Starting fresh after an ignoble early bounce from the Summer League playoffs, Sea Kittens roared back into form with a 25-3 win over Bobcats in the Madison Sport and Social Club Fall Thursday league opener. Even with 6 regulars missing, and three subs on the field, the Cats played a smooth game on the balmy August eve.
After drawing three bases on balls to open the game, Sea Kittens drew first blood on a pair of ground outs from Mama Cat O’Brien and Dan DynamOele, moving ahead 2-0 without benefit of a hit. Joe Hennessy followed with another walk , and then the (Sea)Cats launched a two-out flurry of hits that left their fan breathless. Not a typo. There was one there. When the dust settled, Los Gatitos owned a 9-0 advantage before taking the field for the first time.
Slash Grutzik takes a ball inside in the 1st inning.
Hennessy made the start for the Cats. In his first innings since July 14, the chucker quickly found the
strike zone and let his defense do the work behind him, moving through the first inning smoothly. After the (Sea) Cats went quietly in the second, the (Bob) Cats made a little counter-strike, and plated three runs to draw within 9-3.
The Cats struck right back, hacking away now and finding gaps in The Cats’ defense in moving to a 12-3 lead after three innings. Despite a general move to station to station softball in the fourth and fifth innings, The Cats worked over the beleaguered Cats, adding seven and six runs while holing the Cats scoreless along the way.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea Kittens | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 25 |
| Bobcats | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Sea Kittens
| Player | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SF | IP | RA | WK | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jami “Roadrunner” Hauer | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex The Puma Latzka | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stephen “Slash” Grutzik | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mama Cat O’Brien | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan DynamOele | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hennessy | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| A-Train Howard | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bryan Maitland | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| David Engeldinger | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 45 | 25 | 30 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Bobcats
| 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
- Adrienne, Bryan & Dave for subbing to give us 9!
- Alex, Stephen & Bryan for 5-5 games
- Adrienne for her thrilling inning at SS
- Erin requested one to soothe a bruised ego
- Bryan and Dave for playin right before they had a volleyball game.
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!
What's Your Pick for Sea Kittens Great Fillet of the Game?
- Joe's bare-handed snag of a low pop-up to end the game. (20%, 1 Votes)
- Adrienne's ball-magnet- every play of the inning- when she moved the SS in the 3rd. (80%, 4 Votes)
Total Voters: 5
Next Up
Sea Kittens (1-0) rendezvous with Bat Intentions (0-1) at 8:30 PM on Bowman Field 2 August 25. The two clubs met April 21, 2022 in the Spring season opener, with the Cats cruising to a 27-2 victory.
Game Notes
- It was the 9th time Sea Kittens have scored 25 or more runs in a game, and 8th time Sea Kittens have won by more than 20 runs (and the 3rd time that’s happened in 2022).
- The 22-run win tied the 5th-largest in team history.
- Every player in the lineup collected a hit, scored a run, and drove home a run- only the third time in history a Sea Kittens’ lineup has accomplished the feat.
- With Bryan, Stephen, and Alex’s 5-hit games, there have now been 18 5-hit games in team history.
- Alex became only the 5th Sea Kitten to score 5 runs in a single game, and his 8 RBI tied the third-most in team history.
Sea Kittens scoring 5 runs in a single game:
| Tommy Tom Tom Seahorse Shabidu Cichosz, Jr | August 26, 2010 |
| Doc Kornis | August 26, 2010 |
| Jonny Jon Jon Shabidu Hansen, Jr. | May 16, 2012 |
| Mercury Stevens | October 8, 2016 |
| Puma Latzka | August 18, 2022 |
Alex needs to stop reading here.
Really.
The end.
- With 5 hits and a walk, Alex has now reached base in 23 consecutive plate appearances- 20 hits and 3 walks- breaking Joe’s record of 19 straight (19 hits) set in August, 2016. He’ll miss the Cats’ next two scheduled games, so the streak won’t get tested again until September 8, at earliest.