I've never been able to wrap my arms around our team name being Kapsch. It was hard enough being Transdyn, that took a while too. I always thought we should be the Controllers, or the PLCs or Ladder Logic, or Control Algorithms. But we never really gave it much thought.
Such is the life of a sponsored team I suppose. We do owe Transdyn/Kapsch and our GM Monty a debt of hundreds of dollars (of gratitude) each in team dues.
And now we made the Austrians (Kapsch is an Austrian company) proud again, with our second Cotton winning season in a row. We got nice Royal Blue hoodies too.
I am hoping Tuesday night's sweep of the playoffs is taken not as a signal of dominance of the Lower Upper D or whatever they are calling our division, but as testament that we are playing at the right level for us. We won the first 15-11 over a Pleasanton Auto team that should be better than they are, and the second 15-10 over a Blue Dots team that, while they claim to be as old as us, I don't think have a chance to be less than five years younger than us in average age. Not exactly dominant, just victorious.
The closeness of the games made them actually really good to watch and play in. In both games we took a lead, only to give it up, but ultimately come through in the clutch to rally for victory. There were heroes up and down the lineup.
In the opener, we jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two. Five in the first when we batted around. A two run double by Cage to start the scoring. Clutch two out hits from Tom, JT, and Coop. But in the third the Auto club had other ideas. They used it all up hitting line drives all over the field with the aluminum bats.They ended up with eight but it could have gotten worse. Gregg Made a great shoe-top catch in left field, his first of two in the game, to get the first out. Later, I saw JT playing really shallow in right center. I was about to call out to him, but on the next pitch the batter hit a line drive 'single' right in front of him, and he slung the ball to second to turn it into just another fielder's choice. Those two outs kept it from getting completely out of hand, and we came into the dugout just down two.
That was when Gregg completely took over. He hit two mighty blasts - both three run homers - in the fourth and the sixth. The latter took us from 12-11 to 15-11 with about a minute left. After a Bert 'single' over the fence, D hit the hardest ball of the night - the right center fielder took a step in, and then watched helplessly as the rising line drive sailed over his head to the fence. Time had run out, literally, on Pleasanton Auto.
Jay and B were perfect table setters with three hits each plus a J walk. Cage added a couple more RBIs and ended up with four on two hits and a sac fly.
On the way in to the park, I told Tom and Coop that the key to victory was the two of them getting hits - they needed to go 5-8 or better. Well, they went 5-5 plus a Coop Sac Fly. A good coach knows when to put the right kind of pressure on.
On to the Championship game. Blue Dots had upset a shorthanded M.A.R.A. in the playoff opener. I was glad, they have been a friendly rival over the years. I mentioned earlier that we have now played them more than any other team in our 20+ years. We have owned them 20-8 in the regular season, but were only 2-2 in the playoffs against them coming into Tuesday.
The game followed a similar script, with some of the names shifted around. We started off 2-2 in the first as Gregg and Bert had run scoring singles to answer their two top of the first runs. This time we only took an early 4-2 lead as the same pair drove in runs in the third. Sure enough the Blue Dots answered with three and they had their only lead of the game at 5-4.
This woke us up. My Mantra "the bottom of the order hits, we win" kicked in. With one out, singles by Coop, JT, and Monty tied it up and set it up for the top of the order. J, B, and Cage all singled and then with two outs, Bert erased all doubts with a tremendous three run blast. It was only 11-5 but the air was out of the Blue Dots tires. We added on with a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth (Bert with another homer, this time two runs). And even though they rallied with five in the seventh to make it 15-10, that just made it respectable - we were never worried.
Bert had the two homers and seven RBIs in a 4-4 game. B had three knocks, and Cage stayed hot with two hits and a walk. Jay had two knocks and two RBIs. This time the bottom of the order meant JT and Monty. JT had two hits and Monty, who had been hitting it hard but right at people, was rewarded by having his hits fall in this one as he went 3-3. One started the scoring in our seven run fourth, and the next was a clutch two out RBI single in the next inning.
Both middle infielders had great plays to highlight the defense. J went way behind first to get a diving catch in the fourth. But the play of the day was in the third - B snaring a back-handed shot in the 5-6 hole, quickly firing to Jay at second, who snapped a throw to first for the double play. These guys came to play.
Very satisfying wins, and Cotton. Many thanks to Sir Guy for keeping us lubricated after the games, and to Mario for relieving me of some of the stress of rounding everyone up from week to week. But let's face it, I can't get away without taking some credit. The hit of the year was my corkscrew dribbler that went 70 feet in slow motion around third base for an infield single. Top that.
Milestones:
Game 1
Coop 1550 ab (#1)
Cage 500 rbi (#1)
Monty 1150 ab (#3)
Jay 200 g (#10)
B 300 ab (#18)
Gregg 50 r (#35)
Game 2
Jay 200 rbi (#14)
B 30 2b (#16)
Gregg 10 2b (#32)
Such is the life of a sponsored team I suppose. We do owe Transdyn/Kapsch and our GM Monty a debt of hundreds of dollars (of gratitude) each in team dues.
And now we made the Austrians (Kapsch is an Austrian company) proud again, with our second Cotton winning season in a row. We got nice Royal Blue hoodies too.
I am hoping Tuesday night's sweep of the playoffs is taken not as a signal of dominance of the Lower Upper D or whatever they are calling our division, but as testament that we are playing at the right level for us. We won the first 15-11 over a Pleasanton Auto team that should be better than they are, and the second 15-10 over a Blue Dots team that, while they claim to be as old as us, I don't think have a chance to be less than five years younger than us in average age. Not exactly dominant, just victorious.
The closeness of the games made them actually really good to watch and play in. In both games we took a lead, only to give it up, but ultimately come through in the clutch to rally for victory. There were heroes up and down the lineup.
In the opener, we jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two. Five in the first when we batted around. A two run double by Cage to start the scoring. Clutch two out hits from Tom, JT, and Coop. But in the third the Auto club had other ideas. They used it all up hitting line drives all over the field with the aluminum bats.They ended up with eight but it could have gotten worse. Gregg Made a great shoe-top catch in left field, his first of two in the game, to get the first out. Later, I saw JT playing really shallow in right center. I was about to call out to him, but on the next pitch the batter hit a line drive 'single' right in front of him, and he slung the ball to second to turn it into just another fielder's choice. Those two outs kept it from getting completely out of hand, and we came into the dugout just down two.
That was when Gregg completely took over. He hit two mighty blasts - both three run homers - in the fourth and the sixth. The latter took us from 12-11 to 15-11 with about a minute left. After a Bert 'single' over the fence, D hit the hardest ball of the night - the right center fielder took a step in, and then watched helplessly as the rising line drive sailed over his head to the fence. Time had run out, literally, on Pleasanton Auto.
Jay and B were perfect table setters with three hits each plus a J walk. Cage added a couple more RBIs and ended up with four on two hits and a sac fly.
On the way in to the park, I told Tom and Coop that the key to victory was the two of them getting hits - they needed to go 5-8 or better. Well, they went 5-5 plus a Coop Sac Fly. A good coach knows when to put the right kind of pressure on.
On to the Championship game. Blue Dots had upset a shorthanded M.A.R.A. in the playoff opener. I was glad, they have been a friendly rival over the years. I mentioned earlier that we have now played them more than any other team in our 20+ years. We have owned them 20-8 in the regular season, but were only 2-2 in the playoffs against them coming into Tuesday.
The game followed a similar script, with some of the names shifted around. We started off 2-2 in the first as Gregg and Bert had run scoring singles to answer their two top of the first runs. This time we only took an early 4-2 lead as the same pair drove in runs in the third. Sure enough the Blue Dots answered with three and they had their only lead of the game at 5-4.
This woke us up. My Mantra "the bottom of the order hits, we win" kicked in. With one out, singles by Coop, JT, and Monty tied it up and set it up for the top of the order. J, B, and Cage all singled and then with two outs, Bert erased all doubts with a tremendous three run blast. It was only 11-5 but the air was out of the Blue Dots tires. We added on with a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth (Bert with another homer, this time two runs). And even though they rallied with five in the seventh to make it 15-10, that just made it respectable - we were never worried.
Bert had the two homers and seven RBIs in a 4-4 game. B had three knocks, and Cage stayed hot with two hits and a walk. Jay had two knocks and two RBIs. This time the bottom of the order meant JT and Monty. JT had two hits and Monty, who had been hitting it hard but right at people, was rewarded by having his hits fall in this one as he went 3-3. One started the scoring in our seven run fourth, and the next was a clutch two out RBI single in the next inning.
Both middle infielders had great plays to highlight the defense. J went way behind first to get a diving catch in the fourth. But the play of the day was in the third - B snaring a back-handed shot in the 5-6 hole, quickly firing to Jay at second, who snapped a throw to first for the double play. These guys came to play.
Very satisfying wins, and Cotton. Many thanks to Sir Guy for keeping us lubricated after the games, and to Mario for relieving me of some of the stress of rounding everyone up from week to week. But let's face it, I can't get away without taking some credit. The hit of the year was my corkscrew dribbler that went 70 feet in slow motion around third base for an infield single. Top that.
Milestones:
Game 1
Coop 1550 ab (#1)
Cage 500 rbi (#1)
Monty 1150 ab (#3)
Jay 200 g (#10)
B 300 ab (#18)
Gregg 50 r (#35)
Game 2
Jay 200 rbi (#14)
B 30 2b (#16)
Gregg 10 2b (#32)
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