For four innings Thursday night, The Hitmen (2-3-1) had Sea Kittens (3-1-1) backed into a dark corner of Bowman Park, but with a little luck, quick running, and a barrage of late hits the Kittens escaped with a thrilling 15-12 win. It had been more than a decade since Sea Kittens last trailed by 6 or more runs at the end of the 4th inning and rallied to win– though two weeks ago these same Rally Cats trailed by 7 at the end of 4 and battled to a tie.
The Hitmen jumped to a 1-o first-inning lead, but the Cats answered to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the 2nd behind a pair of triples from The Sea Beast- John Corrigan- and Joe Hennessy, and a run-scoring grounder from man-Aaron Jossart.
But the Hitmen blasted back in the bottom of the inning, riddling the Kitten defense and starting pitcher Zen Master Rowe, who was just trying to celebrate his darn 52nd birthday. The Hitmen put up 5 runs, and only Man-Aaron’s scoop of a hot shot to third that turned into a 5-3 inning-ending double play stemmed the bleeding.
Rowe knocked in a run in the top of the 3rd to cut the Hitmen lead to 6-3, but again the home team had a bigger answer, plating two to go up 8-3. More of the same followed in the 4th inning- the Cats scored two- aided by the luck of two little infield popups falling fair and the tenacity of Kendra All Day Haight and Braden “Gas” Furness in getting down the line- but the Hitmen tallied three. Again a big defensive play kept the damage from getting out of hand. In this one Rowe got the ignominy of getting drilled by a comeback on his damn birthday, but Gas was there to scoop the carom and flip it to Roadrunner Jami Hauer to end the inning.
“We need to win an inning.”
Now down 11-5, the Cats were getting down to the last of their nine lives. “We need to win an inning,” Hennessy said in manager-speak. But the Hitmen quickly recorded two outs and the Sea Kittens had but a runner on first base. One little crack opened. Mama Cat Erin O’Brien, who had nothing to show for hard-hit balls in her last five at-bats, popped up. But once again, the ball found dirt, and the hustling O’Brien reached first safely. The crack expanded. Rusty Weber lashed a run-scoring double, and then the dam broke. The Sea Beast ripped a 762 mph triple to right-center and the resulting sonic boom reverberated around the diamond. Hauer singled home Corrigan, Hennessy drilled a hit to left, and Man-Aaron got manly, doubling home those two runners to tie the game at 11. The Cats finally kept the Hitmen off the board in the bottom of the frame to complete the mission: inning won.
The makings of a 6-hit, 6-run two-out rally. Starts with a whisper, erupts into pandemonium.
With the scored tied 11-11, Umpire Dave informed the clubs that the 6th would be the game’s final inning as time limit approached. Furness and the Puma, Alex Latzka, set up shop for the Cats with a pair of hits to open the inning. One out later, Rowe singled to load the bases for David “The Ringer” Engeldinger, who answered the bell and lofted an Andrew Vaughn-esque grad slam over the left-field fence to put the Cats ahead 15-11.
O’Brien believed, and called the shot before the swing. “bye.” Hennessy doubted, thinking it’d come up just short. She was right.
But the drama didn’t end. The tables turned against them, the Hitmen fought back. The Hitmen second basewoman opened the bottom of the 6th with a sharp hit to center- a single in any other situation, but given the circumstance The Puma pounced and came up firing, delivering a blistering strike to O’Brien at first base to record the inning’s first out. Two hits followed before the Cats recorded the second out. Then things got wiggly, in a Sea-Kitteny way. To sum, the Hitmen plated one run and then loaded the bases as a would be game-ending grounder laid quietly in the dust. But Rowe induced a short foul pop down the 3rd-base line and Engeldinger bolted in to grab it in a crowd, eluding both the Hitmen runner breaking for home and Rowe angling toward the play, securing both the ball and the Sea Kitten win.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitmen | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Sea Kittens | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 15 |
Hitmen
| 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 |
Sea Kittens
| Player | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SF | IP | RA | WK | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zen Master Rowe | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 1 |
| David “The Ringer” Engeldinger | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mama Cat O’Brien | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh “Rusty” Weber | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Corrigan | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jami “Roadrunner” Hauer | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hennessy | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Man-Aaron Jossart | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kendra All Day Haight | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Braden “Gas” Furness | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex The Puma Latzka | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Shoes Hewitt | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 40 | 15 | 22 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 1 |
Salmon Snacks
- Happy birthday, Dave! Two runs scored, 3 hits and an RBI
- David for the Grand Salami
- The Daves were the only two players with 3-hit games
- Aaron & Erin for the 5-3 double play to end the second
- Alex for that throw to Erin to cut down a would-be leadoff single in the bottom of the 6th
- Kendra, Braden, and Erin for running out lil pop-ups- would’ve been out had they given up. Those were huge!
- John was 2-3 with two triples
- Everybody for staying focused and ended that somewhat alarming Hitmen 2-out rally at the end of the game.
- Megan to help that hammy get better!!!
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! Last week Arron, Jami, & David earned the honors for their textbook around-the-horn 5-4-3 double play.
What's your pick for the Sea Kittens Great Fillet of the Game?
- Alex gunning down a runner at 1B from CF to open the bottom of the 6th (75%, 3 Votes)
- Braden recovering a liner off Dave to flip to Jami to end the 4thg (25%, 1 Votes)
Total Voters: 4
Next Up
Sea Kittens (3-1-1) host Miller Low Lites (0-3-1) Thursday, August 7 in an 8:30 contest on Bowman Field 1. It’s a make-up of the June 10 rainout that maybe shouldn’t have been, and the Summer regular season finale. Sea Kittens can finish no lower than the 3rd seed for the playoffs.
Game Notes
- As noted, the 6-run deficit at the end of the 4th matched the largest late-inning deficit Sea Kittens have ever erased. That story, if you missed it: Flashback Friday! Sea Kittens Rally with a Roar
- Erin collected her 350th career hit in the 5th inning
- Dave joined Erin (3x), Alex, Laura, Boom Boom Magyera, and Jonny Jon Jon Hansen Shabidu, Jr. as the only players to suit up for their birthday. Jami had a chance in 2023, but got rained out.
- David became only the 6th person with 10 or more career home runs for the Cats, joining Joe, Alex, Dan DynamOele, Slash Grutzik, and Boom Boom Magyera