Kittens B Tripped

Pitches B Trippin’ 7, Harmony Sea Kittens 6

In a final hurrah to 2017 MSCR softball, Harmony Sea Kittens (6-1) and Pitches B Trippin’ (6-1) squared off for a winner-take all duel at Olbrich Park Wednesday night. The game was as well-matched as advertised, with the outcome- and Sea Kittens’ run at a perfect fall season- hanging in the balance until the game’s final pitch, but PBT held on for a 7-6 victory and the Winona League Title.

Though temperatures were unseasonably mild, the wind blew in hard from center through the entire game and swirled high above the diamond. Taking the field after a three-week layoff, Harmony had to quickly shake some rust and adjust to the breezy night as PBT came out swinging, lofting several troublesome high flies in the first. The damage was limited to two runs by pitcher David “Zen Master” Rowe, who was in the Zen Zone from the game’s first pitch and struck out two PBT batters to quell the first-inning rally. Looking to ignite the high-octane Sea Kitten offense, leadoff batter Alex “Polish Puma” Latzka beat out an infield single to open the Sea Kitten first, and one out later sprinted home on a blistering Joe Hennessy double to left. Hennessy trotted in on a two-out Dynamo Dan Oele double, and the Cats had scratched back to even. Rowe made quick work of PBT in the second, and the Cats sniffed an opening, putting runners on second and third with one out. But the opening puckered shut and the rally fizzled, and opportunity was missed. The worm threatened to turn in the third, as PBT loaded the bases and plated a run before Sea Kittens could record an out, but in perhaps his finest work of the season, Rowe knuckled down and retired the side before another run could score, inducing another huge strikeout along the way. The Cats again couldn’t generate momentum in their half of the inning, going down 1-2-3 for the first time since September 6 and only the second time all season. The team returned the favor in the top of the fourth, and the game reached its halfway point with a 3-2 PBT advantage. Hennessy bounced a single through the five-six hole to open the Sea Kitten fourth, and Brenna “Flash” Marsicek followed with a hit to center. Oele ripped his second double of the game to even the score and put runners on second and third with nobody out, but Harmony was unable to muster another hit, settling for a Rowe sacrifice fly and a 4-3 lead. The slim margin didn’t last, as PBT struck for two runs in the fifth. Sweet Thing Harkins dug in against a new Pitches B Trippin’ twirler to open the bottom of the fifth, and promptly dribbled a dribbler towards the mound. Forced to rush by that Sweet Thing speed, the pitcher’s throw caromed into right field as Harkins dashed to second. Seeing a slow PBT retrieval, Harkins scurried on to third base and set Los Gatitos up once more. Mama Cat O’Brien delivered, lacing her 9^th double of the season down the left-field line to tie the game. Ross Frey looked to stir it up, taking the first pitch he saw to deep right-center, but the ball held in the wind and Mama Cat was caught straying to third on the catch a step too soon.

Sweet Thing Harkins makin’ some lemonade out of a little dribbler

At 5-5, the game was reduced to a two-inning affair, and when Rowe dispatched PBT in the sixth, Sea Kittens had six outs to play with and PBT only three. The Sea Kitten half of the inning went quickly and unfortunately. Latzka smashed a grounder down the first-base line that was picked on the backhand by the PBT first baseman. One out. Jess Schultz followed and cracked a ball down the left-field line that landed just foul, and caused the PBT left fielder to back up 20 feet, where she found herself in perfect position to catch the long liner Schultz subsequently launched. Two out. Hennessy belted a line to deep center, but hit the ball just a little towards the end of the bat, and in the stiff wind the liner didn’t make the fence, staying up long enough for the PBT center fielder to run it down. Three hard-hit balls yielded nothing but three outs. Pitches B Trippin’ broke through for two runs in the top of the seventh and a 7-5 lead. Having already notched two come-from-behind walk-off wins this season, Sea Kittens remained undaunted. Marsicek opened the inning with a liner towards left-center, but the Trippin’ shortstop drifted back smoothly to pick it off. Oele rapped his third double of the game, moving to third on a hard groundout to second by Rabbit Bradley. Rowe kept the dream alive with a double to left-center, sliding in ahead of the tag to put the tying run in scoring position. Rookie Pirate-Erin Rodell grabbed her beatin’ stick and stepped into the box, but alas, her at bat ended like the Mighty Casey’s. Still proud of their amazing fall run, Sea Kittens congratulated PBT on a victory well-earned and a game well-played, and trotted off the field for the final time of the year, mewing quietly amongst themselves. Game Notes

• Ten-run Rule: Since 2015, Sea Kittens are 32-21 overall, but only 3-19 when scoring fewer than 10 runs. On the reverse, the Cats have handled themselves slightly better in slug-fests, going 6-12 when allowing 10 runs or more. In 2017 the team was 12-0 when scoring 10+, and 0-6 when scoring fewer than 10.
• Sea Kittens were held scoreless in three innings- the team was only held scoreless in six innings total in its previous 6 games. The last time Sea Kittens were held scoreless in back-to-back innings was 8-2-2017, in a loss to Soft’s Balls.
• The streaks that ended:
  • 6 wins was the second longest Sea Kitten winning streak ever
  • Sea Kittens had scored 10+ runs in 6 straight games, a team record
  • Sea Kittens had won 12 straight on Olbrich 4
  • It was the first-ever October loss for Sea Kittens (4-0 before last night)
• Erin O’s record RBI total ended up at 14, topping the mark (9) she set in Summer 2010 and matched in Summer 2012 (both 10-game seasons)
  • She is only the 7^th SK individual to record 14 or more RBI in a season (Hennessy, Oele, Ghena, Magyera, Litchfield, Cichosz)
• Erin O’s 9 doubles tied Andy “Mercury” Stevens’s fall record, and is tied for #2 on the Cat’s all-time list for a single season (Stevens hit 12 in summer 2016). She hit more doubles in 7 games (23 at-bats) than she had in her previous 47 games (164 at-bats)!
• Dan finished the season reaching base in 11 consecutive plate appearances, tied for 3^rd on the all-time list (Joe 14 (19 with Harmony Tourney games; 2016), Dan 13 (2017), Andy 11 (2016)). Come May he’ll have to pick up where he left off!
• Dan’s 0.864 batting average was #2 all-time, and Dave’s 0.846 #3, trailing only Joe’s 0.875 in Fall 2016.
• Jess’s 0.563 checks in at #5 on the all-time women’s list, and Erin secured her third career season north of 0.500
  • Next season’s nuptials between Jess & Dan better not adversely impact softball performance!
• The Cats had a chance to even up their all-time MSCR record, but the team is now 61-63 all-time in league play (and 5-7 in Harmony Tournament play)

NEXT UP:

The 2018 season- the Ninth Life of Sea Kittens! Maybe May 15, 2018? Lord knows we’ll try to get 10 games back on the schedule. Off -season projects include new socks and hopefully, Sea Kittens caps… I’m excited about those.

Salmon Snacks

• Erin Rodell. A sneak preview of her biography:
  • Earliest softball/baseball/wiffle ball memory- Yes, a very vivid and scarring memory– I must have been 7 years old. My parents signed me up for REC youth baseball, not sure if that was my wish or if my parents didn’t know any better. When I got there, I noticed that I was the only girl and was petrified. I was an awkward, shy girl who did not possess the self-confidence to handle this situation. We started practice by pairing off and playing catch. Of course, no other 7 yr old boys wanted to play catch with me. Eventually, a boy was assigned. We threw the ball back and forth a few times. After maybe the 1st or 2nd throw, I missed the ball and it hit me in the eye. Out of embarrassment and nervousness, I burst into tears and insisted that I be taken home— promising to never to pick up a bat or glove again! Instead, I played soccer for 10yrs. A sport where I never (well, rarely) had to throw a ball!

So this fall, some 25 years later, she played softball for the first time in her life, batted over 0.300 and learned a game with really weird rules. And in the last game of the year, with two out in the bottom of the seventh, down by one, and with the tying run on second the Softball Gods, in all their merciless humor, said “Hey kid, grab a bat. You’re up.” And she got up there and took her hacks, and it was awesome that she had that opportunity.

• Dan for going 3-3 with three doubles
• Dave for an excellent game pitching- play team that can hit like PBT and there’s a lot more to it than tossing meatballs.
• All the Sea Kittens for a game- and season- well-played. That was really fun, and I imagine that every one of us can think about a play or moment in that game where we wish we’d done something just a little differently or caught a little break. But it’s such a beautiful game for that reason- there is never one play that wins or loses a game- every contest is inexorably the sum of every moment.