Roger Morse reports: [Thursday, April 22, 2010 11:11 AM] I have sad news to report. Glen Maes was seriously injured on Sunday in a softball scrimmage. I received an update from his wife, Evelyn. He was hit by a hard line drive to the face. He was rushed by ambulance to a hospital in PG County. His jaw was fractured in 3 places and doctors had to wire it shut. He was put in an induced coma until Tuesday. He is still in the ICU as of this morning. He is now conscious and trying to talk to the nurses. He is able to sit up, but cannot get out of bed yet. Those of us that know Glen, know that he is a tough old bird who will get through this and recover. Please keep Glen in your thoughts and prayers.
2) U.S. Exporters vs Humble Flies played on 04/23/10
We had just enough hitting and some solid defense to sweep the Humble Flies. Following up on last week’s defensive double play, we turned two more in the second game, but only got credited with one of them as the umpire missed that call among many. He was so bad I nearly got tossed in the second game. Dave Wheeler hit one off the fence for a bases-clearing, inside the park grand slam in game one. Jim Duffy continues to whine about leading off with no one on base for him to hit in, but he is hitting the ball well and finding a way to get on base. Corey Johnson displayed his dangerous arm and tallied 3 assists from left center field. He ended game one by throwing a strike to Werner at the plate who applied the tag for the final out of the game. He also threw out a runner at third and got a force out at third in a rare 6-8-5 fielder’s choice.
However, game two was one of those games that builds team chemistry with a will to win. Our team fell behind early and had to constantly fight back each inning. It wasn’t until the last inning with time running out that we won it. Jason Boyd and Roger Morse both singled to start the inning. Dave Wheeler then hit a hard shot to third who threw the ball wide to second pulling the second baseman five feet off the bag. With the second baseman standing with the ball near the shortstop’s position, the umpire called the force out on Roger since the play remained in the same zipcode at least. Werner Ennesser then singled home Jason and moved Dave to second. Tiko Descalzo singled to load the bases with one out. Chris Chaisson then ripped a shot up the middle between the outfielders. Rookie Tiko dashed around the bases to beat the throw and win the game.
We played an understaffed team on Friday. They had 8 players for game one and 9 for game 2. Many Exporters padded their stats exploiting the thin defense. We turned another infield double play in game one. Many players tried new positions with changes every inning.
In the last inning of game 2, the Excitable Boys started really hitting the ball including a grand slam over the fence. We entered our half of the inning with 3 minutes left and down by one run. Wes Yeary led off the inning with a single in the hole past the shortstop. Jason Boyd put the team ahead hitting a towering shot over the left-center field fence. He seemed relieved to finally get one out of the park after sending several balls deep all night that went off the fence or landed near it on the warning track.
It was another dramatic finish to a pair of lackluster games.
We split with The Dans to remain in first place. We had a tough opening game battling the sun in the batter’s box. The other team was able to get aluminum on the ball while blinded better than we were.
The most amazing part of the night was the return of The Chief, Glen Maes! Less than 2 weeks after surgery on his broken jaw, Glen returned to action with new steel plates in his chin. Glen absolutely refused to sit out and rehab properly while our team was short of players. He suited up and took the field. Purdue doesn’t want anything to do with Glen because he is one tough old bird.
In the nightcap, we started out slowly and fell behind early. However, we fought back and took the lead in the fourth inning. We held off a late charge by the Dans in the last inning. We got the first out on an easy grounder back to Rich. Then they scored two quick runs and had the tying run on second. Rich reached down deep and recorded a clutch strikeout with his slider to get the second out. An intentional walk to load the bases put pressure on the defense to end the scoring and the game quickly. With a full count, Rich got the batter to hit a can of corn to Jimbo who almost panicked that the final out was too easy. But he made the catch to end the game and cap the comeback victory.
The next 2 weeks will be critical for the Exporters as we face the other second place team, Ugly Mugs, and the play The Dans again. These four games will most likely determine who will take home the hardware for the regular season.
5) U.S. Exporters vs The Dans played on 05/21/10
We can’t win games scoring in the single digits. We had no help at the bottom of the lineup. With so many of our bats missing from the lineup, we just couldn’t score enough. We also had a couple of bonehead base running mistakes that took us out of innings.
NOTE: Our rainout has been rescheduled for Sunday, June 13 at 5:00pm on Jennie Dean Field vs The Ugly Mugs.
Both games won by forfeit.
We won both games. We turned 3 infield double plays during the evening and added another player to the DL. Rich Bernstein pulled a hamstring at the end of game 1. We hope he will be healed by the playoffs. That adds to Chris Chaisson playing on his injured knee, Werner Ennesser and Jason Boyd nursing bad ankles, Dan Mitchell with a variety of ailments and Jimbo Duffy with a twisted knee. I’m sure there are even more injured players on the team, but I can’t remember them all.
We did not play poorly, but we were not sharp. We let them take extra bases by throwing the ball around too much.
9) U.S. Exporters vs Humble Flies played on 06/18/10
The night began fine and we won the first game. However, the team experienced a meltdown in game 2 where we compounded our errors with a loss of fundamentals and tempers ending in Dennis being ejected from the game in the last inning and a loss. It was a tough night having to play with so many injured players. Rich hobbled around the bases with his pulled hamstring. Drew pulled his hamstring in game 2 and had to move to 1B. Glen is still on the mend with his jaw. Werner and Jason are nursing ankle injuries. Dennis is playing with a sore elbow and Dan may have a bone fracture healing in his foot.
The regular season is over. According to Ed Robinson, the playoff tournament will begin next Friday, June 25 and conclude on Friday, July 9, weather permitting. I should get the schedule next week.
Congratulations to Dan Mitchell for winning the batting championship this spring. The "Close, but no Cigar" award goes to Jim Duffy, who didn't win despite having a batting average that was over 150 points higher. Unfortunately, he didn't meet the 12 game and 20 at bats minimum requirement.
The Top Rookie Award for the season is jointly awarded to Jason Boyd and Tiko Descalzo. Each had an excellent opening season. Jason led the team in
RBIs and home runs and was tied with this old man for most triples. He also anchored shortstop for us most of the season and helped in the outfield when
we were short on deep men. Tiko led the team in hits and played a variety of positions in the field wherever he was needed. His speed and smarts on
the base paths helped us score much needed runs and won a game. Congratulations to both.
The Spring Season is done. Fridays are done. We are moving back to our regular Tuesday evenings for the Fall Season. We are already signed up for Tuesday nights. Our season will begin on August 24. The schedule won't be out until one or two weeks before the start and I'll pass it along as soon as I get it.
I already know that Chris is leaving to move to Vienna, Austria and will not be here. Tim, who we never did get to see this spring is moving to Hartford, CT so we won't even expect him at all this season. Max will be rejoining our team.
For the rest of you, I need to know if you will be playing with us in the fall.
Wrap Up, Spring 2010
Final Standings, Spring 2010
The Dans 16- 2- 0
Ugly Mugs 15- 3- 0
U.S. Exporters 12- 6- 0
Humble Flies 7- 11- 0
Excitable Boys 4- 14- 0
Friendly Fire 0- 18- 0