For the first time since the “Before Times” (i.e. before March, 2020) Sea Kittens fielded a squad with numerous new faces, but opened the Spring 2025 MSSC – Falcon season with a 12-9 win over Curveballs (0-1). Even with four players making the Sea Kitten debuts, the Cats (1-0) looked very much like the team they’ve often been for the past 15+ years, which is to say mind-boggling in the ability to play sound softball, comical softball, and escape with their lives at the last second- all within the course of 60 minutes on a cool, damp April night at Bowman Park.
Where do we even begin? At the beginning, I suppose.
With so many unknowns on the Spring roster, the Cats were a borderline team between upper- and lower-division play. Several new teams joined the Thursday night crowd, and Sea Kittens ended up with a lower-division assignment. The assignment comes with the disappointment of not being matched against Hot Pitches, Bat & Boujee, and da Hittas for the first time in years. But on the placement, Hennessy said:
If there are a bunch of 5s & 6s among the other teams (on a 10-point scale), we’ll have some really competitive games. We also have to develop another pitcher and figure out some positional flexibility.
It’s also not lost on anyone that the Cats historically have a remarkable way of playing up-or-down to almost anyone.
This season opener featured the venerable Sea Kitten franchise against MSSC newcomers plating their first game together, and the Cats took advantage of some early Curveball jitters. Zen Master David Rowe- playing in his 200th game with the team- opened 2025 proceedings for the Cats, flicking a single to right field (though notably did not push it to a hustle-double), and dashed home one batter later as David “The Ringer” Engeldinger laced a double to left-center. Mama Cat Erin O’Brien singled on a soft liner to left, and the Cats’ two big free-agent additions- John “C-beast” Corrigan and Megan “Slam” Salm (I mean, “Salm” *is* simply an anagram of “Slam,” right?) delivered in their debuts, banging back-to-back doubles to right to give the Cats a 4-0 lead. One out later Joe Hennessy lashed a triple to the right-field corner to put the squad up 5-0 and the Cats seemed to be on cruise control.
Megan flips a single down the right-field line to keep the Cats’ second-inning two-out rally going
This… was not one of those nights.
The Zen Master took the pitcher’s bump for the opener as he’s done so many times before, and the Cats rewarded him with a vintage first inning- finding the ball very difficult to catch, particularly when tossed gently from 10 feet away. Curveballs took advantage of the opportunities and cut their deficit to 5-3.
But the Kitten offense responded in the top of the second, with six consecutive batters reaching safely with two out to extend their advantage to 9-3. Man-Aaron Jossart delivered a two-run single and Corrigan and Hennessy each picked up another RBI apiece, while Engeldinger pirouetted past a tag to keep the inning alive.
The Sea Kittens defense settled down behind Rowe in the second, turning a 1-4-3 double play to end a scoreless half-frame, and the Cats seemed to be on cruise control.
But this… was not one of those nights.
Despite loading the bases with two out in each of the next two innings, the Kittens’ offense stalled, while Curveballs kept pecking away, tallying three runs in the 3rd and another trio in the 4th to tie the game. The tying runs… oh, the tying runs. How does the song go? “For it’s one, two, three overthrows/ to tie the game…”
Time limit drew near, and Umpire Dave called the 5th the final inning. Two quick outs put the Cats down to their last gasp, where a tie would be best possible outcome. Rowe dug in and smashed a grounder that eluded the grasp of the Curveball shortstop, and The Ringer gave the Kittens new life, lofting a RBI double to center. O’Brien singled, and the C-Beast gave the Cats breathing room with a two-run triple.
And *then* Sea Kittens decided to play a perfectly smooth, uneventful inning, and strutted off like nothing had happened.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea Kittens | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 |
| Curveballs | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
Sea Kittens
| Player | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SF | IP | RA | WK | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zen Master Rowe | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 5 |
| David “The Ringer” Engeldinger | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mama Cat O’Brien | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Corrigan | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Megan Salm | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Man-Aaron Jossart | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hennessy | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Abi Fredrich | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Braden Furness | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Shoes Hewitt | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kendra All Day Haight | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 33 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 5 |
Curveballs
| 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
- John, Megan, Abi, and Braden for making Sea Kitten debuts
- John was 4-4 with a 2B, 3B and 4 RBI
- Erin & John with 3 runs scored each
- Dave R, Joe & Erin for their 1-4-3 double play
- David E and John for standing patiently in the outfield- exactly ZERO balls made it to left or left-center field!
- Abi for being a ball magnet in RF
- Kendra for both her Dodgeball Championship and then dashing over to Bowman to jump in during the 3rd 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!
Next Up
A spate of season-opening 8:30 games continues for the Cats with a matchup against Walking Tacos- the Taco-Cat game will be the first ever palindrome game in Sea Kitten history! The game will be on Bowman Field 3; the remainder of the Cats’ Spring games will be on Bowman Fields 2 & 3, so home run rule will be in effect.
Game Notes
- Sea Kittens are now 11-4 on Opening Night of the calendar year, and have won 7 consecutive Openers and 9 of their past 10
- The Cats moved their all-time April record to 5-0
- April 17 marks the earliest game in Sea Kitten history
- Congrats to Dave for his 200th game, joining Joe (246) and Erin (230)
- Coughing up a 6-run lead is something Sea Kittens had remarkably only done four times through their first 257 games of existence. They’ve now done it in back-to-back games, losing 11-10 in the 2024 Fall playoff semifinals after leading 9-3 and escaping this week after frittering away a 9-3 advantage
- This was only the second time the Cats squandered a 6-run advantage and won. the other time was June 15, 2023 when a 10-4 Sea Kitten advantage at the end of the 1st inning turned into a 19-18 walkoff win in the first round of the playoffs against Eric M.’s SP Prairie Dogs. The following week an 8-2 2nd inning SK advantage evaporated in a 9-8 Championship loss to Da Hittas.
- Joe’s triple was his 50th career three-bagger
- In Dave’s last three starts he’s struck out 16 and walked 1, across 15 innings pitched