Lions Den Gazette II

New Lenox, IL - As part of a bar bet that the Gazette offered to members of the Gnaturals and its extended family members, Jack won the bet by being the only person to respond and chose an expose' on the 2004 Rebels In-House 9-10U Championship Braves.  Since most of the 2004 Braves run was covered in a 2021 Anniversary issue for Kathy and Ken, we've dug out some of the stories on the championship year and have re-printed them along with a general account of the goings on.  Staff photographer Jackson Von Eyeblack was kind enough to include some pictures from the 2003-04 archives for commentary.  Here goes.............. June 29, 2004 was a bright sunny day with a seasonally cool high of 80 degrees in the Chicago area (Nobody remembers the temperature but thank goodness for the National Weather Service archives). Anyway, all of the teams who were supposed to be in the championship game were eliminated by the sub-.500 Bravos or the upstart Rays on the American League side of...

Gnaturals 2022 Summer Season Recap   Most Games Played (11) – Arik, Foster, Jeff, and Whitehouse Most Plate Appearances (43) – Arik and Jeff Most At-Bats (43) – Arik  He’s the new Koz with no walks Most Hits (24) – Arik Most Walks (11) – Dylan “Jamaica” Foster Most On-base (26) – Jeff Highest Batting Average (.594) – Jack   And here is where the lecture starts.  If you are not hitting .500, you had a shitty season.  This is slow pitch softball and there are holes everywhere out there.  Look as you are approaching the batters box as to where the defense is playing and hit them hard where they ain’t.  Everyone should strive to hit .600.  Base hits kill.  Let the few home run hitters go for home runs when there are two or three men on base.  Otherwise, figure out a way to get on base, even if it’s a walk.  If the pitcher is wild, don’t help him out.  Get on base!!!  Lecture over.   I humbly ...

  New Lenox, IL -  A large throng of supporters were on hand at the Lions Den to watch the Gnaturals take on Ivy League in the first round of the playoffs.  The capacity crowd got their monies worth as the game turned out to be a thriller which will remembered for a long time.  The game started with the Gnaturals going scoreless in the first inning while leaving the bases loaded.  Leaving men on base would be a reoccurring theme for the Gnaturals. Third seeded Ivy League scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning to lead 2-0 after one frame.  The Gnats clawed home a run in the second inning while having a rough defensive inning and giving up three runs to trail 5-1 after two.  Gnaturals scored a single run on a Jason Stapes homerun to cut the score to 5-2.  Ivy League plated four runs to lead 9-2 after three innings.  Newcomer Jeremy and Arik knocked in runs in the top of the 4th to close the gap to 9-4.  Former and future Gnatur...

  New Lenox, IL - The Gnaturals hosted the Scrappers in the regular season finale on a perfect summer evening at the Lions Den.  The score is generally close when these two teams meet and last night was no exception in a defensive battle that never saw the Scrappers trail.  Scrappers led 2-1 after an inning with the Gnats tying the game at 2 in the second inning when Jeff scored on a Whitehouse single.  The score remained tied through three innings until the Scrappers punched home two runs in the 4th inning to take a 4-2 lead.  The Scrappers added another four runs in the 5th inning to take an 8-2 lead into the 6th when the Gnats staged a small uprising fueled by a Whitehouse two-run single and capped off by a Dom SAC Fly to score Arik as the fifth and final run on the night.  Trailing by three going into the bottom of the 7th inning with the top of the order due to bat, the Gnats went quietly 1-2-3 to end a frustrating night on offense.  The Gnats en...

  New Lenox, IL - Tony's look says it all.  Gnaturals took one on the chin versus previously winless Storm Riders on an absolute miserable night at the Lions Den that featured 100+ degree heat index, full humidity, no wind, gnats buzzing, and the threat of thunderstorms that never came.  Zlogar started the game on the hill for the Gnaturals but was replaced after a couple of innings when he couldn't find the strike zone nor ump Carl was able to call a strike.  Gnats chased all night long and chipped away at the Storm Riders, ultimately falling to them by the score of 18-15.  If you are a fan of bad defense and apathetic hitting, Tuesday night was your night as the game featured plenty of those elements.  Among the highlights were Ken getting back on the hitting track in contributing 3 RBI, and Ryno getting two late hits good for 3 RBI. The loss brings the Gnats summer record to 3-6 as they stay unaffected in the standings sitting a solid 6th place with a li...