Fun at the ol ballpark! Mama Cat inquires about goat-roping. Or tying, as one would have it.
In a return to MSCR Monroe League first-half play, Harmony Sea Kittens (7-1, 3-1) held on for a 7-4 win over Steal Your Base (4-4, 2-2) in a tightly contested game at Olbrich Park Wednesday night. the win was the fifth consecutive for Sea Kittens and the seventh straight time Harmony topped Steal Your Base.
Making his first career start, Sea Kitten pitcher Man-Aaron Jossart showed no jitters and the Harmony defense played beautifully behind him. The Sea Kitten side needed a solid defensive evening against the Monroe League’s top-scoring offense (SYB had scored 93 runs through seven games played) as it struggled to string together hits and score runs for the second game in a row. When Jossart dispatched SYB 1-2-3 in the first catcher Katherine Ropes Curtis noted Jossart’s wide-eyed nerves, but it wasn’t apparent in his delivery or results.
Looking for something to jump-start the Sea Kitten offense, Sweet Thing Harkins delivered with a sweet thing of a swing, driving the first pitch he liked over the left-field fence for his first career home run and a 1-0 Harmony lead. Polish Puma Alex Latzka doubled the advantage with a two-out triple to score Joe Hennessy and Sea Kittens completed the inning with a lead that would be tested all night but never relinquished.
Jossart continued his masterful twirling in the second, stranding two SYB runners with a foul out to close the frame, and Dan Dynam-Oele extended the Kitten lead to 3-0 with a solo home run to open the bottom of the inning, hitting the only strike he saw all night out to left.
Dynam-Oele bangs his 4th homer of the season to open the Sea Kitten second. Also note the lovely sky illuminated by a nearly full waxing moon.
The Basers opened the top of the third with a leadoff double and tallied a run on a groundout and sacrifice fly- a quiet run without a rally as Harmony continued to cruise.
Sea Kittens managed to string together hits in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with one out on singles from Heidibadger Nelson, Hennessy, and Mama Cat O’Brien. Latzka delivered again, grounding a single past second base to score two, but SYB turned a slick inning-ending double play, setting off fireworks in the eastern sky. It was a nice play, but the fanfare seemed odd as Sea Kittens were the home team.
With first blood drawn on Jossart the previous inning, all in attendance eagerly anticipated seeing how the hurler would respond when he took the bump again. the first Steal your base batter smoke a line drive back at the Sea kitten pitcher, but Jossart snatched it with cat-like reflexes to record the first out. Welcome to the show, kid. A dribble and a double set up the Basers with runners on second and third, but the cat defense turned a big second out when Oele caught the runner on third breaking for home on a grounder. A strike to Curtis prevented the run and got Sea Kittens a big second out, as the next three batters all delivered hits for SYB and cut the Harmony lead to 5-3.
Los Gatitos got one of those back in the bottom of the fourth when Oele walked to open the inning and came in to score on a overthrow to first, but again Sea Kittens left two runners on base and couldn’t extend the lead further. Jossart breezed through the fifth, but the SYB defense responded with its first goose egg of the night in a “what might’ve been” inning for the Cats. Hennessy opened the inning with a double just inside the left field line, but was “tagged” “out” at second when O’Brien hit a hard grounder to short and the SYB SS bluffed his throw to first and “caught” Hennessy diving back to second. After Latzka was walked unintentionally but not-so-unintentionally, the SYB SS snagged a Red Shoes Hewitt liner floating to center and alertly doubled up O’Brien.
Still clinging to a 6-3 advantage, Sea kittens and Jossart quelled another SYB push in the sixth, allowing a run but stranding runners on first and third, this time with a big inning-ending strikeout. Oele tallied an insurance run in the bottom of the inning for the Cats after another not-so-unintentional walk, dashing home on a productive groundout from Jossart.
With the score 7-4 the game headed to the seventh, although the scorekeeper told the ump the game was 7-5, which set up some last-inning drama. Latzka made a nice running grab in center to record the first out, but on the next batter the only little Kitten miscue of the night gave SYB a baserunner and a breath of hope, al least in a purported 2-run game. their slugging shortstop stepped into the box 1-1 on the night and 4-4 with two HR this season against Sea Kitten pitching. He chased a high tight one from Jossart and flew a long knuckler to Harkins in reasonably deep left, proudly proclaiming “I swung at a ball, you have to swing to hit,” after Sweet Thing hauled it in for an out. Fittingly, Man-Aaron induced a comebacker from the next batter, calmly tossing to Mama Cat for the game’s final out and securing his first career win.
Game Notes
Jossart was the first Sea Kitten starting pitcher not named Hennessy, Zen Master Rowe, or Tommy Tom Tom Seahorse Shabidu Cichosz, Jr. since Boomer Boehm started September 5, 2012 and earned a 9-8 win over Echo Tap Mighty Oaks
Man-Aaron had two previous pitching appearances, having appeared in one inning of relief in 2013 and two innings of relief in 2017
The win marked only the seventh time Sea Kittens have won while scoring 7 runs or fewer, and was the first time the team had recorded fewer than 10 runs in back-to-baclk games and won both since a pair of games in Fall, 2014
The last time Sea Kittens allowed four or fewer runs in Summer League play was a 25-0 thumping of SYB August 10, 2016
Sea Kittens have allowed fewer than nine runs in five consecutive games, winning all five. It’s the fourth time in team history the team has recorded a run-prevention stretch that long or longer. Between July 13, 2016 and August 21, 2016, Sea Kittens kept opponent offenses under nine runs for eight straight games, spanning Summer League play and the Harmony Tourney. The Cats went 7-1 in that run.
Prior to last night, Sea Kittens had outscored SYB 141-35 in the teams’ past six matchups, never winning by fewer than 10 runs. Let it also be noted and never forgotten that SYB beat Sea kittens 21-9 the first time the teams ever met.
Heidi played her 100th game as a Sea Kitten! Joe (138), Erin (132), Dave (111) are the other members of the 100 Club. Kyle is next at 92
Alex became just the sixth Sea Kitten to record three or more triples in a season, joining Joe H, Smokin’ Joe Litchfield, Erin, Doc Kornis, and Jeremy Markof Zollo in the club. Dave also recorded three in the 2017 Tourney. Alex is one off Joe H’s team record 4, set in Summer 2013.
It was the first time since October 19, 2016 that Joe didn’t have an RBI, a span of 26 games.
Salmon Snacks
Man-Aaron for being Man-Aaron of the hour in his first appearance as starting pitcher, striking out two and walking only one
Brad for the first career dinger, prior to which I thought “I have a ton of video of Brad,” and set my camera down 😛
Brad again for staying with the high fly in the 7th
Dan for enduring Sharri’s walk-fest (who knew that’s how she spells her name), taking what she offered and scoring three runs
Katherine and Dan for their heads-up run-saving play in the fourth
Alex for going 2-2 and driving home three runs with two out, and making that nice play to open the 7th
Laura and Joe for a bang-bang play at second to end the 6th
Jess for a nice 2-3 game at the plate, even though we couldn’t get her around to score
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Sea Kittens
