After a pair of losses to close the regular season dropped Sea Kittens from first to third place in MSSC Thursday night Falcon Division standings, Sea Kittens opened their 2025 Spring Season playoff run with a decisive 18-10 victory over 6th-seeded Whomping Willows.
Sea Kittens had shut out the Willows in the teams’ first matchup this season, but this night WW got that taken care of fast, waving home a run in the top of the 1st inning to draw first blood against Sea Kitten starting pitcher Joe Hennessy, but the Cats struck back in the bottom of the inning as Hennessy laced a scorching two-out, three-run quadruple to right field in the bottom of the inning.
Undeterred, the resilient Willows took a 5-3 lead in the top of the 3rd inning, but Los Gatitos answered the challenge in their half of the frame, as Megan Slam Salm singled with one out and raced home on a double from John The Sea Beast Corrigan. A moment later Hennessy rounded the bases the easy way, tagging a go-ahead homer to left-center to give the Cats a 6-5 lead.
Once again the Willows showed their mettle, battling back to even the game at 6 in the top of the 4th. At that point Hennessy implored the Cats bench that it was time for a “volcano inning.”
“What’s that?” David the Ringer Engeldinger asked. “Where we erupt!” Hennessy replied.
And erupt the Kits did.
Zen Master David Rowe opened the bottom of the 4th with a single, and Braden “Gas” Furness lofted a double to left-center for his first career extra-base hit. Inspired by her fiancée’s show of extraordinary masculine power- or more likely simply not going to be outdone- Abi Fredrich socked her first career hit, a go-ahead single into center that brought home Rowe. Man-Aaron Jossart followed suit and brought in Furness, and then The Ringer crushed a 3-run homer to break the game open. Slam doubled, Sea Beast smashed an oppo taco to put the Cats up six, and the volcano was officially blowing.
Five of the next six Kittens rapped hits and with two out Engeldinger closed the Sea Kitten scoring with a two-run single, giving him 5 RBI in the 12-run frame.
Three of the Sea Kittens’ big hits in the game, from Hennessy, Furness & Engeldinger
The Willows kept battling, pushing four more runs across in the game’s final two innings, but Sea Kittens were on cruise control to a semifinal berth.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willows | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Sea Kittens | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 0 | x | 18 |
Willows
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man-Aaron Jossart | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| David “The Ringer” Engeldinger | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Megan “Slam” Salm | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Corrigan | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hennessy | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 4 |
| Mama Cat O’Brien | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh “Rusty” Weber | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Shoes Hewitt | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zen Master Rowe | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Braden “Gas” Furness | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Abi Fredrich | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 39 | 18 | 24 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 4 |
Salmon Snacks
- Abi with her first career hit!
- Braden with 3 hits & his first XBH
- Joe for a 4-4 game with a 2B & 2 HR
- Megan 2 hits, 1 2B, and 3 RS
- David 3 hits, HR
- The first-ever officially declared Volcano Inning
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!
What's your pick for Sea Kittens Great Filet of the game?
- Abi's awesome go-ahead single- her first career hit (0%, 0 Votes)
- Braden's brawny double- his first career extra-base hit (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 0
Game Notes
- When Erin Stepped to the plate in the 3rd inning, it was the 10,000th plate appearance in Sea Kitten history. Fittingly- she was also the first Sea Kitten to ever dig in.
- Origin story time! OETL: The Sea Kitten Story
- This was the Sea Kittens’ first 4+ HR game since bashing 5 against Lob Stars April 28, 2022
- Joe’s 11 total base performance was the 5th time he’s accomplished the feat, and the 28th time a Sea Kitten has done so