Cats Show Birds No Mercy

Two rainouts and three weeks had passed since Sea Kittens (5-1, 1-0 2nd half MSCR Kenosha League) last gamboled about the red dirt infield of the Olbrich Playfields, but the squad looked as fresh and feisty as ever in a 21-4 mercy rule romp over Swinging’ Eagles (1-5, 0-1) Wednesday July 21.  The Cats played with a nine-player lineup for only the 10th time in club history, but the missing defender wasn’t missed this night as the team churned through its lineup almost five full times in the 5-inning game.

Things started slowly for the Sea Kitten side as it worked to re-find its groove after the long layoff.  The squad scratched out a lone run in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead thanks to a lead-off double from Zen master Rowe and an run-scoring groundout by Mam Cat O’Brien, but Swinging’ Eagles responded quickly in the bottom of the inning as  Kittens starting pitcher Joe Hennessy dug himself an early hole with startling plays on two easy comebackers that aided Eagles to three early runs.

Four straight Cats singled to open the top of the second inning, and quickly erased the 3-1 Eagle advantage.  Zoe “Z-Force” Slattery sparked the rally with a leadoff hit, and kept the inning’s momentum rolling with a nifty side-stepping shimmy to evade a tag between 2nd and 3rd as Kristin “Hollywood” Brown legged out an infield hit.  Man-Arron Jossart and Zen Master knocked RBI singles, and Roadrunner Jami Hauer gave Sea Kittens a 4-3 lead with a sacrifice fly, as Brown made another daring-and-successful dash to the plate- a move that’s becoming the signature of her rookie season.  While the rally fizzled there, the Cats never looked back.

The Sea Kitten defense shined in the bottom of the second, highlighted by a picture-perfect 8-3 double play between Alex Latzka and Mama Cat after a leadoff Eagle hit.  Hennessy retired the next hitter, and the Cats’ bats quickly went back to work.

Dan Dynam-Oele started the Sea Kitten third with a double and moved up a base on Slattery’s second hit of the night.  Hennessy doubled in a run, but two groundouts threatened to stall the scoring.  The Zen Master stepped to the plate for his third at-bat of the game and calmly yanked a two-run single to left.  Hauer stepped to the box and stroked an opposite-field triple- the first of her career- riling up the Sea Kitten bench and opening the floodgates on the suddenly reeling Eagles.  The Puma followed with an inside-the-park home run, O’Brien walked, and Dynam-Oele homered to extend the Kitten advantage to 12-3.  Four straight Cats walked after the Oele homer, and Rowe dropped in a trademark hustle double before the Eagles could retreat to the refuge of their bench.  All told, with two out in the inning Sea Kittens sent 10 batters to the plate and scored 11 runs.  

In the wake of the onslaught and the 16-3 Kitten advantage, the rest was just details, although a shocking Oele whiff on a mile-high popup in the bottom of the third should be noted for posterity.  

Eagles vs Sea Kittens

Salmon Snacks

• Kristin for playing through her #Bucksin6 hangover and running the bases with her usual aplomb
• Alex & Erin for completing a professional quality 8-3 double play in the 2nd
• Zoe for evading (or at least the illusion of evading) a tag in the 2nd
• Dan, Zoe, & Joe with 3-hit games, and Dave with 4
• Dan to help him forget the stunning pop-up whiff
• Jami for her double & triple
• Dave, Alex, and Aaron for patrolling a 3-person outfield

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!

Congrats to The Pup- Joe Bevington- for winning the Week 5 Great Fillet for his post-game snag of a foul ball.