1) U.S. Exporters vs Big Shots played on 08/20/13
We won the first game that started late as we waited for the Big Shots to get their eighth player. Brian and Zach both hit balls into the right field corner for inside the park homers in the first game. A hobbled Jason hit a 3-run shot in the nightcap. Chris Chaisson returned to the roster full time, but injured his shoulder making a great diving catch in game 2. Dan opened the season with an impressive 6 for 6 in his campaign for the batting title.
The Exporters dropped both games to an undermanned Empty Pitchers team. With only 9 fielders, we failed to take advantage of the open spaces. In the first couple innings, they played with 3 in the outfield, but then moved an infielder to the outfield. Rather than hit singles to the gap in the infield, we continued to fly out. The exception was Dennis who sprayed balls effectively to the open gaps in the infield. We also gave them some extra outs when we had defensive lapses. The night did see the return of Wes Yeary who hit for power most of the night.
Chico's Bail Bonds played on 09/03/13
The games started late as we had difficulty getting our team to the field. We began a few minutes late with only 8 players and managed to only give up 4 runs in the first inning. Fortunately, we stung them for 11 runs when we got our turn. Chico’s came back to tie the game in the top of the last inning. However, Wes advanced two bases to score on a poor throw after a sacrifice fly to win the opener. In the nightcap, we just didn’t hit. You can’t win in softball with only 8 runs.
The Exporters swept both games by the 10-run rule and not only showed them our mitts, but our bats too.
It was a night for the record books for Jason Boyd who put three over the fence in three consecutive plate appearances. In game 1, he hit a walkoff game-ending homer in the bottom of the 5th inning. As we were visitors for game 2, Jason was up again minutes later hitting a 3-run shot over the left-center fence. We hit around the order and Jason came to the plate again in that inning with Tiko on second and hit his second blast of the inning* over the center field fence. He would blast his fourth homer of the night in the 4th inning ending a tremendous night of 7 for 7 with a walk, four homers and a double with 10 RBIs for the night.
Every place in the lineup hit well and we flashed plenty of leather throughout the night. Jason capped the night by coming in from the bullpen for the final 2 outs as the other team found their timing of Glen and rocked him with line drives in the final inning. Jason’s knuckle balls quickly brought an end to the game.
* Editors Note: The only other time that a player for this team hit two home runs in a single inning was on September 3, 1996 when Mark Prebich put two over the fence at Quincy Park!
5) U.S. Exporters vs The Factory played on 09/17/13
We split a pair of one-run games against a good-hitting team. Lost the opener and won the nightcap. We made a couple of fundamental errors that cost us and need to stop. The Factory is a good line drive hitting team. They gave us extra chances with misplays in the field. The loss makes our path to the championship very difficult.
We had a disappointing night with our bats quiet. The P.E.D.’s are a good hitting team and laced line drives all over the park. I had to switch up pitchers just to give them something else to look at as they seemed to have Glen dialed in. Jason induced more fly balls in the second game, but we could not get our bats working. Our team fouled off more balls in one evening than I can ever remember. And because we were at Jennie Dean, at least a dozen balls were lost in the fenced WETA lot or on its roof. The new ball for game two was fouled onto the roof by Tiko on the first pitch. The second pitch went into the fenced lot. That was representative of our night.
Jason hit the fence a couple times, but Tiko hit two over. Unfortunately, Tiko’s were both solo shots. Brian ended up with 4 doubles on the night. The team played well in both games to get a pair of much needed wins.
The Exporters split against a solid hitting Unknown team. The games had about a 15 minute stoppage as we tried to get the lights on for the field. Huy arrived late and came in for Roger. Jason did get a homer and Brian slugged out two in the opener. In the second game, Tiko and Max homered. This time Tiko actually had someone on base for his hit. However, we just did not have enough run production in game two to win. Also, Coach Roger lost another half dozen balls to the WETA roof again.
The Bungalow Exporters ended the Fall 2013 season on a high note with a pair of wins over a good GAP team. The first game featured excellent defense with just enough hitting to get the win. Jason began the night with 10 homers and needing 4 more to tie the season record. He got two in his first two at bats, but was unable to lift anymore out of the yard. In the second game, both teams started with small ball for a couple innings before the Exporters exploded with 7 runs in each of the next two innings. In the tight race for the team’s batting title, Brian and Dan faded on the last evening. Huy made a good run at the title going 5 for 6 on the night with a pair of triples. However, Zach pulled ahead going 4 for 5 to win the title.
The wins moved the Bungalow Exporters up into fourth place in the 12 team division for a respectable finish after a tough start.
See you in the Spring.
Final Fall 2013 Standings
W L T Pts Win%
P.E.D.'s 13 3 2 28
The Factory 13 5 0 26
CCSP Empty Pitchers 12 6 0 24
Bungalow Exporters 10 6 2 22 .xx
The Unknown 9 8 1 19
GAP Softball 8 10 0 16
Dawgs 7 10 1 15
Sponsor Name Here 7 11 0 14
Lollygaggers 7 11 0 14
Chico's Bail Bonds 6 11 1 13
The Big Shots 4 12 2 10
Show Us Your Mits 3 14 1 7