Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Pretty tied up: Ducks comeback, even the score vs. Phantoms



___7_______________7____________



Chris Wojoton went 3-4 including a double, a home run, a single and a walk against his former team, and Eric Tans hit the game tying single in the bottom of the seventh to cap a frantic comeback by the South Oakland Ducks(1-3-1).
The Ducks played the game without their starting center fielder, right fielder, DH, second baseman, third baseman, shortstop, and catcher. Rick's biceps didn't show up, which moved South Oakland's starting first baseman behind the plate.
Faced with a depleted roster, Coach Jones had his work cut out for him.

As painful as it was, the reality is the glass is half full for the Ducks after the tie. South Oakland erased Phantom leads of 2-0, 3-2, and 7-3. The Ducks equaled the offensive output of the prior three games by scoring seven last night.
Smith (0-2) pitched six strong innings, allowing three earned runs. Mark, "Last thoughts on Woody" Guthrie pitched two shutout inning in relief.
The Ducks trailed 2-0 in the bottom of the first when Ryan Novak (lower left) hit a 2-run home run to tie the game, driving in Chris Wojoton.
After the Phantoms scored in the top of the third, Wojoton hit a solo HR in the bottom half of the inning to make the score 3-3. Gwin threw out a guy stealing third by ten feet thanks to the tag by Wojoton, who played a strong game at third where he was filling in for Guthrie, who was filling in for Eric Lee in center field.
In the top of the fourth, the Phantoms scored four runs on two hits, two walks and two errors, they would score again.
It was 7-3 going into the bottom of the fourth. South Oakland scored one in the bottom of the fourth, two in the bottom of the fifth, and one in the bottom of the seventh to scratch out a 7-7 tie.



Bullet points



  • Garrett Moore played a solid right field, he was 2-4, with an RBI, reached on an error, stole a base and was generally disruptive on the base paths. Speed kills.
  • Eric Tans had a great night at the plate, he doubled and singled in the tying run.
  • The Ducks are undefeated since KT switched to gray pants.
  • This is the kind of game we lost last year.
  • Novak and Wojo were huge last night.
  • Most of the runs we gave up were a result of guys playing out of position. Thank you, to everyone who showed up. Even Coby and Kirk Gibson, who arrived in the 5th after they spent the evening ice-sculpting for under-privileged children in Slippery Rock, came out to support their teammates.
  • Ben Gwin needs to start hitting like Ben Gwin can hit; he is 1-12 so far this season. Since we went to wood bats, he's hit .485 and .493 in the past two seasons. Even taking into consideration favorable bookkeeping, he is doing poorly by his own standards. Ben Gwin will start hitting.
  • On Sunday I was reading my 9-month old daughter Tolstoy, she just kept saying "Da-Da-Da-Da, Baaaaa-WEEEE", and then turned her attention to her book, "Animal Babies" which is a small 12 page cardboard book with pictures of baby animals. The hitting analogy is in there somewhere; instead of trying to write ten-line sentences about a wisp of smoke blowing over the Russian countryside, I should simplify things ie, "I have a bill, feathers and webbed feet, what animal am I?" At least I showed up and caught. I catch a good game for an outfielder.
  • If anyone is weary of my voice, and the inevitable Ben-centric semi-rants that pop up in this blog let me know and I will send you the admin. information and you can post stuff as well.
  • I'll buy a drink for the first person to "edit" the Blacksox wikipedia page.
  • Smith and Guthrie both pitched well, do they both get a "no decision"?
  • that field umpire is hilarious, his presence and entertainment value just barely compensate for the missed calls. Rumor has it, he studied under this guy...
  • I wonder if we'll finish this game on Saturday before we play the Phantoms again.
  • It's nice that the Pens' game won't interfere with our game on Saturday, or vice-versa.
  • Our first rundown went horribly wrong.
  • We're entering a stretch of five games in nine days including two important division games against the Eagles and Owls respectively. During this stretch we will discover the true fabric of our pitching depth.