Late Touchdown Caps Cats’ Comeback

Recap

Sea Kittens’ second Harmony Tournament game kicked off at 4 PM Sunday, and an hour later the improbable Kitten win in the tilt with Team Andrea’s Team (TAT) was recorded as a Kitten classic.  The score-by-inning had more similarities to a Sunday gridiron battle than softball game, and a fourth quarter Kitten touchdown and two-point conversion- er, eight-run 7th inning- rallied Los Gatitos to a 19-16 victory and the biggest come-from-behind-win in team history.

After kicking a two-out field goal in the first for a 3-0 lead, Andrea’s team- playing immediately after a disappointing loss to Royals- put on a first-inning hitting clinic for the ages.  Sea Kitten pitcher Joe Hennessy couldn’t find anything TAT couldn’t hit, chucking through the entire lineup without recording an out.  Only a strikeout and foul out the second time through helped stem the bleeding, but the damage seemed done, as Andrea’s Team posted two touchdowns before making three outs.  The 14 runs allowed were- remarkably- the most ever allowed in a single inning by a Sea Kitten team, and were accomplished with very few miscues on the part of the Kitten defense.  TAT just came to hit.

Faced with a 14-3 deficit and nothing to gain- Royals had already won Pool B and a spot in the tournament final- Sea Kittens looked at the score and decided that trying to claw out of a 11-run hole would give them something to do for the next 45 minutes or so.  Zen Master Rowe got to work on that, opening the top of the second with a hit, and Heidibadger Nelson followed with another.  But TAT pitcher Brian Kowal retired Hennessy on a soft fly to right, and the TAT right fielder gunned down Rowe trying to advance after the catch for a 9-5 double play.  While it could have been even more dispiriting than an 11-run deficit already was, the Cats were unfazed.  Alex “Polish Puma” Latzka and Mama Cat O’Brien loaded the bases for Stephen Grutzik, who delivered a two-run double, and Jami Roadrunner Hauer cracked a two-run single to center to follow.    Sweet Thing Harkins- legs aching and dead- worked a two-base walk in an effort to run as little as possible to drive in another, and Brenna Flash Marsicek rung up the fifth two-out run in the inning with a hit. The rally died with the bases loaded again, but now down by a single touchdown at 14-8, Sea Kittens started to believe a comeback was possible… but would they be able to find a way to cool the scorching AT offense?

Dan DynamOele went to work almost single-handedly on that task, picking of smash after smash to the hot corner and playing catch with Marsicek at first.  Oele and the Kitten defense backed Hennessy with three consecutive zeroes, but the Kitten offense found similar resistance after the second inning, going down 1-2-3 in the third and scratching out a single run in the fourth and two in the fifth, but leaving two runners in scoring position in each inning.  TAT recorded a safety in the bottom of the fifth to extend its advantage to 16-11, and again stymied the Cats with two runners in scoring position in the sixth, managing to retire the hard-hitting duo of Marsicek and Oele to end the threat.

Still down five and facing a second loss of the day, Red Shoes Hewitt gave the Cats what they needed to open the 7th- a baserunner, drawing a walk to open the inning.  Rowe and Nelson followed with singles to load the bases, and Hennessy yanked the first pitch he liked into Olbrich gardens for a grand slam that brought Sea Kittens within one.  Puma and Mama Cat put piscine felines on the bases again, and Grutzik – batting left-handed- flied out to deep left, flirting with the dreaded over-the-fence out but advancing Latzka to third.  Seeing the throw squirt away from the cutoff, Latzka dashed home with the tying run while an alert Mama Cat scampered into second.  Hauer notched her fourth hit of the contest, and Harkins took another free pass to give Sea Kittens the lead.  DynamOele banged a 2-run single to extend the lead to a field goal, and with two out and the bases loaded Nelson looked to extend that advantage with a well-hit ball to left that alas, just missed clearing the left-fielder’s head.

Down to its final three outs, the TAT offense got to work executing a “don’t hit it to third base” plan.  A well-hit fly to open the inning found Hauer waiting in right center, and she maintained focus despite the Puma flashing past her as she made the grab.    A batter later O’Brien snagged a deep fly to straight away right and the Cats had passed all defensive tests and completed the largest comeback in team history.

Game Notes

• TAT’s 16 runs is the most Sea Kittens have ever allowed in a win, topping the previous high of 14 runs allowed (twice against Packer Inn in 2010, and against Player’s in Fall, 2017))
• Sea Kittens are 16-49 when allowing 10 runs or more
• In 866 innings of recorded Sea Kitten defense (line scores from 10 games during The Schneid were incinerated, but only 5 of those contests even had a chance of a 10-run inning), opponents have topped the 10-run mark only 8 times, and Sea Kittens had never allowed more than 11 in a single inning.  TAT’s 14 was incredible to behold, as there were not multiple major miscues.
• The last team to hand a 10+ spot on Sea Kittens was Steal Year Base, July 8, 2015, who scored 10 in the first in what was very much a “Sea Kitten Inning”
• The previous high (low?) water mark for opponents’ runs scored in an inning was 11,  which happened twice in 2010 (including Packer Inn II), once in 2011, and once in 2013 (the 8th inning of “Safe at Third“)
• The previous biggest comeback in Cats history was 10 runs, July 28, 2010, in the aforementioned Packer Inn II contest, in which the team rallied from an 11-1 first-inning deficit to win 14-13
• Brad tied a team record with 3 walks, joining Heidi (3 times), Gretchen, and Hadley
• The grand slam was Joe’s second of 2018 and fourth of his career

Salmon Snacks

• The whole team for hanging in there and having fun, regardless of score
• Jami & Erin for their huge 7th inning catches
• Jami & Dan for 4-hit games
• Alex got on base five times (three hits, two walks) and scored four runs
• Heidi for a solid game at 2B
• Laura for setting the stage for the 7th-inning rally
• Joe for a homer that counted
• Brad for making it through both games admirably on his dinged-up leg