Bridesmaids, Again

Sea Kittens earned its third Harmony Tournament silver medal in team history, outlasting Harmony Dogs in a 19-16 first-round claw-biter before being unceremoniously dismantled by Harmony Royals 29-15 in the tournament final. The Cats had fun, as always, in their tourney appearance, even as they sweltered, as always.  While not officially sponsored by Harmony Bar & Grill in 2021, the Sea Kittens are appreciate of the Atwood Avenue Institution’s long tradition of supporting rec softball in Madison, including the Sea Kittens from 2011-2019, and appreciative of the opportunity to be a part of this year’s tournament.

Sea Kittens 19, Harmony Dogs 16

The Cats and Dogs have a brief but notable history of thrilling scraps, with the Dogs holding a 2-1 all-time advantage heading into their 2021 Harmony Tournament tussle.  This year’s event did not disappoint, and the game hung in the balance until its final out, with much credit to the Dogs’ (6-3 in MSCR Friday night Baraboo league) resilience in battling back from several deficits and to the Cats for answering every blow the Dogs landed. Sea Kittens jumped to a 5-0 first-inning lead thanks in large part to a two-out, three-run home run from Stephen “Slash” Grutzik- the first of three longballs the shortstop launched in the game. 

Harmony answered with two runs in the first, and after a Sea Kitten goose egg in the top of the second inning, the Dogs jumped to a 6-5 lead after two. Joe Hennessy opened the third inning with a line drive to the right field fence and the veteran Kitten cruised home with a game-tying inside-the-park home run.  Mama Cat O’Brien followed with a double, and Boom Boom Magyera trucked around the bases for another inside-the-parker after a blast to right-center field. After Zoe Slattery singled, Grutzik capped another Sea Kitten 5-run inning with a more civilized over-the-fence shot.

RJO with the grab & put-out

Things looked to be going all Sea Kittens in the top of the fourth, when Hennessy extended the advantage with a mammoth 3-run jack over the light standard in left-center to extend the Cats’ lead to 13-6.  But the Dogs would not back down from the frisky felines and clamped down defensively as its offense got to work. Sea Kittens stranded the bases loaded in the top of the fifth and went scoreless again in the sixth as Dogs chipped away. Sunshine Curtis played remarkable defense behind the plate for the Cats, including making two grabs on foul ball in the fifth inning, including one with two runners on base to end the frame.

Grutzik’s go-ahead homer in the 7th

Down 13-9 as the bottom of the 6^th began, the Dogs broke through against Sea Kittens pitcher Real John Oliver- on loan from Muskellounge Bottomfeeders and making his Sea Kitten debut- and the Sea Kitten defense, drawing the game even at 13 with a three-run home run.  The Cats wavered but closed the inning with no further damage. With the Kitten offense on its heels for the previous two-plus innings, Hennessy, in his managerial role, green-lighted Grutzik to use the team’s home run allotment (one per inning over the fence) to open the inning, if possible.  Slash responded, scorching the ball over the left-center field wall.

“I just wanted to make sure we were playing with a lead going into the bottom of the 7^th,” Hennessy explained after the game.

Energized by the electric hit, the next three Cats reached base, with Kristin “Hollywood” Brown stepping into the spotlight with a run-scoring single to pad the Sea Kitten advantage. Substitute outfielder Big David Engeldinger paid the price for Grutzik’s homer, accidentally poking one over the fence for the inning’s first out.  The rally threatened to stall, but a clutch, two-out bloop double from the Roadrunner, Jami Hauer, had the Dogs yipping with discontent.  Hennessy stepped in again and laced a first-pitch line drive to right-center. The ball whizzed past the Dogs’ outfielder, who hadn’t had enough time to get back into position after Hauer’s hit, and Hennessy circled the bases behind Hauer and Man-Aaron Jossart for his third home run of the game and a 19-13 Sea Kitten lead.

The Cats took the field for the bottom of the 7th with cool confidence in its 6-run lead, but three batters into the inning the advantage was halved by a 3-run homer.  The Dogs made a last furious charge, putting two more runners on base, but Sea Kittens bared their claws and held their ground to secure the 19-16 win, one of the finest in team history.

Royals 29, Sea Kittens 15

Sea Kittens had a two-and-a-half hour break after the win, as both Harmony Royals and Dogs dismantled Grits in the tourney’s next two coed games. The Royals’ (8-1 in MSCR Friday night Baraboo league) win earned it a berth across from Sea Kittens in the tournament final.  The Cats and Royals had played three tight games in the past 9 seasons, with the Royals enjoying a 2-1 advantage in the win-loss column.

The first two inning of the title tilt pointed towards another tense, close-fought game as the squads exchanged early blows, but the Royals out-scored the Cats in each of those innings, and watched its lead grow from one run to three runs to five runs, and then the Cats had a scoreless fourth- a zero it could not afford.  The Royals erupted in the bottom of the inning, spraying the ball around the diamond and capitalizing on several unlucky deflections to post seven runs in the inning.

Magyera with an RBI knock

Suddenly down 19-7, Los Gatitos made a spirited surge in the top of the fifth, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring six runs to close the gap to a manageable 6 runs, but it was alas, the Cats’ last stand, as the blazing sun and long layoff caught up with the more “veteran” Sea Kitten lineup.  Hennessy, came in to pitch in relief of Oliver, and was beaten badly as he stepped into the Royals’ court.  The Royals put up a snowman in an inning that may have never ended if not for two over-the-fence bombs that went for outs, as the Harmony side had used its home run early in the beatdown.

The most minor consolation came in the bottom of the sixth, as Royals managed only two more runs, and failed to become the first team to ever hang 30 on Sea Kittens.

Box Scores

Salmon Snacks

• David, John, and Stephen for stepping in to play
• Katherine for glittery sparkling glamorous defense in game 1
• Stephen for going 8-8 with 4 HR on the day
• Erin & Jami, both for the hits they got and the two they didn’t by outfield robbery
• Kristin for the huge 7^th inning hit in game 1
• Zoe for that play at 3B…  and for clobbering a ball to the fence, even if her wishy-washy first-base coach didn’t encourage her to get a double out of it
• Man-Aaron & Joe for some zealous baserunning and sliding in the second inning of game 2, when it looked like the Cats were going to be in it
• Kyle for truckin’ to an inside-the-park home run and getting on base four times in game 1- it was his first Harmony Tourney game since 2013!
• Kristin for continuing to third base in the 7^th inning of game two, where she was thrown out and mercifully ended the game
• John for his fedora flings in game 2, which carried him to a 4-4 performance with a 2B, 2 runs scored and 2 RBI
• David for suffering the ignominy of a “home run out” in game 1
• Stephen for a nifty barehand pickup for an out in game 2

Less snack-y, but notable 

• Jami for hangin’ out with Maple and Alex while the rest of the Cats played defense in the 6^th inning for game 2…
• Joe for pitching without looking around to see if he had 8 defenders behind him (he did not) and if all of said defenders were facing the batter (they were not)
• Man-Aaron for coaching Zoe, “you can try for another base, if you want”, after she clubbed a ball to the fence in game 1
• John for an amazing stretch of barehand deflections in game 2

Tournament Notes

• It was the 3^rd time Sea Kittens have reached the Harmony Tourney final and lost
• Royals 29 runs are the most any Sea Kittens team has ever allowed.  JoBeck’s clubbed Sea Kittens 26-4 (7/25/2012) but only needed 5 inning to do so.
• The Dogs’ 16 runs in game 1 matched the most runs scored by an opponent that Sea Kittens have overcome to win.  The last time Sea Kittens allowed 16 and won? It was the last time they played in the Harmony Tournament- game 3 in 2018, where Sea Kittens famously fell behind Andrea’s Team 14-0 in the first inning but rallied for a 19-16 victory.
• The Cats’ 15 runs in the final was the second-most runs the team has scored in a losing effort.  Sea Kittens lost 19-16 to Soft’s Ball (9/28/2016) and 21-16 to Wilson’s Coolers (10/17/2018)
• The team’s 7 home runs in game 1 are the most ever hit by Sea Kittens, breaking the record of 5 set in the first game of the 2018 Harmony Tourney (8/19/2018, a 13-14 loss to Royals)
• After playing 175 games without a Sea Kitten ever hitting three home runs in a game, three Cats have now done so in the team’s last 4 games.  Stephen and Joe each joined Dan in the 3-homer club
• Stephen moved to a tie for 6^th on the Cats’ all-time homer run list.  He now has 7… in 6 games played!
• Joe’s 15 total bases in game 1 (3 HR, 2B, 1B) are a new Sea Kitten record, topping the 14 total bases Dan tallied less than a month ago (7/28/2021 vs. Olbrich Offenders).  Stephen’s 13 total bases tied for 3^rd on the team’s all-time list.  It was the 4^th time in team history a player had 4 or more XBH in a game, and just the 8^th time a player has had 5 or more hits in a game.

Sea Kittens 5-hit games

PLAYER	HITS-AB	DATE	FIELD	RESULT	OPPONENT
Mama Cat O’Brien	6-6	8/26/2010	Olbrich 1	W, 30-7	Bombers-2
Jonny Jon Jon Shabidu Hansen, Jr.	6-6	5/16/2012	Olbrich 2	W, 21-6	Team Leah
Tommy Tom Tom Seahorse Shabidu Cichosz, Jr.	5-5	8/26/2010	Olbrich 1	W, 30-7	Bombers-2
Kornis.	5-5	9/27/2011	Olbrich 4	W, 20-4	Mighty Oaks
Sweet Thing Harkins	5-5	8/21/2016	Olbrich 1- 275	W, 23-2	Harmony Grits
Joe Hennessy	5-5	10/19/2016	Olbrich 1- 275	W, 21-5	Infield Flies
Zen Master Rowe	5-5	8/20/2017	Olbrich 3	W, 20-3	Harmony Relics
Joe Hennessy	5-5	8/22/2021	Olbrich 3	W, 19-16	Harmony Dogs