Chiefs KO Kittens

10-game Win Streak Snapped

Chief’s Tavern (3-0 MSCR Castle Rock League) put Harmony Sea Kittens (2-1) on its heels early with an aggressive offensive attack and stingy defense, but the feisty Cats battled back to take an 11-10 lead before a Chief’s roundhouse counter sent Los Gatitos reeling, literally and figuratively.  While Sea Kittens stood up and hung in until the game’s final bell, ultimately the squad couldn’t generate enough punch and ended up on the short end of a 17-13 decision.  The loss ended any designs Harmony may have had on an outright Castle Rock title, a daunting task given the gauntlet the team must run in its final three games, but demonstrated that the team can go toe-to-toe with any coed squad in Madison, except for the Fun Bunch, who aren’t that fun anyway.

Man-Aaron Jossart, penciled into the leadoff spot despite a 3-14 slump dating to July, responded with a huge game.  Jossart ripped a single to open the contest for the Cats and dashed to third on a Helen “Boo Rabbit” Bradley single, setting the tone for a night on which the duo would reach base safely six times in six plate appearances.  Alex Polish Puma Latzka flicked a run-scoring single to right, but got caught trying to dash to second on the hit while Bradley made third.  Brenna “Flash” Marsicek followed with a fly to medium-center, and although the Boo Rabbit made a mad dash to the plate, she was gunned down by a deadly accurate throw from the Chief’s left-center fielder.

After squelching the would-be Sea Kitten rally Chief’s got to work on offense, putting seven of its first eight batters on base against Sea Kitten chucker Joe Hennessy, who struggled with command while adjusting to an unusually low ceiling allowed by the home plate umpire.  Chief’s struck for four runs in the inning, but with the bases loaded Sea Kittens were able to induce a pair of outs to staunch the bleeding.   After allowing only one hit in the top of the second, Chief’s back the cats into a corner with a series of blows in the bottom of the inning, again striking for four runs and a commanding 8-1 lead.

Letting the deficit wash past him like a river, Zen Master Rowe calmly belted a leadoff triple in the third, delighting his biggest fan, who described the hit as a “pop fly.”  One out later Sweet thing Harkins brought Rowe home, and started a string of five consecutive batters reaching safely for the Cats, highlighted by a two-run Man-Aaron triple.  Latzka shaved the gap to 8-6 with a sacrifice fly, and after Flash walked Dynamo Dan Oele cut the gap to one with a hit.  Schultzy Oele delivered a knock to load the bases for Hennessy, and after ripping a wicked foul outside the first-base line, Hennessy bounced an old-school 13-hopper through the middle of the infield to plate two and give Sea Kittens a 9-8 lead.

Chief’s looked to respond, but the Sea Kitten defense stiffened in the third, with Oele making a diving stop in the hole and firing a seed from his knees to Marsicek at first, who made a perfect pick to complete the web gem.  After the next two batters reached and Chief’s tied the game, Rowe ran down a rain-maker of a fly ball just in from of the right-center field fence.  The Cats couldn’t quite stall Chief’s there, but limited the damage to a single additional run, and harmony entered the fourth down 10-9.

Once again Rowe opened the festivities with a hit, punching through a single while quieting the voices in his ear.  Sweet Thing collected another hit, and with two out Boom Boom Magyera blasted a ball to the left-center gap to score two.    But Magyera was not satisfied with a big double,  no sir.  Magyera wheeled past second, digging for a three-base hit, and launched himself headlong for the bag in inimitable Boom Boom style.  Alas the throw was there and the Chief’s third basewoman applied a vicious backhand swipe tag, catching the airborne Magyera hard and square to the head.  The blow gave Sea Kittens an 11-10 lead but also knocked Magyera from the game with what was later diagnosed as the first concussion in Sea kitten history.

“Jackson, don’t talk to me when I’m batting.” -From ‘The Lessons’, by Zen Master Rowe

Chief’s offense countered with a flurry in the fourth, putting its first four batters on base and evening the game before hitting into an out.  The rally continued, and Sea Kittens did all they could to slow the offensive, highlighted by a run-saving play from Bradley at third to Katherine Ropes Curtis at the plate.  Needing to retire a single hitter to end the inning, it took Hennessy & the Cats four more batters to do so and four more Chief’s runners tapped the black in the meantime, building their team’s advantage to 17-11.

This time the Sea Kitten response fell short, and the Cats could only muster a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, the inning ending on a old-school soft humpback liner to center off Hennessy’s bat with runners on first and third.  Feeling the pressure of the time cap, Sea Kittens finally managed to mow down Chief’s 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, securing one more chance to hit, but couldn’t capitalize on a pair of one-out singles and lost a MSCR league game for the first time since June 6, 2018, ending a run of 10 consecutive league wins.

Game Notes

There’s a lot to unpack from this one:

• The game marked only the 9th time Sea Kittens have scored 10 or more runs and lost (65-9 in those games), and 13 runs matches the second-most the team has ever scored in a silver medal effort.
  • Soft’s Balls defeated Sea Kittens 19-16 September 28, 2016, and Harmony Dogs topped the Cats 24-13 in the 2014 Harmony Tourney semifinal.  Both of those games were also on Olbrich 1
• Chief’s 17 runs scored were the most Sea Kittens have allowed since an 18-6 loss to Soft’s Balls in the 207 Harmony Tournament final.  It was the most runs allowed in a MSCR league game since Soft’s Balls topped the Cats 17-9 August 2, 2017.  Thankfully that team doesn’t exist any more, but at least one of their guys plays for Chiefs
• It was the first time in 2018 Sea Kittens allowed more than two second-inning runs, and in MSCR games.  The 2018 Cats have outscored opponents 25-9 in the 2nd, a testament to the comparative depth of the lineup!
• Streaks broken:
  • 10 consecutive MSCR wins, a franchise record
  • Alex had reached base safely 15 consecutive times before his sac fly in the 3rd, dating to August 15 and including the Harmony Tournament. It was the third -longest streak in team history, behind Joe’s 19 (July 20- August 21, 2016) and Dan’s 16 (September 13, 2017- June 6, 2018).
  • Joe had reached 15 consecutive times in MSCR league games before his flyout in the 5th, which trailed only Dan’s 16- plate appearance streak in league play.
  • Katherine had reached base seven consecutive times dating to July 28, tied with Jami & Erin for second-longest streak among women in team history.  Erin holds the record with eight straight, May 13- May 27, 2015
  • Helen’s streak is alive at 6…
• Helen became the third woman to club multiple triples in a season, and the first since Summer 2012, when Erin (3) and Gretchen (2) did it.
• Alex became the third Cat to hit multiple sacrifice flies in a game, joining Joe, who hit three on July 23, 2014, in the game that ended The Schneid, and Kyle, who hit a pair June 11, 2015
  • It was the 6th time Sea Kits collectively have hit multiple sac flies in a game, and the first time the team lost one of those games
• At this point, every player on the fall roster is hitting above 0.400

Salmon Snacks

• A bag of frozen ones for Kyle to put on his face.  He was concussed on the play, but is recovering.  He also had a great game, pounding run-producing hits in each of his two at-bats (3 RBI) 
• Grant, for giving Kyle a ride home
• Laura, for subbing and being part of the 3rd-inning rally
• Dan for the sweet diving stop at SS & Brenna for picking the throw to complete the play
• Helen & Katherine for mowing down a runner at the plate
• Helen for a nice 2-2 game with a BB, 3B and 2 runs scored
• Man-Aaron for swinging the big hammer and going 3-3 with a 2B, 3B, 3 R and 2 RBI
• Alex for collecting three RBI
• Dave for a 3-3 game with a triple and 2 R, plus a nice play on a towing fly ball
• Joe for not coming completely unglued with high pitch calls…