Needing a win to keep their first-half championship hopes alive, Harmony Sea Kittens (4-1) squared off against JCO Smurfs (2-3) on a dusty diamond in bright sunshine at Olbrich Park yesterday afternoon. When the dust settled, the Kits claimed a decisive 14-5 victory, and two hours later secured their first-ever championship game berth when Magnetic Monopoles (3-2) fell to TEK Systems (4-1).
Joe Hennessy helped set the tone for the Kittens’ evening, taking the first two pitches of his leadoff at-bat before reaching on an error by the Smurf shortstop. Erin O’Brien followed with a walk, and Hennessy scored from second on an errant throw after tagging up on an Aaron Jossart flyout to left field. Patience at the plate, smart, attentive, aggressive baserunning, and capitalizing on JCO mistakes featured prominently in the Kits’ approach and success for the entire game. Big hits didn’t come for Los Gatitos on this night, but the team managed to manufacture at least one run in five of the game’s six innings, and put constant pressure on the Smurf pitcher and defense while their own pitching and defense handled the Smurfs counter-pressure almost flawlessly.
The game stood 4-2 entering the 4th inning. Hennessy again banged a ball off the Smurf shortstop to open the inning, and this time was followed by a parade of Kitten baserunners. O’Brien singled. Jossart singled to load the bases. Still with nobody out, Katherine Curtis stepped in and gracefully dropped a fly ball just inside the left-field foul line and just beyond the reach of the Smurf third-baseman, her second hit of the game. Watching the play develop and seeing an errant throw follow the hit, Dave Rowe marshaled the parade home from the third-base coach’s box and sent Jossart galloping to the plate from first base on the play. Josh Ghena followed with a bloop double to medium right-center field- the only Kitten extra-base hit of the night, and he too motored all the way around the bases when the ball was mis-played. Ahead 10-4, the Sea Kittens bid the Smurfs “adieu.”
Short-handed for the affair, the Kittens called upon former player Stephani Pescitelli and borrowed Melissa Hornung from Ten Plagues to complete their game-day roster. Pescitelli turned in a rock-steady game at first base in her first softball action since injuring her leg in September 2011, and Hornung walked and scored twice and drove in one of the Kittens’ early runs with a sharp groundout to third base.
Harmony Sea Kittens 2 1 1 8 0 2 – 14
JCO Smurfs 1 1 0 1 1 2 – 5
6/6/2012
|
Player |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
|
Joe |
5 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
Erin |
3 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
Aaron |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Katherine |
4 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Josh |
4 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
Gretchen |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Kyle |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
Melissa |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
|
Dave |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Steph |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
TOT |
38 |
14 |
15 |
11 |
2B- Josh (5); 3B-none;
HR- none; BB- Erin 2 (2), Aaron (2),
Melissa 2 (2); SF-none; DP- none.
Joe 6.0 IP, 5 RA
Game notes
Near web-gems of the week included a “this close!!!” play at 1B after Kyle Magyera slid to his right to field a grounder deep in the hole at SS and threw a dart to first while still on his knees; Gretchen Hansen nearly nailing a very surprised Smurf at 2B from right field after he dumped a hit just inside the line; and 3 not-quite-completed double plays- we’re going to get that down. It’s fun seeing all of the routine plays made and some of the slicker ones getting ever-closer to completion!