Each game was a microcosm of our year so far. In the first game against Royal, we charged out to an 11-2 lead after four, and Royal was on their heels. Then in the top of the fifth, The men in Blue charged all the way back, thanks to the hitting they are capable of combined with a one inning defensive meltdown by the Orange. Then they got the shutdown inning they needed. In the sixth, we had more shaky defense but Royal could only plate a single run. In the bottom half it looked grim when the first two hitters made outs. But the top of the order, Ron Schwab, Mark Edelstone, Mike Saindon, and Greg Wilson smacked four straight hits, and we walked off with two runs.
Edelstone had three hits with a double and a triple, Saindon had three including a triple and Wilson had three including a double. The top four had 10 of our 13 RBIs.
Schwab, Jay Chafetz and the Coach had two hits apiece. Chafetz made any number of great catches in LF and Edelstone robbed Helen Kostoff in shallow LC Willie Mays style on a sinking line drive. The first baseman scooped one in the dirt backhanded to steal an out in the same inning, and Howard Davis, who pitched all 12 innings today, made a great play on the third out that inning.
In the day cap, Orange scored three in the top of the first then went to sleep for three innings. Going into the top of the fifth we trailed 8-4. But we batted around in the fifth to take a one run lead 9-8, and after a shutdown bottom half, batted 15 hitters and more or less put the game away as we went ahead 18-9. White's sharpshooters came back with six runs, but in the end they had dug too big a hole. Final was 18-14.
A word about Davis. He pitched lights out all day, He had batters off balance in both games, and I think he had but one walk in the doubleheader. He started the season fourth on the depth chart of Orange pitchers, but worked his way up the ladder, and today with all the other pitchers missing, he really came through for us. And to boot, after we came back against White in the fifth, in the bottom half, he stabbed a shot up the middle and started a 1-11-3 double play to essentially take them out of the game.
Against White, Vince Franceschi was 4-4, and Chafetz and Lamont "LT" Thompson were each 3-3 with a sac fly each and co-led the team with four RBIs. Schwab also had three hits including two doubles, and Kravin rounded out those with three hits. Everyone else had two hits except Saindon and he had a sac fly and a walk and a hit. Great team effort on offense and defense.
It comes down to next week - we need some help from Scarlet and Royal, and it starts with going up against the juggernaut Purple - but we know and they know we have beaten them three of four so far this year. Fun fun fun!
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