Opening the 2024 summer Madison Sport & Social Club Thursday night season in front of a raucous crowd, Sea Kittens (1-0) began the defense of their Spring season title with a 14-7 win over league newcomers Base-ic Pitches (0-1). Perhaps feeling the effects of a championship hangover, the Cats got off to a sluggish start before finding their groove late and pulling away for the win.
The signs of a sluggish start were not apparent in the top of the first inning when Zen master David Rowe opened the Cats’ summer season with a single. One out later, Mama Cat Erin O’Brien moved Rowe to third with a single. When Dan DynamOele followed with and RBI knock, it seemed like business as usual for the Sea Kitten offense. But the opening-inning rally stalled there. The lone first-inning tally didn’t hold up, as Base-ic pitches matched the run to even the game at 1-1.
When BP sent Los Gatitos down 1-2-3 in the top of the second, the Sea Kitten defense put on a show in the bottom of the inning to return the favor. A hot smash to the 5-6 hole glanced off third baseman Slash Grutzik’s glove as he ranged to his left, but DynamOele, moving behind Grutzik right-to-left- snagged the carom and fired a seed to O’Brien to retire the unlucky BP hitter. The next batter rolled one towards first base, where O’Brien charged and found Rowe covering the bag for an quick toss to retire the batter. The third out was… base-ic. Josh “Rusty” Weber caught a shallow fly ball with no razzle-dazzle whatsoever.
When the Kitten batting order rolled over in the top of the third, Rowe was there again to start a little rally, walking with one out. Grutzik singled, and with two out Oele walked to load the bases. Joe Hennessy grounded a single up the middle to score two Kitten runners, and Zoe “Z-Force” Slattery and Weber followed with hits to push the Sea Kitten lead to 5-1. But Base-ic pitches returned the volley, scoring twice in the bottom of the frame to cut their deficit to two runs. Grutzik added an RBI hit for the Cats in the fourth, and when Rowe struck out the Base-ic side in the bottom of the inning, momentum seemed to be swinging the Sea Kitten way.
But when the middle of the Sea Kitten lineup went quietly in the fifth inning, it opened the door for Base-ic pitches to battle back into the game- the fifth inning ended with Sea Kittens clinging to a 6-5 advantage.
Slash Grutzik clears the bases for Sea Kittens with a game-breaking 6th-inning triple.
Rookie Marcy Messina – making her Sea Kitten and slow-pitch softball debut- worked a walk to open the bottom of the sixth inning- giving the Cats a desperately needed baserunner. Man-Aaron Jossart singled, and with one out Rowe singled to load the bases. With the Sea Kitten cannon loaded, Grutzik launched away, lofting a bases-clearing triple to the left-centerfield gap to extend the Cats’ advantage to 9-5. O’Brien brought Grutzik home with a hit, Oele singled, and Hennessy twisted the dagger- reaching low to bring home two more runs with a triple to the right-centerfield fence. Slatterly and Jossart closed the Cats’ scoring with run-scoring hits and Sea Kittens entered the bottom of the sixth and final inning with a comfortable 14-5 advantage. Base-ic Pitchs punched back for two runs, but the Cats closed the deal cleanly on the season-opening win.
The Sea Kittens’ Spring season success… and re-signing of fan favorite Z-Force Slattery… brought a huge bump in attendance, and with it fantastic energy on the Sea Kitten side. Bring on the vuvuzelas! More cowbell!.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea Kittens | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 14 |
| Base-ic Pitches | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
Sea Kittens
| Player | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SF | IP | RA | WK | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zen Master Rowe | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Stephen “Slash” Grutzik | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mama Cat O’Brien | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan DynamOele | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hennessy | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zoe “Z-Force” Slattery | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh “Rusty” Weber | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marcy Messina | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Man-Aaron Jossart | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Shoes Hewitt | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 37 | 14 | 20 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Base-ic Pitches
| AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SF | IP | RA | WK | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Salmon Snacks
- Stephen for the game-breaking triple in the 6th.
- Marcy for playing her first-ever Sea Kittens game… and first-ever slowpitch softball game
- Zoe for her return the the cats- it’d been just shy of two years since her last Sea Kitten game!
- Stephen, Dan, and Erin for the fancy put-out in the second. The gold star goes to Dan, but he couldn’t have done it without the other two 🙂
- Dave and Erin for the head-up play and 3-1 putout at first base
- Dave for the big game with 7 strikeouts.
- Stephen, Joe, Aaron & Josh all had three hits- Joe & Stephens’s included triples, and Josh & Aaron each doubled.
- Stephen & Joe added 4 RBI each.
- Dave scored 3 runs from the leadoff spot.
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! We haven’t awarded a Great Fillet in a few weeks, but congrats to Aaron, Dave , and Stephen for their 9-1-5 putout to cut down a runner trying to go 1st -to-3rd in the 5th of the Cats’ May 16 win over Da Hittas. In the intervening games, Josh made a rolling grab of a shallow fly, and Adrienne made a full layout snag of a line drive at third base. Everybody agreed that was pretty hot.
What's your pick for the Sea Kittens Great Fillet of the Game?
- Erin & Dave's 3-1 putout at first in the second inning (0%, 0 Votes)
- Stephen, Dan, and Erin's 5-6-3 putout in the second inning (100%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 2
Next Up
Sea Kittens (1-0) have a bye week before facing a daunting double-header with familiar foes Da Hittas and Bat & Boujee July 25. First game 6:30 PM, Bowman Field 1. The Cats are 3-6-1 all-time vs Da Hittas and 3-4 all-time against Bat & Boujee.
Game Notes
- Man- Aaron played his 100th game! He’s the 11th person to do so- nine of whom are still active Cats.
- Sea Kittens have held opponents under 10 runs for seven consecutive games, their longest such streak since doing so in 14 straight in 2017-2018.
- The Cats posted an 8-run+ inning for the second consecutive game for the first time since Fall, 2018. It’s only the fourth time Sea Kittens have had a snowman or better in two straight contests.
- The Cats have gone 8 straight games without a home run (either over-the-fence or inside-the-park)- their longest homerless streak since June 24- September 2, 2015. The team’s longest homerless streak was way back in 2010-11, when they went without a dinger or quadruple in 11 consecutive games, September 23, 2010- August 10, 2011.
- Between the end of the last home run drought and the begging of the current one, Sea Kittens averaged 1.26 homers per game– clubbing 177 in 140 contests.
- Erin made her 800th plate appearance for Sea Kittens.
- Dan made his 550th at-bat.
- Dave’s 7 strikeouts tie for third-most by a pitcher in Sea Kitten history; it was the 5th time the Zen Master has entranced seven or more batters in a single game.
| Game | Date | Pitcher | IP | RA | BB | SO | Result |
| 132 | 9/6/2017 | Hennessy, Joe | 7 | 12 | 5 | 9 | W, 13-12, vs. Affordable Quality HVAC |
| 147 | 8/15/2018 | Rowe, Dave | 7 | 10 | 1 | 9 | W, 18-10 vs Swingin’ Eagles (2018 Championship game) |
| 130 | 8/23/2017 | Rowe, Dave | 6 | 14 | 1 | 8 | W, 15-14 vs. Player’s |
| 134 | 9/20/2017 | Rowe, Dave | 6 | 2 | 4 | 7 | W, 16-2 vs. Soft Ballers |
| 171 | 6/9/2021 | Rowe, Dave | 7 | 4 | 0 | 7 | W, 17-2 vs. Driftless Renovations |
| 246 | 7/11/2024 | Rowe, Dave | 6 | 7 | 0 | 7 | W, 16-7 vs Base-ic Pitches |