Lions Den Gazette II

  New Lenox, IL - After a season long battle from the chills of May, the gnats of June, to the heat of July, the playoffs came down to the final four remaining teams.  First place Brew Jays, Tri-Star, The Scrappers, and Hammered all vied this past Tuesday for the summer season title. Most of the Gazette reporters are on summer hiatus so we reached out to some fledgling members of the pen and paper to account for the early action.  You've heard of a player/coach or player/manager but we enlisted a couple of player/writers to help out tonight; Jeff and Ken from your beloved Master Batters. The following is their account of the Tri-Star vs Hammered game. With many regulars missing, the sight of twin Irish Wolfhounds, and a eerily quiet-evening, Gazette Interns, Ken and Jeff believed they were in an episode of the Twilight Zone as they ascended upon game 1. Hell, they didn’t even sign up for this journalism gig until after the game.  At first sight of the field, there wa...

  New Lenox, IL - Heading into Tuesday night's game, Scrappers held a 4-3 lifetime advantage over the Master Batters, who were looking to even things up and advance in the 2021 playoffs. Before the game, Cap'n Jack had a strategy to try and shorten the game by putting together quality at bats to get to the Scrappers before they could wind up their offense and put up a big number. "When the game goes long, they eventually will score a ton of runs", the Cap'n went on' "We need to shorten this game as much as possible.  (MB) need to take pitches and make their pitcher work".  The strategy went right out the window when the two leadoff hitters made quick outs in the first inning, however, MB was able to put four runs across the plate in the frame with a two out rally.  Scrappers came back in their half of their frame to counter with five runs of their own to take a 5-4 lead after one inning.  MB followed up in the second inning with another four run two-...

            New Lenox, IL - On a sun splashed 6:30 make up game, the Master Batters faced Hammered whom they had beaten handily 17-2 in an early season meeting.  The game started out seashells and balloons as MB batted around in the first inning to score six runs and open up a big lead.  From that point on it was the typical story of not being able to sustain the offense as MB was only able to push four more runs across the rest of the way.  Meanwhile, Hammered who had trailed most of the game, entered the bottom of the 5th inning trailing 10-6.  That fateful inning included a barrage of hits, calliope music defense, and a ten run surge to put away the game for the underdogs.  MB quietly went out 1-2-3 for the second time in the evening to cap off a disappointing end of the season loss 16-10. Notably missing from the game was Jake Koz, who could not be reached for comment. Master Batters end the season at .500 with a 5-5 recor...

  Earlier in the year during a profile segment, shortstop and graphic artist Jeff Schoenhofen stated that he is constantly on Cap’n Jack to refresh the uniforms.   Many on the team have expressed that same sentiment and apparently, the call for a new uniform gained momentum and did not stop there.   In a recent flurry of activity, the Master Batters manager put out an in-team challenge to either keep the current name or come up with a new team name to go with their new uniforms. In addition to the original team name, twelve others were crafted for team review.   Beside Master Batters, other names submitted were; The Gnaturals, High Voltage, Band of Brothers, The Phillies, Snapdragon, The Long Rods, Shockers, Hit The Cut, Ken Special, Big Hack No Contact, Tools of Ignorance, and New Lenox Will County Coyote Hawks (more on those in a minute). The vote came down to the team to choose between Master Batters, The Gnaturals, and High Voltage.   After nearly 6 ½ years ...