Late Heroics Hobble Moon Goons

 

New Lenox, IL - What started out to be a warm and windy day, turned out to be an 87 degree gem of an evening at the Lions Den when the gusts subsided by game time.  High Voltage took on the Moon Goons in what would be a high scoring extravaganza.  The game had it all; from good to bad hitting, fielding, and even umpiring.  In the end, the Volts pressed their record to 4-0 with a 22-19 victory over The Moon Goons in dramatic fashion.  The game started out with the Goons scoring five times and seemingly looking at a three pitch defensive inning until the outfielder dropped a fly ball in center field to keep the Volt at-bat alive. The Volts proceeded to score two runs on a Sutes homerun to right field out of what should have been nothing, to trail 5-2 after an inning.  The Goons battled back with three runs but were met with a Volt eight spot in their half of the second on the strength of Sutes 2nd HR of the evening.  The pesty Goons continued the hit parade with a four run outburst to take a 12-10 lead after holding the Volts down to no runs to cap off the third.  After the Goons scored once in the 4th inning, the Volts put forth a five run salvo to once again lead the game with the score 15-13.  The Goons would not go away, and scored another three runs to take a brief 16-15 lead.  The Volts fought back with two runs to sneak ahead 17-16 going into the 6th inning with time running out on the game clock.  The Goons came out quick in the final inning by scoring three runs with one out to lead 19-17 with a runner on 2nd base and the outlook to bust the game wide open.  That's the point when Roy Hobbles stepped up on defense to dash the hopes of the Moon Goons victory gallop.  With a 1 and 1 count, Benji Fit took a homerun swing and barely nicked the ball, thus sending it tauntingly out of the reach toward the backstop.  That would have been out of reach for most humans who came into the game with a possible torn mcl, but not for Roy Hobbles.  Roy desperately hopped three steps toward the foul pop and reached out with his bare hand to snare the Golden Snitch and record the second out of the inning.  One batter later, Ulysses Utt took a mighty swing and sent a slightly higher pop up toward the backstop.  This time, Hobbles skipped on one leg as if he were coming home from sky blue on a hopscotch marathon run, and got all the way to the fence to reach out in time to record the final out of the inning and hold the Goons to that tenuous two run lead.  Those two defensive plays back-to-back are the single greatest feat ever performed by a catcher in a game at the Lions Den in its history.  The Volts came into the bottom of the 6th with no time on the clock and down by two runs in a do or die situation.  Ryno led off the inning with a bullet to left with Jack and Pratl following up with hits to load the bases for a Jay two RBI double.  With runners on second and third and no out, the Goons chose to pitch to Sutes, and Sutes chose to shove one over the wall for his third four-bagger and a 22-19 Volt victory.  Just as well, as the Goons were in a tough spot with three more power hitters about to enter the scene.  With the loss, the talented Goons fall to 0-3-1 while the Volts maintain a half-game lead over Transcend Realty.  Next week's match is a 9:30PM variety against the 1-3 Vegas Bombers.  Bring a bourbon and a pillow to the game and try to stay awake for the first late night contest of the year.

Notables:

What's This - Must be a wedding.  This is an old fixture in Richard Blatzo's suit coat.  Items subsequently added to the pocket are an eyeliner pencil, lip gloss, and a small tube of something that Mrs. B uses as part of the social scene beautification process.

Tied in a Knot - Congratulations go out to Maddy (Stapes Sister) and Chris on their marriage.  Maddy is a prize, and she found a good dude; that's all you could ask for.  Happy tomorrows kids!

Speaking of....... - Stapes already knew nogo wouldn't show up this week so he recruited a long-time "guy" named Jeeves to fill in this week.  Jeeves, known as the Carmel Kid, went 0-2 tonight with two walks and had no errors.  In the words of the immortal Uncle Gary; "If you don't touch it, it's not an error".  High fielding standards to live by.

Standings - Hog Wild continues to impress after an opening night loss to maintain 3rd place.  Paradise Bay rounds off the top 4 with a 2-1-1 record, followed by Cosgrove Construction, Vegas Bombers, Moon Goons, and Rendels.

Diaper Dandy - Scooter Smith was in attendance for last night's contest.  The action could hardly keep him awake.  When asked for a quote, Scooter quipped, "This five man infield is as poopy as my diaper is on most occasions".  He yawned, and then fell back asleep.  From the mouths of babes.

Ralph and Sam - Ryno and Shane coexisting near third base are in discussion over Group Chat topics.  Shane; "Do you really think that LeBron is the GOAT?".......Ryno; "Fuck yeah man!".  They cannot agree on anything else, so one fist bump later and they both agreed to never bring that up again in the chat.

Left Out - The catcher is in disbelief that he didn't get the memo to wear sunglasses to the 6:30 contest.  Granted, it was cloudy all night, but still.  We're not sure if Jer was sporting his sunglasses when he looked beat on a deep fly ball to right and ran it down in the nick of time to snag the drive in snow cone manner.

Broken Glove - Jay and Sutes chatting before the game on the shortstop's pickleball domination at the Senior Living Estates Tour.  We're not sure which one of them said this over a whisper; "if we play shitty enough defense tonight, we can go with a five man infield".

Nice Scoop - If you think that Stapes was taking it easy over the weekend, you are wrong-o.  He was out there in Central Indiana plying his craft of working on "short-hoppers".  This one just happened to be the lovely Gale.

Carnac - Z, shown here in the early innings, must have looked crazy for the forecast he was making at the time. Who would have known that The Tale of Roy Hobbles was going to be a real thing when he made the prediction that he would make, not one, but two stunning catches (in a row nonetheless!) behind the plate to be the game's defensive hero.  There is talk that a monument of Z will be erected near the spot of the backstop for future citizens to admire while walking their pet in the future dog park.  Disney is sending over a negotiator to Will County tomorrow to get their hands on the story.