Game 17: Ducks 8, Black Sox 2

It's Good to be King... Just for a While





Things weren’t looking up for either the South Oakland Ducks or the Black Sox on Monday night. Mother Nature made her presence known during an early afternoon thunderstorm which drenched the friendly confines of Spring Hill Field. Due to both diligent groundwork by the Ducks and proper gamesmanship by the visiting Black Sox, however, the game proceeded in the bog-like conditions. Little did the Ducks know that Mother Nature’s rain was symbolic for the Ducks’ reign that would follow.

The tone was set early in the top of the first inning as Ducks’ catcher Jesse Smith threw an absolute laser to second base which quelled any rally that the Black Sox tried to establish in the early going. Credit goes to Mark Guthrie for throwing strikes early and often.
In the bottom of the first it looked like the Ducks were about to break the game open as Wojton screamed an infield single to third, and then was followed by Ben Gwin and Jesse Smith reaching base. With one out, Andrew (Kirk Gibson) McCray wore an inside pitch on the ankle, scoring Wojton. After McCray, though, the Black Sox shut down the Ducks threat, leaving the Ducks with only a 1-0 lead.

Things remained quiet until the 4th inning when the Black Sox staged a little rally, scoring a couple of runs on a shot into shallow right field that was eaten up by the Everglade-esque grass and water combo in the outfield. Trusting his defense to cut the inning short, Guthrie kept pounding strikes and the damage was kept to a minimum.

In the bottom of the 4th the Ducks decided to get their game faces on as Eric Lee reached first on a fielder’s choice, swiped second base, then scored on a rather strange infield fly by leadoff man Chris Wojton. Fortunately for the Ducks, Eric Lee is “fast as hell” and was on his horse.
The Black Sox looked to reclaim the lead in the fifth, landing runners on first and third with two outs, before Guthrie pounded the strike zone, resulting in a fly ball into shallow right field which was caught by Andrew McCray who narrowly missed a collision with the plodding Coby Kolaja.

Things remained tied until the bottom of the 6th when the Ducks came up with the very bottom of the order (8-9-10) due up. For most teams this would be a curse, but with the Ducks’ depth and plate prowess, a rally began. The rally began with simple squib hit on the bat of Les Geis (which at first appeared to hit his foot), which Geis hustled and beat out at first base. This set the stage for a sac bunt from Coby, who was walked instead, leaving the duty of sac bunting to Eric Lee. Lee, being the gazelle that he is, layed down the bunt, used his speed to force the Sox to make a play at third, resulting in everyone on the base paths advancing safely.

The bases would remain loaded with one out until perennial all-star Ben Gwin came to the plate and continued his assault on right field, hitting a two-run double which plated Geis and Kolaja. Jesse Smith walked. Ryan Novak then added an insurance run with a broken bat sacrifice to the middle infield. The score at this point reached 5-2, and all the insurance seemed to be in place. But the Ducks were not finished.

Despite being without an ACL Andrew McCray (showing shades of Jake Taylor from Major League) beat out a ground ball hit to the right side, scoring another run. The Ducks still kept it going. KT Murphy, down in the count 0-2, used the power of the tucked-in jersey (thanks to a request by Gwin) to clutch up and slap a single down the third base line, scoring two more Ducks. By the time the third out was recorded, the Ducks had posted 6 runs and held a firm 8-2 advantage.

Pleased by the offensive outpouring, Mark Guthrie went out on the mound and retired the first three Black Sox of the inning, ending the game. Guthrie pitched a complete game gem, allowing only two runs.

BULLET POINTS:
- This was a total team effort against a great team. The lineup did a great job from the top to the bottom. Even those who got out made the pitcher work hard out there.
- Both teams stranded their fair share of base runners.
- Skipper Teddy Jones must be commended for coaching to win, yet squeaking everyone into the game (except himself) which showed ultimate humility. This was his best win as manager, hands-down.
- Ben Gwin is absolutely on fire right at the plate right now. All the little girls and boys sure aren’t in despair anymore, because Gwin the Eskimo has arrived. They are surely jumping for joy.
- Rumor has it that the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim switched their moniker to simply the Anaheim Ducks because they heard about this awesome team in South Oakland…
- You won’t necessarily see it in the box score, but Ryan Novak played a HUGE role in the Ducks victory Monday. He was simply flawless at shortstop, showing similarities to Ozzie Smith (I almost expected a back flip). If he misses one or two of his plays, it’s a completely different game, but he didn’t. He was infallible.
- What a gutsy effort by Mark Guthrie. He didn’t try to overpower the Black Sox (the Black Sox are an elite team, this would have been foolish), instead relying on hitting his spots on letting his defense work behind him. I’ve never seen more fly ball outs in a NABA game. He always got the first out early in the inning, too, relaxing the Ducks when the Black Sox would threaten.

This Song Describes the efforts of Novak and Guthrie