Beggars Top Gnaturals

 

New Lenox, IL - On a perfect early summer night, the Gnaturals took on first place Beggars in an attempt to narrow the margin in the standings.  The Gnats started the game with nine players as Whitehouse made the mistake of getting on I-80 to travel to the game.  Both teams went scoreless in the first inning before the Gnats took the lead in the top half of the second when Dom scored on a two out double by newcomer, Roberto Kerty for his first lifetime RBI in the Tuesday Men's League.  The run was key as the next batter in the lineup, the unarrived W.H., was an automatic out to end the inning.  Beggars plated seven runs of their own in the bottom of the frame to take a commanding 7-1 lead.  The dough boys added another run in the third to take an 8-1 lead heading into the fourth inning.  The Gnats rallied when Bobby K launched a three-run homer into the right field fence to cut the score to 8-4.  The Gnats added another run when Jeff knocked in Whitehouse with a one out base hit to trail Beggars 8-5. After holding Beggars scoreless in the bottom of the frame, the Gnats scored three runs on a dramatic Zlogar three-run shot deep to left-center field to tie the game at 8-8.  The lead did not last long as Beggars scored nine runs to pull ahead 17-8.  Gnats scored a run in the 6th inning when Pratl knocked in Jeff on a two-out single to cut the lead to 17-9.  With three minutes on the game clock, Zlogar and the Gnats defense quickly held Beggars to no runs as time expired to force the game into a 7th and final inning.  The Gnats rallied to score three runs on RBI's by Dom, Bobby K, and Whitehouse to narrow the score to 17-12 as the rally ended up short.  Beggars move to 6-2 in a virtual tie for 1st place while The Gnats fall to 3-5 in the Tuesday league.  The Gnaturals take on the winless Storm Riders in a 7:30 PM match on July 5th.

Noteables:

Perfect Game - That is the message the Gazette received pre-game from Zlogar as he made his inaugural start on the hill for the Gnaturals.  Z struck out the first batter when Ken let a ball spin foul for strike three.  Z held Beggars scoreless in the three of the six innings last night and was tagged with mucho unearned runs on defensive errors.  Overall, a very nice effort by the former LWW hurler.

For You Youngsters - Last note on Z pitching.  He covered first base on a couple of groundballs to first base and looked like a cat in doing so.  Tremendous speed to get to the bag.

Better Late and Never - Whitehouse was a victim of getting on I-80 to get to the game and showed up in the bottom half of the 2nd inning.  Stapes was a late scratch due to a non-covid19 sickness.

Free Advice to All - Don't ever get on I-80 from Tinley to Joliet going East or West unless you have a lot of time on your hands.  I-80 blowski

In The Air Tonight - The smell of pot.  Not sure if it was the incoming Beggars or the outgoing Scrappers but that third base area was akin to a Snoop Dogg wake n' bake.

Mumma Says - "He's taking over Jack's position".  A Kathy quote on the fine play of Dylan Foster in left field the past two weeks. This particular statement was made after Jamaica made a nice running catch on a ball hit over his head to the warning track.

Sore Arm - Arik was so pissed off at W.H. for showing up late to the game that he kept firing the ball back to Z from his catcher's perch to the mound.  This kept up for a good two or three innings.  How's your arm today Arik With An A?

Ten - We haven't seen a debut like this since Pearl Jam launched their opening album in August of 1991.  Bobby went 3 for 4 on the night with a home run and five RBI.  Nice going kid!

That Didn't Last Long - We lauded the first Ryan Foster home run after 340 plate appearances in last week's Noteables.  It took Bobby all of two plate appearances for his first dinger. Home Runs: Ryan 1 Bobby 1

Deep Woods Off - Jeff made a great stop deep in the hole in the 5th inning off a Beggar batter and continued his momentum nearly out of play while wheeling to 2nd base to force out Turtle Firstgear  by a step.

It's Tough to Hire Good Help - Beggars got the rare drop on the Gnaturals to the third base dugout.  The 9:30PM game was played in complete darkness, so sun was never a factor.

Souvenir - Gazette staff reporter Al Koz retrieved all of the balls hit foul or for home runs and returned them to the umpire, except this ball which was given to Gnat team authenticator Zeke Spitshine to present to Zlogar for his dramatic 5th inning game tying 3-run home run.

Date Night - Ken and Kathy showed up to the field in the waning daylight to enjoy a romantic night at the Lions Den.

Enter the Sandman - If you look hard enough, you'll see Whitehouse approaching the third base dugout during the bottom of the second inning.

If It Doesn't Fit - Ken left his batting glove on the ground near the back of the first base dugout.  Pictured is the entire contents of the Gnaturals "Lost and Found" department.

Ohms Law - Ken shows the park district worker the work that he did to install the original scoreboard nearly 20 years ago.  After two nods and an uh huh, the girl flipped the lights off.

Scorecard - Modified book after the scratch of Stapes and some modifications.

Hammer Toss