Badgers Dig Down, Upended Sea Kittens

Harmony Sea Kittens (0-2) dropped a hard-fought 7-6 extra inning duel to MSCR LaCrosse League newcomers Bad News Badgers (1-2) at Olbrich park last night.    The teams traded late-inning rallies and the outcome hung in the balance until the final out, but ultimately the final Sea Kitten charge came up just short. Sea Kitten starter Joe Hennessy inauspiciously opened the contest by issuing two bases on balls to a Badger squad the seemed intent on playing some serious lawyer ball, but hennessy settled down, dialed in the strike zone, and the Cats’ defense limited the damage to a single run.  A week after being unable to piece together back-to-back hits through seven innings, Sea Kittens’ bats came alive in the first inning with six of the first seven batters collecting hits, including 5 straight with two out, but similar to the top half of the inning, tight fielding ruled the day.  Brad “Sweet Thing” Harkins got nabbed trying to stretch a base hit into a double, and

while the Sea Kittens scored two behind a hard-hit Erin “Mama Cat” O’Brien double and a Josh Dilley infield hit, the Badger defense quelled the Harmony uprising with the bases left loaded.    The Bad News Badgers regained the lead in the second, scoring two before the kits’ took their own turn staunching a bases-loaded rally, but Harmony even the score at 3 in the bottom of the inning behind a Hennessy triple and Kim Kuber groundout.  There the scoring ended until the 5^th inning, when bad News hit the Kittens for another run and a 4-3 advantage. Down to six outs remaining and struggling to regain their first-inning momentum, Dan Dynam-Oele sparked the Kits with a double to open the bottom of the sixth.  Jess Schultz followed with a hit and took second as Badgers tried to make a play on Oele at third, but the pair remained there after two fly ball outs not quite deep enough to bring home a run.   Looking to help his own cause, Hennessy laced a double into the left-field corner to give Los Gatitos a 5-4 advantage.

Down but not out of outs, the Badgers rallied in the seventh, evening the score and threatening a much bigger inning if not for steady play in the filed by Harmony.  Needing but one to win, Kyle “Mags” Magyera delivered an inning-opening hit and advanced to second when Laura Hewitt drew a one-out walk, but the Kits couldn’t rap a hit with the runner in scoring position.

With extra innings came an automatic runner on second to open the inning, and the Badgers’ first two batters promptly delivered hits to score a pair of runs before the Kitten defense clamped down a final time.  Trailing 7-5 entering the bottom of the eighth, Los Gatitos scratched home one run but used two outs in doing so, and efficiently closed out the Kittens’ final chances.

 

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Game notes

• This was the first extra – inning Sea Kittens game since May 8, 2013, the infamous “Safe at Third” game.  Sea Kittens are 1-3 in extras all-time.

• The Sea Kittens hadn’t lost back-to-back games since June 8 & 15, 2016, when they were upended by Infield Flies and Rattlesnake Masters.

•  The duo of Oele and Hennessy were not held homerless in back-to-back games during the summer 2016 season, but have yet to play longball in 2017.

• Next up for Sea Kittens is Affordable Quality HVAC (3-0), which has been putting up big offensive numbers (42 runs) through its first three games.  It’s a 9:15 game at Olbrich Park.   Sea Kittens topped AQHVAC 14-9 August 31, 2017 behind a 10-run third inning paced by an Andy “Mercury” Stevens 3-run homer and Joe Hennessy grand slam. Hennessy homered again in the 7^th to ice the game- his “Twin Power Game” in the first Sea Kittens contest after Callie & Estelle’s birth. 

Salmon Snacks

• Erin for the big first-inning double, and another for *almost* snagging that wicked liner down the first-base line.  She wanted that one…

• Heidi for deftly evading a wicked grounder at second, and not getting walloped like Laura did last week J

• Jess for quietly collecting three hits

• Kim for filling in at the last minute!

• Joe for the go-ahead double in the 6^th

• Dan & Dave for each getting three  hits and playing solid defense on the left side of the infield