Moustache Night!

September 27, 2011

Harmony Sea Kittens 20, Echo Tap Mighty Oaks 4

Inspired by the Milwaukee Brewers division championship and return to the MLB playoffs, Harmony Sea Kittens management declared the team’s September 27 matchup with Echo Tap Mighty Oaks “Moustache Night,” to honor the Milwaukee Club and do something special for Matt “Doc” Kornis in the final game of his Sea Kitten career.  

After a successful inaugural campaign, Sea Kittens  moved into the upper Wednesday night east side league and took its lumps during the 2011 season, posting only 3 wins against 7 losses in the summer season, losing its only Harmony tournament game, and went 1-4 in their first five fall league games, including a 13-5 loss to Mighty Oaks September 20. But the Sea Kitten spirit was buoyed if nothing else by the experience, and the young team’s skills improved throughout the season by playing against quality opponents.  The team was also coming off a big win heading into Moustache Night, having dumped We Got the Runs 12-1 in the nightcap of the September 20 doubleheader. Only nine Cats suited up for the 8:15 contest on a damp, cool night at Olbrich Park, but they were a well-oiled group that had begun to click together.    Channeling the power of Gorman, Rollie, Robin and even Bernie himself, the Kittens came out swinging, with six of the first seven batters reaching safely.  Kyle Magyera and Heidibadger Nelson notched the first two hits, and Joe Hennessy opened the scoring with an RBI single.  Hadley “Boomer” Boehm walked and Nelson dashed home on a Tommy Tom Tom Seahorse Cichosz groundout.  After Erin O’Brien knocked home a run, Kornis belted a 2-run triple to give the Cats a 5-0 lead.  Even when Kornis was mowed down at the plate (certainly with the Kornis flourish, I’m sure) trying to score on a Kristen Johnson comebacker, Harmony had generated what proved to be unstoppable momentum, and the scorekeeper’s head momentarily stopped spinning. Kornis spun four innings of 1-run ball while the 8-player defense behind him played steadily and Sea Kittens protected a 7-1 advantage.  The 2011 Sea Kittens struggled late in games, and had allowed more than 10 runs in its 10 of its previous 12 contests, and so lived in fear of the dreaded “Sea Kitten Inning.”  Six runs was a decidedly unsafe lead. Not this night.  Again in the fifth five straight Cats singled to open the inning and extend the Harmony advantage to 9-1, and with two out Hennessy delivered the Kill Bit, a 3-run inside-the-park home run.    Posting seven more runs in the next two innings, the moustached-Cats pranced to a 20-4 victory, ending 2011 on a two-game winning streak and showing the promise that ultimately led to a 2012 summer league championship.

Game Notes

• The game was the first time in team history that every  Sea Kitten in the lineup had a hit, scored a run, and drove in a run- a feat that has only been repeated once since (5/18/2016 in a season-opening 32-2 win over Beckett Tax & Accounting)
• One of the founding Sea Kittens, Kornis finished his career with a 0.701 batting average (minimum 60 plate appearances)- a Sea Kitten record that wasn’t topped until Andy “Mercury” Stevens posted a gaudy 0.803 mark 2015-2016.  Kornis is #1 among players with more than 70 PA.
• His rate of one extra-base hit per 3.94 at-bats is #4 all-time in Kitten history, trailing only Stevens (2.0), Dan Dynam-Oele (2.82) and a tick behind Joe Hennessy (3.86)
• As pitcher, Kornis started 19 of the Sea Kittens first 32 games, earning an 8-12 mark.   He often did so in a large cloud of dust, utterly unafraid to sacrifice his body on grounders up the middle in the name of the Kitten Cause
• He also notched the win in the Cats’ first-ever game, pitching 4  effective innings in relief in an 8-7 win over Jackalopes.
• It’s hard to say whose moustache was smarmiest, but Jon’s looked as inauthentic (if not as dirty) as anything he could have grown himself.

Salmon Snacks

• Every Sea Kitten reached base at least twice!
• Matt went 5-5 with a triple and home run in his swan song, finishing only a double shy of the cycle
• Joe was 4-6 with a double, homer, 4 runs scored and 5 RBI
• Gretchen, Jon, Tom and Kyle all recorded 3 or more hits
• Gretchen played her second straight game at SS, which probably did not coincidentally coincide with the team’s second straight win.
• There was probably a stellar defensive play or two, but they’re not recorded