Sea Kittens claimed a league championship for the third time in their 14-year history, with the Spring 2024 Cats joining the Summer 2012 and Summer 2018 teams on the mountaintop.
It’s been a few weeks since an update- first we need to set the stage. The Cats rolled through April and may, posting a 4-0-1 record to sit alone atop the Madison Sport & Social Club Thursday night upper division standings on Memorial Day. When the calendar flipped to June, the Cats matched up with second-place Bat & Boujee with the regular-season title on the line. As they’ve done a a number of times recently, B&B smothered the Cats’ bats, and took a 7-2 decision along with the #1 seed for the playoffs. Sea Kittens held on to the #2 seed over #3 Average@Best by virtue of run differential, though many observers pegged the latter as the strongest team in the division.
In the first week of playoff action, Hot Pitches (4-4-1) won a 6-5 nail-biter over da Hittas, and then upended the top-seeded Boujees (4-2-1) to secure a spot in the league final. Meanwhile, More Beer More Cheer (0-6) tapped out of league play, and sent Avg@Best (5-2-1)to the second semi-final uncontested. A rainout June 20 pushed the remained of playoff action to June 27- a full three weeks after the Sea Kittens’ previous game.
Semifinal: Sea Kittens 8, Avg@Best 5
Both teams arrived at Bowman Park shaking off three weeks of rust but otherwise ready for a rematch of their early-season 14-14 draw. Avg@Best had to pull in a few subs for the playoff game though, including a replacement for their starting pitcher- the guy who’d made the heads-up play at third base to squelch the Cats’ chance at a walk-off win in the first go between the teams. But subs or no subs, A@B jumped early, whacking the first pitch of the game from Sea Kitten starter Joe Hennessy for a quadruple- a hard line drive to centerfield that did not down on its way to the fence. Nonplussed by the rude greeting, Hennessy and the Sea Kitten defense settled in and held A@B to that lone run.
The Cats set to work in the bottom of the inning, with Alex “The Puma” Latzka walking to lead off the game and Stephen “Slash” Grutzik following with a single. One out later, Josh “Rusty” Weber delivered a game-tying single, and Dan DynamOele and Hennessy contributed RBI singles to give the Cats a 3-1 edge at the end of the inning. Average @ Best struck back immediately, tying the game in the top of the second, and then mowed the Cats down 1-2-3 in both the second and third innings while building a 5-3 advantage.
David “Ringer” Engeldinger, filling in for Man-Aaron Jossart, made his mark in the top of the fourth inning, almost single-handedly shutting down A@B with two assists and a put-out at third base to keep Sea Kittens within two runs. Rusty opened the bottom of the fourth with a hit to end the streak of seven straight Cats retired in order, and with one out Mama Cat Erin O’Brien drilled a single to left to help set up shop. Hennessy singled to load the bases, and Dave “Zen Master” Rowe worked a walk to bring Sea Kittens within a run. All-Day Kendra Haight tied the ballgame with a fielder’s choice, and The Ringer delivered a two-out single to give Sea Kittens a 6-5 lead.
From there the Sea Kitten defense was flawless, and held Average at Best scoreless the rest of the way. The Cats clung to their one-run advantage until the bottom of the 6th, when Hennessy bombed a one-out triple to right to bring home an insurance run, and Rowe followed with a single to give Sea Kittens some breathing room at 8-5- ultimately the final score of the game.
Championship: Sea Kittens 15, Hot Pitches 9
Having worked their way back to an MSSC Championship game for the fourth time in the past 7 seasons, Sea Kittens were facing both their own title game demons and Hot Pitches on the path to the low-level coed rec softball promised land. None of the Cats’ three previous MSSC Championship appearances had ended well; could this be the night to turn the tide?
Warmed up by the hard-fought semifinal, the Kittens jumped on Hot Pitches, immediately clawing them for six runs in the bottom of the first inning. Puma led off the game with the double, and Grutzik, Jami “Roadrunner” Hauer, and Weber followed with a parade of hits to give Sea Kittens an early 2-0 lead. O’Brien singled to load the bases for Hennessy with one out, and the Sea Kitten pitcher helped his own cause with a 2-run single. The Cats’ Daves- Rowe and Engeldinger- kept up the pressure with two ore hits, and when the dust settled, Sea Kittens held a 6-0 lead.
After a quiet second, Hot Pitches started to warm up in the 3rd inning and scored three runs to carve the Sea Kitten lead in half. The game hung in the balance through the next several innings, with neither team able to break through the others’ defense. When hot Pitches scored twice in the top of the 5th inning, the gap was closed to Sea Kittens 7, Hot Pitches 5.
After three very quiet turns at bat, The Cats’ half of the fifth opened innocuously enough- DynamOele walked. But that walk was the first drip in the flood that doused Hot Pitches’ chances for good. Nine of the next 10 Cats to bat singled- loud, ringing singles that brought home eight Sea Kitten runs to push their lead to 15-5. “Everybody hits,” Sea Kittens say, and that they did.
Rowe came on to pitch in the 6th, and Hot Pitches tried to reignite their cause in the sixth, putting runners into scoring position, but Laura Red Shoes Hewitt made a Cat-like sang of a foul ball to end the threat. With but three outs between the Cats and a title- and a 10-run cushion- Sea Kittens got a little Sea-Kitteny in the 7th, misplaying a ball in the outfield into a quadruple, and soft-tossing a intended for O’Brien down the right field line, but four Hot Pitches runs weren’t enough to get the ol’ starfish really puckering. When the final out settled into Rowe’s glove, the 2024 Spring Sea Kittens had scratched their names permanently into the team’s historic annals- as champions.
Jubilant Sea Kitten fans storm the field after the game
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg@Best | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Sea Kittens | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | x | 8 |
Avg@Best
| 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 |
Sea Kittens
| Player | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SF | IP | RA | WK | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex The Puma Latzka | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stephen “Slash” Grutzik | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jami “Roadrunner” Hauer | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh “Rusty” Weber | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan DynamOele | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mama Cat O’Brien | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hennessy | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Zen Master Rowe | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kendra All Day Haight | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| David Engeldinger | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Shoes Hewitt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 27 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg@Best | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Sea Kittens | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | x | 8 |
Avg@Best
| 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 |
Sea Kittens
| Player | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SF | IP | RA | WK | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex The Puma Latzka | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stephen “Slash” Grutzik | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jami “Roadrunner” Hauer | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh “Rusty” Weber | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan DynamOele | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mama Cat O’Brien | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hennessy | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Zen Master Rowe | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kendra All Day Haight | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| David Engeldinger | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Shoes Hewitt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 27 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
Salmon Snacks
- All of the Sea Kittens who were a part of this season!
- The amazing defense in the semifinal
- David E, who was there as an emergency sub so Dan could play & watch Harper
- Joe was 7-7 with a triple, 5 runs scored, and 5 RBI in the playoffs
- Dave R had two big RBI in the semifinal, and then went 3-4 in the championship, and closed it out on the mound
- Laura for a nice grab to end a Hot Pitches scoring threat
- Jami & Josh each had 3 hits in the championship
- And a special shout-out to long-time Kitten fan Kurt Welke, who emerged as champion is his recent showdown with cancer.
Next Up
Sea Kittens will open Summer League play at Bowman Park on Thursday July 11 with a 7:30 game against Base-ic Pitches, who are moving up from the lower division for Summer League. The league will also feature Hot Pitches, Da Hittas, and Bat & Boujee along with Hot Toddy’s Bad Chads, who are also moving up a division for summer. It should be another fun, well-matched summer of softball!
Mark August 8th (tentatively, pending rainouts) for the 250th game in Sea Kitten history! We’ll update when the schedule is announced.
Game Notes
- Dan played his 150th game as a Sea Kitten, and Jami and Alex each made their 400th plate appearances with the Cats
- The Sea Kittens 6-1-1 record was their best since going 10-1 in Summer, 2018- the team’s last title before this one
- The 3 rain outs in Spring 2024 are the most since Summer 2021, when there were also 3. But that’s no where near the mind-boggling 7 washouts in Summer, 2017 or 6 in Summer 2011!
- Sea Kittens are now 8-0 all-time vs Hot Pitches
- Jami became the first woman to collect 20 hits in a season for Sea Kittens. Her 0.700 batting average this spring is second-best all-time among the Cats’ women, behind only the 0.736 she posted in Fall, 2022.
- Along the way, she had a string of 15 consecutive hits, one of the longest such streaks in team history
- The Cats won the two playoff games with only one extra-base hit in each. The team now has played three straight games with only one XBH, only the second such streak in team history- last time it happened was Fall, 2014
- Dave & Joe are the only two players to have played in all 3 Sea Kittens Championship wins (Erin, Man-Aaron, and Katie were part of the 2012 team but absent).
- Missed this note a few weeks ago, but the Spring team was the first Sea Kittens group to hit a triple in five consecutive games. We’re not *that* old, yet…