1) U.S. Exporters vs Lollygaggers played on 04/17/12
We swept the Lollygaggers for the season opener with just enough hitting to support solid defensive plays. We only had 9 to start the game in the field for game one with the last 2 arriving before we batted. In particular, Huy Trinh had an outstanding game at second base. He pulled in at least 3 difficult pop ups behind him. Rich had a very solid game in right field frustrating their deep-hitting lefties grabbing a couple of flies right at the fence. Tiko also had a couple of long runs to snag balls and prevent hits.
Barcroft is frustrating for the early games. Those two K’s in the first inning of the first game was due to the problem with the sun in the batter’s eyes. A small cloud helped for awhile. Then the sun reemerged for Glen and he was blinded.
On the good news side, the Bungalow has agreed to continue sponsorship of the team. HOORAY!
Glen pitched both games striking out none and walking none.
NOTE: Joe pulled his hamstring rounding 3rd base in the first inning of game 2. With no subs, he was an automatic out in the second inning. He will be out at least one week until we find out how bad it is.
We played two solid games both offensively and defensively to win the games. Brian, Rich and Tiko all made catches at the fence and every outfielder made great catches to take away hits. Huy is having an excellent year in the infield anchoring second base and took away hits leaping to stop a line drive and snagging a difficult pop up behind second. Tiko’s hitting streak ended at 8 when he lined out to the shortstop in the fourth game of the year. He is now 10 for 11 on the season. Jason and Dave each put one over the fence. Roger could have had an inside-the-park homer according to Glen who was waving him home. But with no outs and no oxygen, Roger held at third for a triple knowing he would score later. If this team stays healthy and shows up each week, we can make a serious run at the title this season.
[In game one] Glen pitched, walked none, struck out 1, gave up one homer. [In game two] Glen pitched, walked none, struck out none and the team turned 2 infield double plays.
The Exporters posted another pair of wins over the Foul Balls winning 19-6 and 18-9. This week saw the return of Jim Foti and John Thompson. Both hit the ball well and contributed to our sweep of the Foul Balls. We opened the game with 8 runs in the first inning getting hits from all over the lineup. Rich ended up tweeking his hammy at the end of the first game and rested the rest of the night. Game 2 was close until we poured on the offense at the end of the game and turned an infield double play to snuff out a threat in the top of the fifth. Jason and Jeremy hit shots over the fence and several members hit gappers for triples. The team is 6-0 and looking good this season.
Glen pitched both games and walked none and struck out none.
Tiko opened the game with a power shot over the left field fence for a lead-off homer sending the largest crowd of Exporters fans in recent memory (5) cheering wildly. The large crowd attended to see the Trinh clan competition. Not to be outdone by Tiko, in the second inning, Huy drove a ball deep in the gap and scampered all the way around for an inside the park homer. Joe returned to the lineup but remained slowed by the hamstring injury. Timely hitting and solid defense kept the winning streak alive. In game 2, we were given credit for one infield double play although we had another that was disallowed by the umpire. However, the most amazing fact of the night was that a player was tossed out of the game by the umpire and it wasn’t Dennis. This time it was on the other team.
Glen pitched both games walking none and striking out none.
5) U.S. Exporters vs Fifth Base played on 05/22/12
The Bungalow Exporters kept their perfect record intact. The field dried out just barely enough to allow us to get the games in. Decent, but unremarkable play led to the first win. In the nightcap, Fifth Base came out hitting and exploded for 7 runs in the second inning. We managed to tie the game up in the fourth before falling behind again. In one of our more dramatic finishes, we were still down four runs going into the last inning. Glen started with a single. Tiko and Huy both flew out. We were down to our last out. Jason walked. Dennis singled to load the bases. Roger drove in the first two runs with a bloop single. Max hit a single through the infield driving in Dennis. Rich then hit a single to left center to score Roger which tied the game. Dave followed with another single to load the bases again. Brian then drove a ball through the right side of the infield to bring in the winning run. The Bungalow Exporters remain undefeated for another week.
[In game one] Glen pitched and walked 1 and struck out 1. [In game two] Glen pitched and walked 0 and struck out 0.
Our bats fell silent in game one while KAHNCPA placed balls all over the field and stretched hits for an extra base with lots of hustle. They are a good solid team that deserved the first game. In game 2, we still struggled at the plate to get into our rhythm and fell short at the end of the game. We were missing some of our good players. Joe reinjured his hamstring and needs more time. Dave decided to get married over the weekend and was off honeymooning. Corey is still trying to clear his schedule so he is at least in our timezone. And Max had a conflict. However, we did see the return of Werner after rehabbing from surgery before the start of the season.
Just not enough hitting in game 2. In both games, the umpire stopped play in the middle of an inning when time expired.
Lacking many of our key players, our defense suffered and led to us giving away the first game. The second game was close the entire time and we pulled it out in the last inning with a walk off game winning hit from Max Wagenblast.
We are the champions of the spring season.
We entered the game with a half game lead, but losing all tie-breakers. We controlled our own destiny. It was simple. We win the games and we win the championship. Playing at Barcroft Field with the sun blinding the batters for the first few innings, the Exporters proved to be better at swinging blindly than the Dawgs and we shut them out for the first four innings. We put the game away early and never looked back with hitting from all parts of the order. In game 2, it was small ball until the 4th inning when we broke it open after two of the first three batters made outs. We then exploded for an 11 run, two out rally. Then in the 5th inning, we picked up where we left off. Scott blasted a 3-run homer over the right-center fence. That was followed by four consecutive triples. We ended just a couple batters short of getting Jason to the plate one more time who was one hit short of the season’s batting title. Instead, Dennis wins the title with the minimum number of games to qualify and having sat out the last month to protect his lead.
Final Standings, Spring 2012
W L T Pts
Bungalow Exporters 14 4 0 28
Gray Plant Mooty 11 5 2 24
KAHNCPA 11 6 1 23
Rounders 11 7 0 22
Arlington Metz 9 8 1 19
Lollygaggers 8 8 2 18
Spartans 8 9 1 17
Dawgs 8 9 1 17
Waterproofers 7 10 1 15
Fifth Base 6 11 1 13
The Big Shots 6 11 1 13
Foul Balls 3 14 1 7