Kits Flit Past Bats

Harmony Sea Kittens (4-3 overall, 1-2 MSCR Kenosha League 2nd half) withstood a five-home run barrage and outlasted Bat Intentions (1-6, 0-3) 13-12 on a schwetty night at Olbrich Park July 17. The win snapped a three-game Sea Kitten losing streak in advance of a return to first-half play July 24, where a Harmony win over Pitches Be Trippin’ would secure a championship game berth for the second consecutive season.

For the fourth straight game Sea Kittens jumped to an early three-run lead, and for the fourth straight game that lead had evaporated by the fourth inning. After holding the Bats scoreless in the top of the first, pitcher Joe Hennessy knocked home the game’s first run with a single off the fists in the bottom of the inning. One out later, Alex Latzka lofted a deep fly out to center, with Schultzy Oele tagging and scoring from third and Hennessy making a dash to the plate from second on the play, earning Latzka the first two-run sacrifice fly in team history.

After trading runs in the second, Bat Intentions rallied to tie the game at 4-4 in the third inning behind the strength of two home runs. When the top of the Kitten lineup went down in order in the bottom of the frame, a familiar shadow of gloom loomed above the Harmony side.

Bat Intentions made their worst intentions known in the top of the fifth, clubbing eight hits and scoring six runs to race to a commanding 10-4 lead. Only a week removed from witnessing one of the worst drubbings in team history, onlookers could not know what to expect from Los Gatitos in response- could the Cats keep the score civilized, or would they go down in a flaming bag of cat turds?

Backed into a corner, the Cats reared back and attacked, surprising their fans, the Bats, and perhaps even themselves. Helen Boo Rabbit Bradley opened the bottom of the fourth with a hit and started a string of six Cats ripping hits, highlighted by a three-run Dan DynamOele home run and a slide back to second base by Erin Mama Cat O’Brien to barely avoid a double play on a liner to short by Jami Roadrunner Hauer.

Hennessy and the Kitten defense locked down in the fifth, and Latzka- the Polish Puma- delivered a two-out, two-run, go-ahead triple to give Harmony an 11-10 lead. After holding the Bats scoreless again in the sixth, Harmony scraped up two more runs on a groundout by Hauer and a dropped popup off Kyle Boom Boom Magyera’s bat.

Staked to a 3-run lead, Hennessy recorded two quick outs in the 7th, and then induced a comeback to the mound, which he calmly chucked past O’Brien at first. The next pitch ended up in Starkweather Creek, and it looked like Harmony might Kitten things up once again, but the team managed to retire the Bats #10 hitter to end the nonsense and losing streak.

Next Up

Sea Kittens tangle with Pitches B Trippin at 8:30 PM July 24. The game is a make-up of the rained-out season opener. If Sea Kittens win, they will clinch a berth in the Kenosha League Championship game. If Sea Kittens lose, Silver Eagle will win the first half and have a clear path to winning the league title with no playoff game. Pitches B Trippin are 2-0 all-time against Sea Kittens, having won the 2017 Fall Championship game 7-6 and administering a 23-7 bludgeoning in the first meeting of the squads in 2019.

Game Notes

• Sea Kittens moved to 2-20 all-time against teams whose name included the word Bat, Ball, Pitch, Hit, or variation thereof. The only previous win against such a team was September 20, 2017, a 16-2 win over Soft Ballers.
• Sea Kittens allowed 6+run innings in back-to-back games for the first time in club history*
  • there was a three-game stretch during The Schneid where it might have happened (May 7, 14 & 21, 2014), but we burned that shit
• It was the first time since 2019 opening night the Cats accepted more than one walk in a game
• Alex’s triple- his 4th of 2019- tied his total from 2018 and the team record he shares with Joe (2013).
• Sea Kittens have hit 13 home runs, but only 11 doubles in 2019.
  • The team hasn’t hit fewer than 27 doubles in a season since 2015
  • The 13 homers are 3rd on the all-time team list (18 in 2018, 16 in 2016)

Salmon Snacks

Sea Kittens Great Fillet of the Game

You didn’t have to see it to believe it- vote here for the July 17 Sea Kittens Great Fillet of the Game!