, Willie Hollis, Dick Stanley, and Dan Declercq were solid all game.
Woody Whitlatch was pressed into duty to pitch the whole game. He had some relapses after missing two games but when it counted in the ninth he managed to set down the very good Maroon lineup before they could tie it up.
Oh the offense. Stanley was 5-5 with two doubles and a home run, and still didn't lead the team in RBIs. Declercq was 2-3 with two walks and both his hits were triples, and he didn't lead the team in RBIs. I was 4-4 with two doubles and a walk, and Uhlman was 3-5, likewise with two doubles. Neither of us led the team In RBIs.
That's because we have Mr. Clutch, catcher Edwards, who just seems to thrive when there are runners on base. He also went 4-4 with a double plus a sac fly, and drove in a run in each of his five plate appearances. He leads the team with 17 RBIs on the season.
We were missing some talent today, but everyone stepped up and Cuervo came out on top in what was the most entertaining game of the season thus far. Salud!
No comments:
Post a Comment