Orange Crush edge Ghostbusters 3-2.

Christian Necheff (sp.) pitched a complete game for the Orange Crush, allowing two unearned runs over seven innings, striking out upwards of 8 Ghostbusters to earn the win for the O.C.

(Orange Crush Team Photo)

Ghostbusters starter Alex Schwartz was the tough luck loser, allowing two runs, none earned, in three innings of work.

Tony Casale hit a two out triple in the first inning, but was stranded on third, when Vinny Gala hit a line drive right at someone-- the Ghostbusters M.O. for the first four games of the fall ball season.

In the bottom of the first, the Crush had runners on first and second with one out when a potential inning ending double play ball turned into a two run error.



The Ghostbusters had the bases loaded in the bottom of the second but Necheff got the RingMaster strikeout and worked out of the jam when Ben Gwin Grounded out to O.C. second baseman, Joe Graff to end the inning.

Joe Graff, second baseman for the Blues, Bulldogs, and now the Crush, had an uncharacteristically rough game in the field. His mind was clearly somewhere else. perhaps still thinking about how torturous it was to have to play against life partner BJ Rankin in the first game of the double header.


The Ghostbusters defense kept them in the game, turning four double plays. Adam Smith pitched two scoreless innings for the Ghostbusters. In the bottom of the fifth Joe Graff tried to steal third base, Ghostbusters catcher, Garrett Moore, had other ideas.


Graff was thrown out at third, for the second out of a 1-2-5 double play. Strike 'em out throw 'em out. This was Garret Moore's best inning as a catcher.
Joe was more distraught then when he heard BJ was getting married, to a woman no less.

No photoshop needed. They are a deadly double play combo.


The Crush would add another unearned run in the sixth, off relief pitcher Mark Kuhns.
Trialling 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh the Ghostbusters rallied. With one out; Vinny Gala and Eric P. singled, then Shwartz walked to load the bases. Ron Kuhns drove in a run with an RBI force out, and Mark Kuhns followed with a single.

The stage was set


The Ringmaster, who entered the game with an .800 average, came to bat with tw outs and runners on second and third, trailing 3-2, but Necheff finished the game with a strike out, and the Ghostbusters fell to 1-3 with the loss.

• Dr. Dan "Venkman" Morgan will get the start this Saturday against the Gray Bats.
  
• I've never been on a team that hit so many triples (3; Gala, Lee/Winston, and Casale) turned so many double plays, and still had a 1-3 record.
  
• The Ghostbusters (1-4) have lost two games by one run.
• These things have a way of leveling out, the pendulum will swing the Ghostbusters way again.
  
• I'm 1-for-the fall, this must change. I looked at my spring stats to remind myself I can hit and drive in runs. Here are the Ducks 2008: Stats
• Our middle infield is the best the fall league has seen this year.
  
• South Oakland Duck Adam Smith is pitching as well as I've seen him pitch in a while.
• Vinny is the best all-around first basemen in the Pittsburgh NABA.
  
• The atmosphere has been great so far.
• Watch out for the Ducks this spring...Team of Destiny '09.
  

Ghostbusters vs. Orange Crush, Sat 10/27, 11:30 AM PIe Traynor Field

The Keymaster is ready

Bad News for the Orange Crush

Highest Form of Flattery: Crush guarantee victory over Ghostbusters

First, the game is at 11:30am not 9am, this Saturday at Pie Traynor

Naturally, the South Oakland Ducks Blog has spawned two off-shoots fall ball blogs, here is the second fall ball blog that has appeared in the wake of the Ducksblog: Orange Crush Blog

Since I have linked it here, it may actually get read. The writing is better than this site (actual journalism vs. the ramblings of a young man with a fiction writing degree), but it lacks video clips.

Now we have a photoshop war on our hands.

I am not very good at photoshop

It's kind of better that way
(Sunglasses and eye black, Strom?)

Anyway, the Crush have guaranteed victory this weekend, inviting spectators to "witness perfection"

Only God is perfect
The Ghostbusters learned that lesson in the 80's



Adalino and his league leading .833 Average will dominate the Crush this weekend
He is currently waiting for a sign...

Quack

Ghostbusters Split

I had the third and fourth overall picks in the fall ball draft, with those two selections I chose Dan Morgan and BJ Rankin. In the name of competitive balance Rankin was moved to the Gray bats without playing a game for the Ghostbusters.

On Saturday Rankin demolished his former team, pitching four scoreless innings and hitting a two run triple to lead the Bats to a 5-4 victory over the Avalon Ghostbusters of the North Hills.

Here is the recap from Gray Bats coach, Larry.

Rankin did not earn the win, as Avalon erased a 3-0 Bats lead, on the strength of strong pitching from Adam Smith, and a clutch RBI triple from Eric "Winston" Lee.

Clutch mid season acquisition

Avalon led 4-3 after six, but the Gray Bats blindly screetched their way to an unearned run in the top of the seventh, and added another on a semi-routine "haunted" flyball which eluded the Ghostbusters outfielders.

Alex Warren retired the Ghostbusters in order in the bottom of the seventh on three hard hit ground ball outs.

It was a tough loss; Vinny Gala's day at the plate was symbolic of the Avalon effort, knocking the cover off the ball in three at bats only to wind up 0-for-3 with three line outs to the Bats left fielder.

***

The Ghostbusters won their first game in dramatic fashion, erasing deficits of 3-0 and 4-2 on the way to defeating the Orange Crush 9-5.

Game two of the double header featured Ducks starter Mark "Captain America" Guthrie, on the hill for the Orange Crush, and Dr. Dan "Venkman" Morgan of the Ghostbusters.

Guthrie started the game off the bottom of the first with a strike out of Ducks' infielder Les Gies.

Guthrie had the Ducks number in game two, Ben Gwin was 0 for 3 against Guthrie, and Eric Lee was 1-3.

Crush third baseman, Stay Puft Marshmellow Man, hit a hanging curve ball by Morgan down the left field line for a two run double to put the Crush ahead 3-0.

Avalon continued to hit the ball right at the opposition.

Morgan turned in a courageous performance allowing two earned runs over four innings, despite a hamstring problem that almost forced an early exit.
"I can go one more" he said after pulling up lame in the third, and he proceeded to pitch a scoreless fourth inning, retiring the Crush in order.

Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Avalon loaded the bases with one out, and tied the game on a busted double play.

Then the Ghostbusters scored on back to back squeeze bunts, the first with Eric Lee on third and Mike Watson at the plate, which scored two runs after a throwing error.

Watson reached third and Guthrie was pulled for Brian Strom. On the second pitch Watson broke for the plate and Tony laid down a perfect bunt, the run scored and Tony beat the throw to first.

The Ghostbusters added another insurance run on Adalino's third hit of the day.

Adalino describes his thoughts after going 5 for 6 with four RBI in the Ghostbusters double header


No joke.

Mark Kuhns (1-0) was the pitcher of record for the Ghostbusters earning the win on the mound after allowing one run in two innings. The run came in the top of the fifth when Stay Puft ined a single to center.

Mark's son Ron recorded the save. Ron Kuhns worked out of a bases loaded no outs jam in the bottom of the seventh. Blues' left fielder Brian Strom lead off the inning with a single to left, followed by three straight walks.

Kuhns struck out the next batter, and enticed a 1-2-3 game ending double play from Crush shortstop, "Wino"

Ghostbusters Double Header Saturday 9am, Pie Traynor Field

The Ghostbusters welcome new recruit, LHP (and probably 1b/of) Alex Schwartz.

Bad News for the Gray Bats and Crush.

Thursday

Happy birthday, skip.

Coach Jones talks with Ducks infielder Ryan Novak

***

The Ghostbusters have a double header this saturday, 9am at Pie Traynor Field in North Park.
The weather should be fantastic.

let's play two

The NABA national office has yet to update information regarding the 2009 Florid Citrus Classic.

Blues infielder Kenny Rayl will have fund raising information this weekend.

Here is an unrelated Rolling Stones video

Quack.

Ghostbusters Double Header Saturday 9am, Pie Traynor Field

Swoosh and I are trying to figure out a way to provide Ducks apparel at a lower cost, and to con local investors into funding a large portion of our league dues next year.
I could not find an online vendor that provides green and yellow shirts at a lower cost. all the products are marked up $3 all that money goes to the Ducks, but there's still a rather large shipping cost which is no good. Our goal is to lower prices by about $5 a shirt and still have enough profit to get a significant portion to the team, while providing awesome gear to our loyal fans.
We may have to outsource.

Last week's slate of fall ball games will be moved to the end of the season, not bumped up one week. The Avalon Ghostbusters of the North Hills have a chance to get to 2-1 after this Saturday's double header, which I initially, and incorrectly assumed was only going to be one game. Fortunately for the Ghostbusters, the team is loaded with pitching. Avalon may add a lefty to the already deep rotation, and another catcher. Eric Lee is a hard man to get a hold of, but has an open offer to play for the Ghostbusters this season, to add some much needed outfield depth.

***
Speaking of bad remakes, there is a Knight Rider series in the works.
So many original series' have fought their way back into the public eye due to a sick obsession with 80's and 90's campy television, film, and music which was bad to begin with. And it is due in part, perhaps, to baby boomers reminiscence about the year they got the tax break which allowed them to buy their second Porsche.

"Remember the night after all the Federal Air Traffic Controllers were laid off, and we did a bunch a blow and killed a homeless person before we went home and watched the Knight Rider episode where Kit made sexual advances towards Herbie the Love Bug?
Those were the days"

It is perplexing how a show or a movie can be made on the basis of, "the original was so bad it's good". This is happening everywhere, and is even more disturbing than the Indiana Jones, Die Hard remakes, which contain no pretense about being anything but formulaic revenue machines.
Like a bad joke told by a man with a sweet mullet; it may be funny, but not because its funny. I think.

There's also a GI Joe movie in the works. If this movie goes beyond pure war propaganda, I will be amazed.


***
I want a Quantum Leap remake, and another Twin Peaks-esque David Lynch project on network television.

I'm enjoying the Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicle series, even though it is fairly predictable.

***
Ducks' pitcher, Nick Homa, continues to dominate in fantasy football, I continue to lose.

In baseball news, Carlos Zambrano threw a no-hitter two days ago, and the 4th place Yankees are trying to get a rule change to allow them to be in the playoffs just because they are the Yankees. Bud Selig is considering the offer.

Former Pirate Dale Sveum is now the coach of the Brewers.

Quack.

Infinite Jest

Writer, David Foster Wallace, committed suicide yesterday.

I think it was 2004, when I received a hardbound edition of Wallace's collection of short stories, “Oblivion”, as a Christmas gift.[1] It took me a while to penetrate the collection, but like a good, pure narcotic, I was unable to stop once I indulged myself. I was hooked on David Foster Wallace. This time coincided with the peak of my own self destructive behavior, and David Foster Wallace’s work was one of the more benign habit forming substances I enjoyed during my undergraduate years. Those days are long gone, and I haven’t read his work in quite some time, one of those things I left in South Oakland over three years ago.

Shortly after my holiday introduction to David Foster Wallace, I was assigned “The Girl with Curious Hair”, another of his short story collections in one of my Fiction Readings classes at Pitt. I recommend it; the story, Little Expressionless Animals, naturally, depicts the day-to-day of Alex Trebek and Pat Sajak, among other things.

Post-Modernism is kind of like licorice; not everyone likes licorice, but people who like licorice really like licorice. [2] Reading DFW led me to experiment with the application of a, somewhat stylistically forced, po-mo frame work to a large portion of my undergraduate writing. As a writer, I’ve never been a huge fan of the traditional story arc, party due to my inability to master a straight forward, start to finish short story and partly because that’s what everyone else was doing and I felt a need to do something different and more grandiose, I failed often. The way I think doesn't lend itself well with traditional story telling. I have a hard time lining up all my Ducks in a row. David Foster Wallace introduced me to post-modernism, and while many consider the genre to be self aggrandizing and condescending, (they [whomever they are] may be right in some instances or maybe they are jealous, or don’t get it. I may not “get it” entirely) but by reading his work I’ve been exposed to previously unknown (to myself) ideas of what is acceptable and possible in terms of structure, content and style. I may never title the chapters in one of my stories with line drawings, but elements of post modernism leak into much of my fiction writing.

The literary world has suffered a tragic loss which pales in comparison to the loss of David Foster Wallace’s family.

I will revisit his work with a clear head; that’s the best thing I can do to honor the memory of an author who has shaped the way I approach writing more than any other.

---

[1] I’ve always had a fondness for hardcover books, they look wonderful on the shelf, and through my pillaging of discount and used book stores I have accumulated almost an entire shelf of hardcovers which, I contend, give me the appearance of a serious reader, and literary type.

[2] This is a saying I saw on a T-shirt of a girl I was friends with in high school and related to LSD.

Rainout

The Avalon Ghostbusters of the North Hills will not play tomorrow due to inclimate weather, and lack of a grounds crew. The Ghostbusters' next game will be Saturday September 20th at Pie Traynor Field. I don't know what I'm going to write about all week. Be prepared for nonsense. Feel free give me some ideas.

Beatles, Rain



Grateful Dead, Looks Like Rain

Rain, Friday, and Robots

While the 2009 Ducks season is still 8 and a half months away, it's not to early to start fund raising. For instance, this holiday season, why not by Ducks Hoodies for everyone you know, and ask your mom to buy you one for the holiday celebration of your choice.

The Ghostbusters are unlikely to fight against the elements in order to get in a game, although the field was mighty dry and may benefit from the rain if it doesn't continue to late into the night.

Goodness knows we can't reschedule for Sunday as that would cut into the twelve hour pre-game binge drinking preparation for the Steelers game at 8:30.
I'm a die hard Steelers fan, and I look forward to football season with the anticipation of a high school kid awaiting some quasi-holiday I don't understand but allows me to miss school for a day, but I think the NFL is one step away from becoming self-aware and overtaking human kind.

Terminator and Terminator II star the Governnor of California, Terminator 4 stars Christian Bale of Dark Knight and Batman Begins fame. Batman and Robin the forgettable fourth installment of the Batman Series, includes the villian Mr. Freeze, who was portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
There are a lot of sequels and remakes coming out. I'm sure someone has noticed I have never used any pictures of the remade Bad News Bears film, although it was enjoyable.

I'll have an email out to the Blues in a week or so outlining our plans for the Florida Citrus Classic, Jan 17th-19th. I hope we can retain most of our pitching staff.

Batman and Robin is on TBS right now

I don't have cable and I can't find the remote, so I get to watch the worst Batman movie of all time, this may also be the worst movie in which Uma thurmon plays a predominant role. I think I may read a book soon.

I'd rather watch these two than the governer of California playing Mr. Freeze.



There is not much to report from Ducks, Ghostbusters, or Blues camp at the moment.
The Ghostbusters will probably need to add a couple Ducks to the lineup this Saturday, we only have eight confirmed players. I'm in the process of trying to aquire Eric Lee from the Crush, as the Ghostbusters are short on outfielders.

I am amazed that Batman and Robin was ever made. I hope if a Ghostbusters 3 comes to fruition, it has absolutly nothing in common with this sequel in another solid movie franchise. There are rumors of a third Ghostbusters film floating around the internet. Bill Murry is the only one who is not on board. Murry was not in Caddy Shack II, good decision. Since Dan Akroid is already in Ghostbusters, he will not be able to fill in for Murry in a hypothetical Ghostbusters 3, as he did in Caddy Shack II.

If you haven't noticed, the NFL season has begun. Ducks' pitcher, Nich Homa had the high score in the fantasy football league I am commisioning. Blues catcher, Craig "Ultimate Warrior" Boley also won handily.

Dominant.

The Blues will soon begin fundraising for the Florida Citrus Classic, which runs from Jan. 17th-19th in Palm Beach Florida. A solid showing in FLA would be a great way to start the tournament seaosn.

It would benefit the Ducks greatly to aquire some sponsorship money prior to the 2009 season. The T-shirt sales have been less than spectacualr, and I don't think we can count on Gregg Campbell getting another $500 from the Bottelshop, I haven't heard form him in a while. It's never too early to solicit funds for your amateur baseball team.

Ghostbusters Slimed in Opener

The Avalon Ghostbusters of the North Side lost to the Orange Crush 10-5 Saturday morning.
Adam SMith Started for the Ghostbusters allowing one earned run over two innings, he also added an RBI single in the first inning.

The score was tied 2-2going into the bottom of the third when the a barrage of sharply hit ground balls lead to seven Orange runs, at most three of which were earned, and things looked bleak for Egon and the gang. However, The Ghostbusters fought valiantly and closed the gap to 9-5 before eventually falling to Brian Strom and the Orange Crush.

Garrett Moore had two hits for Avalon, and aside from one error filled inning the Ghostbusters appear to have a strong squad. I don't know everyone's name yet, but everyone plays infield and we have seven pitchers who can throw strikes. This was the first time Coach Gwin had his entire team together at once as a result players were playing out of position. Gwin went with the unique strategy of using five different pitchers on purpose. Smith started the game, Tony pitched the third inning when we decided to take a break from playing defense, forty something Mark Kuhns pitched effectively for the 4th and 5th innings allowing one run on three hits, before gving way to his son Ron who threw gas, and allowed no runs in the sixth inning.

South Oakland Duck, Les Gies, had two hits and an RBI in a guest appearance for the Ghostbusters.

I expect the Ghostbusters to win the rest of their games handily, now that their coach knows where to put his players.

I filled in for the Crush in their second game, they/we won 14-2 over the Gray Bats, Duck Mark Guthrie pitched five innings allowing one run.

In the nature of competitive balance, the Bats have stolen Ghostbuster's SS/P BJ Rankin, for a player to be named later, before Rankin could even don the yellow and blue. The Bats also picked up Crush 2B Joe Graff, for a broken bat and half a can of dip.

The Ghostbusters take on the new look Gray Bats this Saturday at 11:30 am, at Pie Traynor Field in North Park.

PIttsburgh Blues, Nationally Ranked!

Below is a link to the league article regarding the Blues.
Blues ranked 25th nationally after 1st tournament

Here is a link to some pictures taken by the Guthries

The Ghostbusters take on the Orange Crush, tomorrow at 9am. The Orange Crush team features Ducks Eric Lee, and Mark Guthrie, along with Blues pitchers Guthrie and Christain Necheff, head coach Joe Graff, and are coached by Blues left- fielder Brian Strom.

Ducks DH, and Pittsburgh Blues outfielder Garrett Moore will bat lead-off and catch for the Avalon Ghostbusters of the North Hills.

Bad News for the Orange Crush

Ghostbusters Season Opener vs. Orange Crush: Saturday, 9am, Pie Traynor Field

This fall season will be a good way to scout some new talent, and hopefully bolster the Ducks' and possibly the Blues' lineup for the upcoming Seasons.
Everyone will play a lot. While the emphasis is clearly on fun and catching ghosts,
we must destroy the Orange Crush this weekend.

You Know...




Quack.

Moustache madness, Blues team picture...Ghostbusters opener this weekend

Here's the official recap of games 2 and 3 from the league site. Blues Make Strong Showing in Tournament

The Commish also handed out official team awards and such. I don't ever refer to the score book when i write these things so Joe may be a bit more accurate in his assessment.

Either way it was a blast, and as far as I can tell, the tournament experience has left us all wanting more.

The Ghostbusters play the Orange Crush at 9am this Saturday at Pie Traynor field.

Ghostbusters Fall Ball Team...My take on Blues team awards

Fall Ball starts this weekend, time and place TBD. There is still time to sign up at the league's home page. Pittsburghnaba.com
The fall season will run until Thanksgiving, by then most of us will be caught in the iron clad grip of the NFL, and the Penguins' season will be well underway. Then it is only a few months until winter meetings, and possibly a winter tournament for the Blues. I'm going to make fund raising for the Blues and Ducks and off-season priority. I have sponsorship request forms if anyone wants them. Email me at penwin66@yahoo.com, for sponsorship info, and any other ideas or questions for future tournaments.


The Metros won the Blue & Gray Classic, beating the Rangers 13-11. I don't believe it. I hope they plan on playing in next season's Atlantic City tournament. I want another shot at that team. I think we all do.

Metros utility player

I'm amazed that there wasn't a way to have a semi-final game in VA. If that was the case, the Blues who finished third, would have played the Rangers with the winner taking on the Metros.
I am not pleased that we only got to play three games, after I was told we would be able to play a semifinal if we finished in third place. I don't know all the ins and outs of why we got screwed, but that's how it goes sometimes.

***

The Pittsburgh NABA grew in leaps and bounds this season. The high level of play during the regular season helped prepare the Blues for the trip to VA. We were not overwhelmed by anyone, and a lot of that is due to the consistency of the pitching and overall team play by all the Pittsburgh teams this past year.

A lot of guys on the Ducks ask me why I don't hate the Black Sox, and I tell them it is because I'd played alongside Kenny and Matt in AC and Phoenix. The return of Pittsburgh to the tournament circuit, will bring the league closer together, and perhaps decrease some of the animosity we've seen over the past seasons. It's hard to hate guys who you have played alongside while representing your city. At the same time it intensifies the rivalries in a different way. Players from the Rebels, Matadors, Eagles, Phantoms and Owlz all declined invitations to play on the Blues.

Bringing a title home to Pittsburgh would mean as much to me as it would to bring a title home to South Oakland. I would be hard pressed to chose one over the other. In 2009 I'm hoping to accomplish both, after dominating the fall league with the Ghostbusters.

BLUES TEAM AWARDS

Cy Young: Ben Sorosky
My conoslation prize for an unreal performance in a game that defined the term "hard-luck loss"

Co-MVP: Craig Boley, Jason Ashcroft
The battery for our lone win in the tourney; Boley lead caught two nine inning games, was among the team leaders in OBP, and Ashcroft threw a gem in our game one victory.

Offensive Players of the Tournament: Kenny Rayl, Brian Strom
Kenny played an inspired game against the Metros, and scored our only run vs. the Rangers. Strom had the game winning RBI vs. the Illusion, and the only RBI vs. the Rangers

Outstanding defensives performance: BJ Rankin, Jason Goldie
This could have gone to anyone, but I think they stole the most hits, and played the two most important positions with incredible consistency. As is the case with the MLB gold glove award, Jason Goldie lead the team with five hits in three games, which should be noted somewhere. Goldie also threw out two runners at home.

Hats off to Joe Graff for putting other players in ahead of himself, and selflessly managing the team, and for a great game at second base in game one.

Go Blues
Quack.

Blues lose games 2 & 3 by a combined three runs. Sadness, optimism?

My dog died today. Her name was Zoe, she was an Akita a breed used to hunt bears. Some people have cats who bring dead moles or mice to their front door as gifts. One time Zoe broought back half a deer. In her honor, and as an ode to the Blues, the best Pittsburgh travel team on which i've ever had the honor of playing, here is Robert Johnson's Hell Hound Blues.

There is an empty feeling in the pit of my gut. We should be playing today.

The Blues allowed 14 runs over three games. The pitching defense were masterful all weekend and it is a shame the New York Metros who don't respect the game or anyone else are playing today while the Blues are left to ponder what could and arguably should have been.

It would be much easier to lament the few mistakes we made and view our two narrow losses as an end for a great team ( I know I'm having a hard time getting the vision of a couple at bats from our last game out of my head), than it is too view this tournament loss as a springboard for future success. Pittsburgh has a legit travel team that can compete with anyone. The Florida Rangers can play year-round, and New York has open tryouts for anyone in the city to join their team, they also draw from a much larger pool of players. Neither team overpowered us, a few bounces the other way and we make it to the Championship today with a rested pitching staff against a beatable opponent.

The Blues are a competitive, tight-knit group who take pride in representing their city. I named Craig Boley the captain of this team and he is most certainly a leader, but leadership is ingrained in the dirt and pine tar stains which cover all 15 Blues uniforms. The hustle and the attitude of everyone was phenomenal. This is not the last the NABA tournament circuit has seen of the Blues.

***

After opening the tournament with a 6-3 win over David Copperfield's Mennonites, the Blues had to win one of two games on Sunday to advance to Monday's championship. The Blues lost a 2-1 heart-breaker on the game's final at-bat to the heavily favored Florida Rangers, and a 9-7 game to the classless New York Metros who tried to cheat and talked more than group of auctioneers on crystal-meth.

The Blues finished 1-2; We beat the Illusion who beat the Metros who beat the Rangers. Pittsburgh allowed 14 runs and scored 14 runs, a far cry from the AC and Phoenix Pittsburgh teams who gave up over nine runs per game.

The pitching and defense was phenomenal for Pittsburgh all weekend, only three errors were committed all tournament. The Blues pitchers threw two complete games, Ashcroft's game one victory, and Sorosky's game two gem, in which he allowed a run in the first, and a run in the ninth to bookend seven consecutive scoreless innings. Unfortunately the Rangers second baseman stole at least three hits from Pittsburgh, leading a flawless defensive effort by Florida, in a game in which neither team committed an error. Jaosn Goldie threw a runner out at the plate flatfooted, after bobbling a base hit to center, Gwin threw out runners at second and home, and Vinny Gala played first base with the agility of a young Andres Galaraga. Dustin WInston was tremendous behind the plate, and the infield made all the plays. Despite clawing out a run in the top of the ninth, the Blues fell to a pinch hit walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth that barely cleared the rightfield wall. We just couldn't string the hits together. Sorosky deserved better.

The Rangers are a classy group of players, they talked and chatted and cheered on their team. Conversely, the Metros taunted, cursed in Spanish, and harassed our guys and our manager when Joe called them out for bending the pinch running rules. That was a hard game to lose. We took a 2-0 lead in the second when Jason Ashcroft singled in two runs, and the game went back and forth Kenny Rayl gave the Blues the lead in the fifth with a ground rule double over the left field wall at the Potomac Nationals, single A stadium. until New York took a 7-6 lead in the 7th, and added two insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th. Rayl hit another double in the ninth to cut the lead to two runs. both those hits would have been home runs at the other park. Kenny had a great two games after missing the first, and played a solid game at third base against NY.

Collectively we started to press a little towards the end of the second two games, I know I did anyway.

Had Kenny made it to game one, and hit in the same manner, he'd get my MVP vote.
I have to give co-MVP honors to Jason Ashcroft and Craig Boley, Ashcroft won us our first tournament game in four years, and had two hits against New York.
Boley led the team in batting, caught two good games and played an error free game at second base against the Rangers.

Despite the sour feeling after coming so close in Virginia, I'm anxious to put on the powder blues again and represent the city.

Players on the current roster will be given the first opportunity to play in future tournaments, any opening will be filled in as necessary. We are definitely playing in the 2009 Memorial Day Tournament in Atlantic City and next year's Virginia tournament. The Blues are strongly considering a trip to Florida in January for the Palm Beach Citrus Classic, start saving/raising money now.

I'd like to thank everyone who helped make this team and this trip a reality. I had a blast.
-Ben Gwin