On an idyllic April eve, Sea Kittens returned to action to begin their 14th year of low-level all gender recreational softball and picked up right where the left off last October, posting 17 runs on 23 hits and blazing past Hot Pitches in a 17-6 win. The win was the sixth consecutive Opening Day win for the Cats.
“It’s better than my birthday.”
-Sea Kittens manager & co-founder Joe Hennessy on what Sea Kittens Opening Night is like
Taking the field first as the hosts for the night’s contest the Sea Kitten defense was tested- and responded- immediately, working around a pair of Hot Pitches baserunners to hold the team scoreless in its first turn at-bat. With one out and runners on first and second, the Pitches’ cleanup hitter sent a hit to right field. All Day Kendra Haight got on the ball quickly and fired a relay to Mama Cat O’Brien as Pitches’ Captain Logan raced toward home. O’Brien wheeled and delivered a strike to Red Shoes Hewitt at the plate, cutting down the Pitches’ speedy leadoff man. Alas, Hot Pitches answered the volley in the bottom of the inning as Sea Kittens put two runners in scoring position but couldn’t break through for a run.
Sea Kittens starting pitcher worked through a quiet second to hold Hot Pitches scoreless again, and then opened the bottom of the inning with a sharp single to right field. O’Brien dug and an drilled the Cats’ first extra-base hit of the season, a double to center field that set up shop por Los Gatitos once more. Showing no signs of it whatsoever, Rusty Josh Weber knocked a hit to bring home Hennessy for the team’s first run of the season. One out later, Man-Aaron Jossart picked up an RBI single of his own, and then the Puma, Alex Latzka, cranked a triple to right to plate two more. Stephen “Slash” Grutzik followed with his second hit of the contest and the Cats wrapped up the inning with a 5-0 advantage.
Slash Grutzik launches a two-run triple during the Sea Kittens’ six-run fifth-inning outburst.
Hot Pitches stormed back in the top of the third, stringing hits together and plating three runs. Still in business with runners on base, Hennessy snagged a little line drive to the left of the pitching bump and flicked to O’Brien ahead of a scrambling HP baserunner returning to first for a rally- and inning-ending double play.
Dan DynamOele opened the Cats’ reply with a double to lead off the bottom of the inning, and Weber put an exclamation point on it with a two-out triple, a play upon which he scampered home when the ball squirted away from the HP relay man. Three Sea Kittens runs in the inning extended their lead to 8-3.
From there Sea Kittens continued to work their way around HP baserunners and capitalize on their own opportunities, plating three runs on six hits in the 4th inning and then a six-run outburst in the fifth, punctuated by an Oele home run to complete the Cats’ scoring. Down 17-3, Hot Pitches battled to the finish and scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning, but the embers died out there as the game’s time limit was reached.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Pitches | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Sea Kittens | 0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | x | 17 |
Hot Pitches
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex The Puma Latzka | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stephen “Slash” Grutzik | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kendra All Day Haight | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan DynamOele | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jami “Roadrunner” Hauer | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hennessy | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Mama Cat O’Brien | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh “Rusty” Weber | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Shoes Hewitt | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Man-Aaron Jossart | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sunshine Curtis | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 38 | 17 | 23 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
Salmon Snacks
- All of the Sea Kittens- glad you’re all back for more Sea Kitten fun!
- Kendra-Erin-Laura for their outfield assist and putout at home plate
- Joe & Erin for their double play to end the 3rd
- The whole defense for a nearly flawless game- impressive for opening night!
- Erin for cracking the Cats’ first extra-base hit of the season
- Stephen was 4-4 with a triple, 2 runs scored and 3 RBI
- Josh was 3-3 with a double, triple, 3 runs scored and 2 RBI
- Dan went 3-4 with a double, homer, 2 runs and 3 RBI
- Katie for her 100th game played- and two hits and a run scored
- Alex with a triple and 4 RBI
- Man-Aaron with a pair of hits and two runs scored
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 the Sea Kittens Great Fillet of the Game?
- Joe & Erin's 1-3 double play to end the 3rd inning (0%, 0 Votes)
- Kendra-Erin-Laura throwing out Logan at home (100%, 6 Votes)
Total Voters: 6
Next Up
On May 2, 2024 Sea Kittens will face one of two new teams in the 2024 MSSC Thursday night league- More Beer More Cheer, who played 2023 Summer League Champs Bat and Boujee in their league debut April 25 (result not yet posted). Game time 8:30 PM, Bowman Field 1.
Game Notes
- Congrats to Katie for playing her 100th game as a Sea Kitten- she’s the 9th person to top the century mark!
- Man-Aaron Jossart is poised to be next in the club. At 95 games played, he could play his 100th just before he & KC tie the knot at Olbrich Park, right by the diamond where they both played their first SK games and where he was once a curly-haired fanboy and scorekeeper cheering on his new girlfriend.
- This was the Sea Kittens’ 6th consecutive Opening Day win. The team is now 10-4 all-time in its openers.
- The Cats went scoreless in the first inning but won, but that’s not the team’s best recipe for success- they’re 24-40 all-time when not scoring in the first inning.
- Sea Kittens were held scoreless in the 1st inning six times in 2023, and lost five of those games. The only win? Against Hot Pitches.
- On the flipside, Sea Kittens held Hot Pitches scoreless in the first, and the team is 58-26 when it’s done that; including a 37-11 mark when holding a visiting opponent scoreless in the first inning.
- The team’s three triples matched the club single-game record! It’s the 7th time a Sea Kitten lineup has legged out three three-baggers in a game. The last time? September 7, 2023… against Hot Pitches.
- Dan’s 5th-inning home run was the 1000th extra-base hit in team history!
- Next milestones could be the team’s 2,500th run scored and 4,000th hit
- Josh terrorizes Hot Pitches- he’s now hitting 0.833 with a double and 2 triples in 12 career at-bats against the club.
- Hot Pitches moved into 5th place on the Cats’ list of most common opponents
Sea Kittens’ Most Common Opponents
| Opponent | Games Played | Cats’ record |
| Magnetic Monopoles/ Baltimore Factorioles/ Infield Flies franchise | 12 | 6-6 |
| South Side Badgers | 12 | 9-3 |
| Steal Your Base | 10 | 8-2 |
| Da Hittas/ The Avengers* | 9 | 2-6-1 |
| Hot Pitches* | 7 | 7-0 |
| Run Like Mad | 6 | 4-2 |
| Bat and Boujee* | 6 | 3-3 |
*In 2024 MSSC Spring Thursday Night League