Lions Den Gazette II

  New Lenox, IL - The Lion's Den was a hotbed of playoff activity last night as the post season began for nine hopeful teams looking to take the 2021 New Lenox Men's Softball title.  Game one featured a thrilling battle between the Gnaturals and Demon Deacons.  The night was chilly with still wind conditions and the ball carrying off the bats.  Demon Deacons started out the scoring by pushing five runs home in the top of the first inning and looked like they were poised to have quite an offensive night by hitting the ball hard to all fields.  Gnaturals answered with two runs in the home half of the first inning on the strength of a Stapes two-run shot over the left-center field fence.  The Deacons came back with four runs in the bottom of the 2 nd  inning after a defensive lapse cost the Gnaturals a chance to shut down their foe.  One pitch later, Johnny Jagstick (#15) hit a three-run homerun and did a rooster strut to first base.  The Deaco...

  New Lenox, IL  - On a night that would be better suitable for Halloween debauchery, the Gnaturals squared off against Hammered to try and put a halt to a five game losing streak.  The Gnaturals came into the game as the lowest scoring team in the league with a total of 60 runs scored after six games.  The slump came to an end as Cap'n Jack decided that an Atlanta Braves MLB division series was more important than putting together a lineup, thus handing the keys over to an eager Arik With An A.  Arik put the lineup together, slapped in himself as the team leadoff hitter and proceeded to score their first 10 hitters in route to a 23 - 7 beatdown of Hammered.  The Gnats went through the entire lineup in the top of the first inning before a single out was recorded in what would be a 4-inning slaughter.  Gnats scored 14 runs in the first inning, followed by a blank in the second frame before tacking on 4 more in the third and capping things off with 5 run...

  Noteables: Leg Sleeve? - Rhino and Koz were having a riveting conversation before the game about Ry's "arm sleeve".  Turns out that Rhino converted a leg sleeve into arm-wear and then quickly added that his "guns" are so big that the sleeve makes a nice fit. Where's Waldo? - Take a look at the scoresheet from last evening's game and see how many hits you can find. Yves St. Laurent  - Getting blown out is not what you vision when heading to the ballpark to play a game.  Although the outcome was a mess, there is still a lot of fun associated with even a 22-1 loss.  Seen here is a Zlogar fashion statement of "high socks?", "leggings?", "leotard?", or other. NOTE: I think that the Brew Jay in the picture is even pointing this out to the Gazette photographer to capture the shot. The Gazette asked some fans and fellow teammates for a simple description of the look.  Here are the comments: "Dweebie", "Pirates of ...

  New Lenox, IL - Rewind, Play................................ Brew Jays 22    Gnaturals 1

  New Lenox, IL - It was business as usual for the Gnaturals in 2021, take a big run early and not score again.  The Gnats built a 9-0 lead heading into the bottom of the second inning and promptly gave up 10 runs.  The Gnaturals pushed their final run of the evening home in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 10 while The Scrappers added two runs in their half of the 3rd, three runs in the 4th, and five in the bottom of the 5th to end the game mercifully 20-10.  The Gnaturals hope to avoid hitting the "rewind and play" buttons on October 5th vs The Brew Jays.  Game time is set for 9:30 PM. Notables: Squintso!!! - Wade II made his 2nd lifetime appearance at the catcher's position with a different outcome than the Hollywood finish of his debut. Leave em on a high note - Wade II should have retired after the Hollywood ending as it wouldn't get much better than that with the final putout of the game. Wheels - Whitehouse led off for the Gnaturals....