Sea Kittens 16, Soft Ballers 2
With a thunderstorm approaching and its distant lightning flashing throughout the game, the Harmony Sea Kittens (5-0, MSCR Winona Fall League) scored a 16-2 victory over Soft Ballers (1-3) on a hot, sticky night at Olbrich Park, beating both their opponent on the field and their most formidable adversary- the rain.
Rabbit Bradley continues to hit best when being recorded, although next week the photographer will have a better view of right-handed batters as Kittens will host South Side Badgers.
Radar and conditions at the ballpark suggested that the night’s matchup wouldn’t be limited by 7 innings nor the one-hour time cap, but by the arrival of an imposing late-summer thunderstorm. Seeing the situation but unwilling to see their recent momentum interrupted, the Sea Kittens played an efficient game at the plate and especially in the field, quickly erasing the question of victor while all wondered if the five full innings needed to make the game official could be completed.
The Cats played the first inning too efficiently, mustering only a 2-out Rabbit Bradley double, but after issuing a lead-off walk, Zen master David Rowe kept the Ballers off the board in the bottom of the inning.
Brenna “Flash” Marsicek opened the Sea Kitten second with a walk, and Dynamo Dan Oele slugged an infield
single to follow. One out later, Joe Hennessy opened the game’s scoring by drawing a 3-pitch walk, blocking out the voice of Hank Hill whispering “lawyer ball” in his head, over and over again. After Karlin “Clutch” Younger knocked in the game’ second run with a productive ground out, Boom Boom Magyera singled to spark a two-out rally that featured two-run doubles from Rowe and Mama Cat O’Brien and ended with a 7-0 Sea Kitten advantage.
Preferring to work with runners on base to help sharpen his inner focus, Rowe walked the Ballers’ lead-off batters in the second and third innings and let the Sea Kitten defense calmly handle the rest, posting a shutout through four innings while Harmony increased its advantage to 11-0.
All the while the night sky crackled with the reminder to hustle on and off the field, as did occasional raindrops spritzing the diamond. A fifth inning Sea Kitten rally seemed superfluous and perhaps inadvisable, and after five more Sea Kitten runs scored, Rowe swung meekly at two pitches to end the inning and give the team a chance to record its final three outs. With two out and a runner on first, a Baller lofted a fly to deep left-center, tracked by Magyera but lost in the lights at the end. The Ball- and Rowe’s chance at notching the Cats second-ever shutout- plopped to the ground. Unfazed, he struck out the next batter and trotted off with a 16-1 lead.
For reasons unknown- the game had hit mercy rule and conditions deteriorated rapidly- the squads were sent out to play an unnecessary and uneventful 6
th inning, although Soft Ballers took some of the sting out of the shutout lost by notching an earned run.
Game Notes
- Sea Kittens scored 10+ runs for the 5th consecutive game for only the second time in franchise history, matching a run that spanned the final two games for the Fall 2011 season and first three games of the Summer 2012 campaign (9/20/2011 – 5/23/2012)
- Erin has established a new record for RBI in a season by a SK woman (11) with a game to play, topping the mark she set in Summer 2010 and matched in Summer 2012 (both 10-game seasons).
- Joe was 0-1 with a walk and strikeout going into the 5th inning and unsure if he’d get a chance to bat again but did and managed a clean single to extend his hitting streak to 51 games (44 MSCR, 7 Harmony Tournament). Dan’s 43-game streak (40 MSCR, 3 Harmony- is close behind). Pretty sure Dave is 3rd at 24. No idea if 51 is a record- that’ll be a winter project!
- With the win, Sea Kittens are now 60-61 all-time at Olbrich, with a chance to even the slate next week. Cats are 1-1 at Goodman, but only 4-7 in Warner Park games. The team’s best winning percentage is on Olbrich 1, after the fences got moved – 0.583 (7-5). Next best is Olbrich 3 at 0.571 (12-9)
NEXT UP- Sea Kittens (5-0) vs. South Side Badgers (2-2)
The Sea Kittens final scheduled game is set for 8:15 pm against South Side Badgers- one of the Cats’ most familiar foes. Despite being quite evenly matched through the years, Sea Kittens hold an 8-3 advantage in the series, including wins the past five times the teams have met. The Badgers are coming off a 9-8 win over Affordable Quality Heating & AC.
Salmon Snacks
- Helen for snatching yet another line drive at third base before it could punch its ticket to left field – this one is
copied-and-pasted weekly, and typically serves as a demoralizing blow to the opponent.
- A fine team effort- nobody had more than 2 RBI and only Dan (3-3) and Kyle (3-3) managed perfect games at the plate, but contributions came up & down the lineup.
- Jess for making a seamless return after a two-game layoff
- The collection of right-center and right fielders (Joe, Karli, Jami, maybe Brad(?))- We chatted and cheered, but did not have any other role in this game
- Dave for pitching quite effectively around 4 walks- Soft Ballers only managed 4 hits in six innings of play.
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