Gnaturals Rally Falls Short

 

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 Gnatural Jake Koz dealt a crushing blow in the Ivy League half of the inning with a two-run homer to increase the lead to 11-4.  The Gnats kept chipping away with RBI's by Zlogar and House to narrow the margin to 5 runs once again.  Ivy League answered with a run in their half of the 5th to lead 12-6 after five innings.  Pratl and Ken drove home runs in the sixth inning while the defense held Ivy to one run to trail 13-8 going into the 7th inning.  With two outs, the Gnats plated three runs on a Jack RBI and two by Stapes to narrow the margin to 13-11.  After a couple of walks, the bases were loaded with the tying run on second and Jeff at bat.  Umpire Agent Orange had wrung up The Artist two times prior this season thus Jeff had to swing at a borderline outside pitch with two strikes thus flying out to left to end the rally and the 2022 Summer League season.  The Gnats put together 23 hits on the night to keep the pressure on the Ivy League defense with the killer being the 14 men left on base.  Many felt that the game might end early being that the Gnats had already lost to Ivy League in a regular season drubbing that took less than 30 minutes but the scrappy team in green and black never quit and accounted very well for themselves.  The playoffs continue next week as the Brew Jays who struggled to beat the Storm Riders will take on Tri-Star who just got past Beggars.  Ivy League will take on The Scrappers who won the night cap against Hammered.  The Gnats take off a few weeks before starting the fall campaign.  Look out next week for an upcoming feature on the Rebel 2004 Bravos.  The Gazette has pictures to chronical the championship winning team as well as the 2003 Bravo team.

Noteables:

Once - Stapes had the only Gnaturals home run tonight.

Even Flow - Hats off to the New Lenox Park District for cleaning up at least one of the Porta-Johns.  Our Gazette portable bathroom critic Dooce Nugget only had the time to review one of the two watering venues.

Alive - The Gnats had every right to lay down to Ivy League last night as they has lost the first meeting by 20 runs and were playing a couple men short with a replacement that looked like half-WVH.  The team did admirably as they not only kept the game close, they had the tying run on second base to end the game and put a giant scare into the green foliage.  The Scrappers were on the third base side routing very stringently for the Gnats to complete the comeback and knock off the lower seeded Ivy.

Why Go - Ken was miffed after the Gnats first at bat that Arik didn't score from second on his base hit to left field.  What Ken did not see was the shift that had the left fielder playing 25 feet in the outfield and picking the ball up as Arik arrived to third base.  Gazette statistician Bob Benetti says that Arik would have been thrown out at the plate by 29 feet.

Black - The New Lenox Park District chose not to replace the standard lighting at the field with free LED lighting from the local power company.  The only logical explanation is the neighbors did not want more light to go with their busted windows. 

Jeremy - The Foster Stable showed up with another player, Jeremy.  The lemon yellow sun must have gotten in his eye as he threw a ball toward the Gazette editor who was standing five feet to the right of Jeff whom he had been playing catch with.  He hit him with a surprise in the left ankle.

Oceans - The amount of outfield available to both Ken and Uncle Gary as both defenses pinched the oldsters to choke off their patented ball placement.

Porch - Ivy League had four dingers on the night.....three that counted and one that quickly ended the 6th inning to allow the Gnaturals to remain within striking distance for their last inning rally attempt.

Garden - The field held up better than usual this summer as early rains continued through mid-June to keep the dirt from becoming a dusty mess.  A couple of the July games were played on what looked like the surface of Mars but the good news is with the month long break and the late August and September rains, the field should have more moisture in it and plenty of garden hops.  Shame that our beer coolers are going to be replaced by hand warmers one fine Tuesday night.

Deep - Is what Jeff went in hitting a drive over Jake Koz who was pinching the Gnaturals short stop in right field. The third inning play came to a screeching halt at home when the speedster was nipped by two perfect throws for an exciting triple and 10-4-2 putout.

Release -Stapes let off some steam in last night's game after an injured Ryno didn't get down the line to beat out a double play started by none other than Uncle Gary.  Good thing for the Gnaturals that the puzzling actions of the Ivy League shortstop (aka Wade;-}) didn't allow him to continue to 2nd base to start the double play as he stood five feet from the bag; thus recording the 1-6-3 putout at first base.  

Early Scratch - Dom was out tonight with a blown engine.  

                         Cat Scratch Fever - Dylan (Jamaica) Foster                                     was excused from the Ivy League game.

Howdy Partner - If you blur your eyes a little, former Cub outfielder Jose Cardinal looks like he is wearing a ten gallon hat.

Raise the What??? - We've all heard over the years about MBL wanting to lower the mound because pitchers have an advantage; or raise the mound because batters have the advantage.  Well, in the South Suburban Sand Lot League (SSSLL), Commissioner Dusty Pantleg has decided to raise home plate!  "Why?", you ask.  Dusty thinks that the love of launch angle and exit velocity are getting out of hand and the game is becoming boring with an all or nothing approach of either a home run or strike out.  The Gazette asked Dusty how a raised home plate is going to help, here was his response; "When the sons of bitches go to take that f*&^ing uppercut, they'll hit the plate with the bat, so they'll start having to take level swings.  That'll fix em."  When asked if the raised plate will cause a danger, the commissioner responded; "Well I hope so.  I hope one of them a&&holes takes a swing and hits the plate and that bat ricochet's some sense into their noggins."  The Gazette will keep an eye out as to how this story unfolds.

Standing Room Only - The largest crowd in the history of The Lions Den assembled to watch the Gnaturals take on Ivy League.  The marketing department did so good that they got the Gnaturals to come to the ballpark to watch their own game.

Koozie - The foamy drink holder used by frenzied fan Gale may have said it all.  Zoom in to find that a mosquito abatement company is the fine sponsor of this un-Gnatural cooler.  You may notice Wade trying to get into the shot in the background.  He was on hand in case the Gnats needed a player and wearing the proper color shorts for the occasion.

Old Timers - No, not the game, the pitcher and the batter.  Uncle Gary presents the ball as he is ready to fire one in against Old School Ken in last night's action.  That's 113 years of being on earth right there before your eyes.  To all of the players, enjoy the hell out of playing softball and play as long as you choose and have fun like these two big kids.

You Promised - Lauren I, get your ass out here for a game.  Kathy is shown holding a picture of the largest pigeon you ever saw, which is a frequent visitor on the lower roof at the Schoenhofen residence.  The pigeon is seen here asking Kathy for a boost to the upper level of the roof as it got winded just getting to this point.

Hatural - Captain Jack searched high and low for a matching hat to wear to the games instead of the 18 year old Rebels hat he's been sporting for many years.  After looking through the apparel of over 210 minor league teams, Jack came up with this gem.  Save that website as that hat is a winner!

Don't Turn Your Back On Me - The Gnats all took the time after the game to get together and have a drink to discuss softball and life.  They are seen here enjoying the pickup game on the b-ball court in back of the left field fence.  Ken quipped; "You kids have everything these days.  Look, there's a net on the rim.  We never had nets on our rims when we were growing up."

Draft King - Uncle Gary comes over to find out the score of the game as he took the +2' points on the Travelers to beat the Chargers in this park district classic.

Final Four Preview - The Gazette went 4 for 4 in their round one picks and correctly called a shaky Brew Jay victory over the last place Storm Riders as well as a Scrappers rout of Hammered.  The 6:30 game has the disinterested 3rd seeded Ivy League taking on the 2nd seeded Scrappers.  As written in last weeks preview, the Scrappers have been the most fortunate team in the 2022 Summer League.  Look for the good fortune to end as they will be upended by Ivy League who will put it all together to win big.  The 7:30 game features a final's pairing of the past with 4th seeded Tri-Star taking on the number 1 seed Brew Jays.  The Jays have handled Tri-Star with ease this year as they cruised to the league's best record.  Tri-Star can put up runs and this game should be back and forth and in the 20's for both teams.  Look for Tri-Star to pull the upset and take the points.  We'll leave the championship to your imagination and if you come out to the finale, the Gazette will provide the pick to you free of charge.