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 end the season in 6th place with a 3-7 record and will take on 3rd place Ivy League at 8:30PM on Tuesday, July 19th for the right to advance to the Tuesday Men's League Final Four. Ivy League needed a late Jake Koz grand slam to slip by the Storm Riders who had been leading all the way until the 6th inning. Brew Jays ended up the regular season champions followed by the Scrappers, Ivy League, Tri-Star, Beggars, Gnaturals, Hammered, and Storm Riders. Playoff times and matches are shown below. Next week is Bring a Family Member and a Cooler to the Game Night at the Lions Den.
Noteables:
Double Play Mania - No less than five double plays were turned in last night's game accounting for 10 of the 42 outs. That is rounded up to 24% of the game's outs were recorded on just five plays.
1-4-3 X 2 - The Gnats recorded two 1-4-3 double plays yesterday evening. The first when Ryno snared a hard hit one-hopper, flipped to Whitehouse who pegged to Stapes for the second out. The second double play was a bit more unconventional when a shot through the mound ticked off of Ryno's glove to the waiting Whitehouse who stomped on the bag and wheeled to Stapes to complete the twin killing.
Trifecta - The third double play was a more conventional 6-4-3 Jeff to House to Stapes variety.
OUCH - The top three batters in the Gnats lineup had uncharacteristic poor hitting nights. The top three went 2 for 12 with a run scored.
Pillow - The winds were not blowing very hard last night. Other than a first inning opposite field homer from the Scrappers that barely cleared the fence in the 6:30 game, the next home run would not come until the third game of the night in the 6th inning when Jake Koz hit the aforementioned home run. This included many hits to the warning track from teams like Beggars, Tri-Star and Ivy League. There is something going on with the softballs. All of the balls in the bucket are not equal and pitchers should rightly feel the balls and request replacements until the softest balls are found. Just sayin'
Flying V - No, not Gibson. This cloud struck visions of Independence Day. Many thought that either aliens were coming to New Lenox or the Mayor had secured his own private air craft to the game. As it turns out, it was just a puffy cloud brought to you by Mother Nature on this fine evening.
Ahhhhhh - It was nice to have proper officiating at the games last night as Ump Kevin was back from a two week hiatus. As seen here Kev looks on confidently with Dom in his shadow as Montreal Mike slaps a ball at the Gnat defense.
Good Call - Staff photographer, Greg Brady, caught the exact moment of Jack's groundout in the final inning. Upon further review (by Jack himself), the call on the field stands.
Sleeveless in Seattle - Scrapper outfielder, Manny Noguns, in an early at bat Tuesday night. Hats off to Manny and the Scrapper defense as they turned two double plays of their own and made countless running catches to rob Gnaturals batters of extra base hits. Sometimes you lose the game because the other team outplayed you. That is certainly the case last night as the Scrappers were just a bit more stingy on defense to keep the Gnats off the scoreboard.
Season Recap and Playoff Preview - Not a big fan of launch angle and exit velocity but the win expectancy over the long haul is somewhat telling. The Scrappers at 8-2 are the most fortunate team in the league as they should have only won 6 games. The Scrappers luck continues as they face the 7th seed Hammered, who statistically should be the 8th seeded team. Take the Scrappers in that match and expect a short game.
Brew Jays are who they are at 8-2 and face the Storm Riders who should have won two or three games. Storm Riders are not as bad as their record suggest. Their Achilles heal is defensive lapses at inopportune times multiple times per game. The Jays usually have first week jitters but likely not enough to overcome their superior talent over this opponent. Take the Jays here.
Ivy League is a 7-win team who should be just that and are taking on a better than 3-win Gnats team who is likely one game better than their record indicates. Ivy is a mostly disinterested bunch but can really put it together when all of their regulars show up. The Gnats gave up the 4th least amount of runs and hold their own defensively. The trouble is the 110 runs scored are second lowest in the league and the team has too many zero run innings to compete against quality opponents in the playoffs. Ivy League is the pick.
In the most evenly matched game of the first round, Tri-Star and Beggars battle it out. Both teams are identical in offensive output with Tri-Star holding the edge decidedly on defense. Tri-Star is another bunch that seems disinterested at times and comes alive in the playoffs. Although they beat Beggars 10-9 in their final at-bat to end the regular season, lay the points and jump on Tri-Star to handle the pizza kings.
Help Yourself - Ken celebrates the double play turned by Ry in the early going of last night's match.
Citizen's Arrest - Is it too late to lodge a complaint for Public Wizzery? An attendee of last night's ballgame, Smoke Doorag, is seen walking out of the bushes. There's only three reasons to go in those bushes; 1. To retrieve a softball, 2. To get bit by mosquitos or 3. To relieve yourself. Eliminate 1 and 2, go with number 3 on the number one.
Strategy Meeting - Pratl abstained from a team strategy meeting that likely had him playing a position that he does not play. Like in the working world, if you are not at the meeting, you get all of the action items. Drink up Mike, there's a lot to do.
Fireworks Night? - There is a lot of gawking, pointing, and smiling going on here. Not sure what the Gnat faithful was staring at here.
Another Meeting??? - This one is with the Gnat brain trust with Uncle Gary and Koz. Was either about classic cars, baseball, beer, sun, hot tub, pool, or where to find the best burger in the southlands.
Comments
Post a Comment