June 30, 2010
Big win last night! Based on some earlier scouting Sea Kittens expected its opponents, Floyd & Donna’s Packer Inn, to have more sluggers than the Kittens, but far fewer athletes and much less defensive prowess. True to the scouting, Packer Inn hit three dingers, but the Cats strung our hits together, ran the bases aggressively, played fine defense, and rallied to win a 15-14 thriller.
Packer Inn plated four runs in the first, but Sea Kittens scored six two-out runs in the bottom of the frame. A leadoff single was erased by a snazzy double-play on a hard-hit ball to the shortstop side of second (involving the Packers’ only two solid fielders), but then Erin O’Brien lined a triple over a disrespectful right fielder, Joe Hennessy followed with another one, and Sea Kittens followed that with a double, four singles and a walk. In the top of the 4th our lead shrank to 9-7, but a 2-out, 2-run single capped a 4-run rally and we went up 13-7 as the time limit neared.
Hennessy took the mound in the 5th for his 4th inning of relief of starting pitcher O’Brien, and came apart. The chucker couldn’t throw a strike to their weak hitters and served cheese to their sluggers. Three walks in the inning turned two homers into 2- and 3-run shots, and Sea Kittens were down 14-13 when the half-inning ended. The Sea Kitten turn in the bottom of the 5th was declared to be the final inning because of the 1-hour time cap.
Disco Nick’s leadoff single sparked the Kits, and he moved to second on a fielder’s choice. Hennessy knocked in the tying run with a single to right-center and got to second on the throw to the plate, but a popup made two outs. Kyle came up, and their pitcher declared an intentional walk, but the ump said he had to throw the pitches (which, according to the rules, is not correct, but we’re glad he did!) and the Sea Kitten bench hooted and hollered with derision. The first pitch was spiked overhand. The second came in three feet outside. The third got a little too close, and Kyle moved up in the box and lofted a little liner beyond second base. The shortstop got a glove on it but missed, and after spacing out for a few moments, Hennessy raced home with the winning run.
Salmon snacks all around!
but some extra scritches for:
- Jugglin’ Joe Litchfield, 3-3, 2 runs scored, a double, 4 RBI and a fine juggling catch early in the ball game
- Kelly Magyera, 1-2 with a run scored and 2 RBI
- Joe Hennessy, 3-4, 4 runs scored, a triple, and 2 RBI… and those 4 runs scored are thanks to
- Gretchen Hansen, 2-3, 3 runs scored, double, 2 RBI,
- Kyle Magyera 2-4, 1 run, 2 RBI
- Jon Hansen 3-3, triple, 2 RBI
- Erin O’Brien 2-3, triple, 2 runs scored
Game Notes (added June 30, 2021)
- The walkoff win was the first in Sea Kitten history
- Joe H’s 4 runs scored were a team record at the time, and Joe L’s 4 RBI tied Disco Nick’s week-old RBI record
- The on-deck batter when Packer Inn tried to intentionally walk Boom Boom Magyera? None other than Sunshine Curtis, and she did not forget the disrespect. When the two teams met again four weeks later she collected 5 RBI, a Sea Kitten record that stood for 5 years!!!
- Erin’s triple was the first of her career and the first by a Sea Kitten woman, and the three Sea Kitten triples was a record that stood until 2012
- Fourteen players appeared, still in the era before the manager realized he could implement lineups longer than 10 batters; it’s still tied for the second-most players to ever appear in a single game for the Cats (15 played June 16, 2010 in a 12-3 loss to Spending Cheese)
- The 15 Sea Kitten runs scored in a summer league game was matched four weeks later in another 15-14 win over Packer Inn, but not topped by the Cats in a summer league game until 21-6 win over Team Leah on May 16, 2012
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