Cats Claw Back, Tie Bat & Boujee

After a 14-day interlude thanks to rain, Sea Kittens (1-1-1) were back in action at Bowman Park July 17 in a Thursday night matchup with familiar foes Bat & Boujee (2-1-1).   B&B jumped to a commanding early lead, but the Cats roared back late and hung on for a 12-12 tie.

Bat & Boujee jumped to an early lead in the game behind a mix of stout defense snagging a number of very hard-hit balls from the Cats’ bats while their offense feasted on a mix of dinks, dunks, and bloops, punctuated by timely clean singles.  Together that mix amounted to a 10-3 B&B advantage at the end of the 4th inning.

Slam Salm brings home the Puma for the Cats’ 3rd run of the game

The Sea Kitten 5th started out the same as Megan “Slam” Salm roped a line drive up the middle only to see it picked off by the Boujee pitcher before it could punch its ticket to center field.  But soon the tide began to turn.  John “Sea Beast” Corrigan mashed his second double of the game- a hard liner to left-center and Roadrunner Jami Hauer followed with a hot shot to the right of second base.  the B&B second basewoman made a rangy stop on the ball, but for once the Cats caught a break as she couldn’t catch the Roadrunner at first.   It was the tiniest of openings, and the Cats sprang through.

Josh “Rusty” Weber singled home Corrigan, Erin “Mama Cat” O’Brien worked a walk, and The Zen Master David Rowe followed with a two-run single.  After  a deep fly out to center, Emalie Thern smacked the first of three consecutive two-out run-scoring singled for the Cats.  The subsequent hits from Alex “Puma” Latzka and David “The Ringer” Engeldinger cut the Bat & Boujee lead to 10-9.

A pair of defensive gems in the bottom of the inning brought Sea Kittens back to the plate quickly, and Corrigan again doubled to set up the Sea Kitten offense.  One out later Weber singled to center and The Sea Beast made a dash for home.  A pair of perfect throws- including a laser from short to home- nipped the hustling Corrigan by a half-step at the plate.

With time becoming a factor in the game, the Kitten defense looked to set B&B down quickly in the 6th.

  It almost worked, but the Boujee first baseman smoked a two-out two-run line drive homer to left to extend the B&B advantage to 12-9.

Down to the final chances, Rowe worked a walk to get the Cats what they needed to open the 7th- a baserunner.  Joe Hennessy followed with a double off the left-center-field fence and then the Puma brought the Cats within a run with a ringing one-out double to right.  Engeldinger dug in and ripped the game-tying single to left, bringing the Cats all the way back from their 7-run deficit.  But the Cats weren’t quite done.  Slam followed with a hit, and The Sea Beast- swinging for the fences- got on top of a pitch and hit a blistering knee-capper off the Boujee’s pitcher.  The deflected ball stayed on the infield, preventing Engeldinger from scoring.  Thankfully, while certainly stung, the hurler was uninjured.  Roadrunner followed with a fly to medium-right, and B&B caught The Ringer off third base- as no base coach was present to advise him that there was but one out instead of two.

The Ringer ties the game in the 7th.

Now needing a defensive stop to preserve the tie, the Cats found themselves in early trouble as B&B opened the inning with a  hit.  Hennessy managed to strike out the next batter, but the following hitter singled to put runners on first and second.  A  slow roller to second followed- too slow for Hauer to get the lead runner, and when her throw to first ticked off O’Brien’s glove B&B’s lead runner  made a dash for home, but Mama Cat’s throw to Salm beat him cleanly, preventing the winning run from scoring.  One pitch later, a soaring pop nestled safely in Engeldinger’s glove in right-centerfield and the cats & Bats had tied.

Salmon Snacks

• Erin & Megan for their  putout at the plate in the bottom of the 7th to preserve the tie
• Emalie for subbing and starting the two-out rally in the 5th
• Alex & Dave for their grabs in the outfield in the 5th
• David for his game-tying hit in the 7th
• The B&B pitcher for his kneecap
• John for a 5-hit game with 3 doubles, and Josh & Alex got on base 4x each

 

 

 

Sea Kittens Great Fillet of the Game

You didn’t have to see it to believe it. Vote here for the Sea Kittens Great Fillet of the Game!  Kendra and John *tied* last week for their respective dramatic catch-and-throw and catch-not-ruled-a-catch.

Next Up

Sea Kittens (1-1-1) host Foul Territory (0-1) Thursday July 24 in an 7:30 contest on Bowman Field 1.  The Cats won the only previous matchup against FT, which was previously known as Hot Toddy’s Bad Chads.

Game Notes

• The 7-run comeback to not-lose was the fourth-largest in Sea Kittens’ 269-game history
  • Down 14-3 at the end of the first against Andrea’s Team in the 2018 Harmony Tournament, Sea Kittens rallied to win 19-16
  • Down 11-1 at the end of one in Packer Inn II (7/28/2010), the Cats rallied to win 15-14
  • Trailing Harmony Royals 13-4 at the end of the 3rd in the club’s second-ever upper division game (6/20/2012), Sea Kittens came back to with 14-13
• Sea Kittens are 10-22-1 all-time against teams with “Bat” or “Ball” anywhere in their name.
• John became the 7th Sea Kitten to collect 3 doubles in a single game and the 11th player to rap 5 or more hits.
  • Players with 3 doubles in a game: Dan DynamOele (5x), Detroit Josh Ghena, Mercury Stevens, Joe, Erin, Alex

Sea Kittens high-hit games

Player	Hits	Date
Mama Cat O’Brien	6	8/26/2010
Jonny Jon Jon Hansen, Jr	6	6/12/2012
Alex Puma Latzka	6	10/26/2021
Zen Master Rowe	5	3x (10/26/2021)
Puma Latzka	5	3x (last 8/18/2022)
Joe Hennessy	5	3x (last 8/10/2023)
Slash Grutzik	5	4x (last 8/10/2023)
Seahorse Cichosz	5	8/26/2010
Doc Kornis	5	9/27/2011
Sweet Thing Harkins	5	8/21/2016
Mama Cat O’Brien	5	4/21/2022
Bryan Maitland	5	8/18/2022
Sea Beast Corrigan	5	7/17/2025