Thanks to extraordinarily uncooperative weather, three weeks passed between Sea Kittens (3-1) games, and the long layoff showed its effects as Duckblind NASCAR Divorce (2-2) sailed past the Cats 15-10 at Bowman Park Thursday night.
DBND had the advantage of a doubleheader on the first night of the league re-start, and after slogging though its first game- a 12-8 loss to previously Winless Whomping Willows (1-3)- came out warmed up and blazing in game 2. Playing as the home team, Sea Kittens recorded a quick two outs within the first three DBND batters, but then the floodgates opened. Duck hitters unleashed a mix of duck snorts and hard line drives that all landed as clean hits, and plated seven runs before the Cats ever came to bat.
While early deficits are not healthy, Sea Kittens had a full game ahead to chip away, Man-Aaron Jossart answered the call for baserunners with a double to left-center, and Megan “Slam” Salm pushed him to third with a hit. Josh “Rusty” Weber brought Jossart home with a sacrifice fly and the the C-Beast, John Corrigan, blasted a big fly to cut the Kits’ deficit to 7-3.
The Ringer’s first-inning double off the left-field fence
Duckblind scratched out a run in the top of the second, but an RBI double from David The Ringer Engeldinger and a two-out knock from Jossart brought the Cats within three. But then the Cats started Sea-Kittening, and those fielding challenges opened the door for three more DBND runs in the 3rd and 4th innings while the Ducklblind defense denied the Cats two golden opportunities. The Ducks’ centerfielder unleashed a missile from left-center field to cut down Erin Mama Cat O’Brien going first-to-third on a Joe Hennessy double in the third, and then the Ducks’ third baseman snagged a blistering liner from the bat of Zen Master Rowe to deny a run in the Cats’ 4th.
Time became the Sea Kittens second adversary in the contest, and the team still could not escape with a clean inning as DBND extended its lead to 12-5 entering the bottom of the 5th. Down but not out, Corrigan launched his second homer of the game- a slicing opposite-field shot to plate two more for the Cats, and Hennessy socked a triple to the right-field corner, trotting home on All Day Kendra Haight’s follow-up single. Down 12-8, Sea Kittens loaded the bases with two out, but the DB pitcher snagged a hot cue shot up the middle from Jossart to end the threat.
DBND didn’t let up on the throttle in the sixth, and parlayed hot shots just inside the right- and left-field lines into three more insurance runs to move their advantage back to 7. Down to their final at-bats, the Cats clawed back two more on a single from Hennessy and loaded the bases with two out for the second straight inning, but once again DBND closed the opening and held on for the 15-10 win.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea Kittens | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| Duckblind | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
Sea Kittens
| Player | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SF | IP | RA | WK | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man-Aaron Jossart | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Megan “Slam” Salm | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh “Rusty” Weber | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Corrigan | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mama Cat O’Brien | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hennessy | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Kendra All Day Haight | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| David “The Ringer” Engeldinger | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Shoes Hewitt | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zen Master Rowe | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 38 | 10 | 23 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 2 |
Duckblind
| 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 |
Salmon Snacks
- David for a 4-4 game
- John for his two-homer/ 4-RBI game
- Megan, Aaron, Kendra and Joe each had three hits
- Braden & Abi to help heal their pre-game food poisoning
- Laura for a nice snag behind the plate
- Dave & Laura for a 1-2 putout in the 3rd to save a run
- Megan for her sweet slide into third base
- Erin for her run-saving snag of an offline throw at first
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! Congrats to Kendra *and* Braden, who tied for the Great Filler in game #3!
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
Next Up
Sea Kittens (3-1) will play their first early game of 2025- a 6:30 matchup with Dairyland Dingers (3-1)- on June 5 on Bowman Field 2. The game will be Sea Kittens’ spring regular-season finale, as the cats’ May 22 dat with Mean Girls will not be rescheduled.
Game Notes
- One the one hand, Sea Kittens were 119-22-1 when scoring 10 or more runs prior to this contest, but…
- Sea Kittens are now 3-40 all-time when allowing 15 or more runs. So that was a bad choice.
- The first inning was a tough one- only the 12th time in 262 games the Cats have allowed 7 or more first-inning runs, and the team is 3-9 in those games.
- And yet this was only the 6th time Sea Kittens have lost while collecting 23 or more hits- the team is 50-6-1 in those games. It was the first time in almost 3 years (65 games) that Sea Kittens lost while notching 23 or more hits- the last time was a stunning playoff upset at the hands of Base Invaders in the Spring 2022 season. In that game the undefeated Cats (7-0) lost 17-14 in extra innings on Bowman field 2. After falling behind 9-0 Sea Kittens stormed back- and had a bases loaded rally stall in the bottom of the 6th.
- Kendra recorder her 100thy plate appearance for Sea Kittens!
- John’s 2-home game was the Sea Kittens’ first multi-homer game since Dan DynamOele went yard twice October 6, 2022.
- Joe’s next game will be his 250th in a Sea Kitten uniform.