Sea Kittens tussled with Run Like Mad for the second time in the Fall 2021 MSSC-Upper division season and evened the score with a well-played 9-4 victory. The win ends a 6-game scuffle- the second-longest losing streak in team history- and sets up a third showdown between the 5th-place Kittens (1-4) and Run Like Mad (1-3-1) in the opening round of Fall season playoffs October 26.
This game started with a continuation of the Cats’ Fall-season story- a scuffling offense that has often struggled to notch a timely hit. Sea Kittens stranded the bases loaded in the first inning without scoring a run, and left two on base in a scoreless second. But unlike earlier weeks when the Cats have allowed its opponent to post an early crooked number, this time pitcher David Zen Master Rowe and the defense played almost flawlessly, holding RLM to a single first-inning tally.
The second time through the batting order, the Cats swatted the ball with fervor reminiscent of that which defined their collective summer season. While the long ball remained absent, a flurry of five hits from the Sea Kittens first six batters in the 3rd plated three runs and set up Sea Kittens with bases loaded- aided by a dropped pop-up by RLM’s normally sure-handed second baseperson. After a shallow flyout, Catfishh Sims delivered the big hit for which the team longed- a crackling 2-run single to extend the Sea Kitten advantage to 5-1, followed by another RBI hit from All-Day Kendra Haight, filling in for Sunshine Curtis.
Pitching with a 6-1 advantage, the Zen Master dialed in, keeping RLM hitters off-balance and letting his defense do the work- a task it was up to this fine autumn evening.
With the Kits ahead 6-2 entering the 4th, the Polish Puma- Alex Latzka- launched his second lead-off triple in as many innings, sparking another 3-run rally. Dan DynamOele- looking more fully recovered from his significant early-season injury- and Rowe provided the big hits this go, a pair of back-to-back doubles. The rally might have gone longer but Oele was cut down at third attempting to stretch his to a triple. The tag was high and may have been late, but the absence of a camera angle to review the play (and the absence of said camera to begin with) allowed the call to stand.
RLM struck back for 2 in the bottom of the inning and the Cats went quietly in the 5th, but with the game pushing against its time limit Sea Kittens ended the affair with a clean bottom half of the inning, eschewing final-inning theatrics in favor of a much-needed win.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Run Like Mad | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Sea Kittens | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
Run Like Mad
| 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 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stephen “Slash” Grutzik | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mama Cat O’Brien | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zen Master Rowe | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Dan DynamOele | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jami “Roadrunner” Hauer | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hennessy | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Catfishh Sims | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kendra All Day Haight | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Boom Boom Magyera | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kari Fenske | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 30 | 9 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
Salmon Snacks
- All around, for ending that scuffly little stretch!
- Alex for going 3-3 with two triples in the leadoff spot
- Dave & Dan for two big 2-out RBI doubles!
- Erin for stellar baserunning
- Kari for making a successful debut at C
- Bradd… for that thing… that made us laugh
- Dave for a fine game on the mound
- Kyle for playing through his double-shot arms
- Kendra for subbing (again!)
Sea Kittens Great Fillet of the Game
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Game Notes
- The game matched the latest calendar date- October 19- Sea Kittens have ever played.
- The win was the Cats’ first-ever at Bowman Park, and ended a 6-game losing streak (second-longest in team history)
- Sea Kittens had lost 11 straight games when scoring fewer than 10 runs
- The Cats only scored in two innings- the 3rd & 4th. The team’s 9 runs matches the second-most total runs it has ever scored when only scoring in two innings, and it’d been more than 10 years since the team accomplished the feat. August 10, 2011, Kittens rode a 1-run first and 8-run second to a 9-1 win over Goodman Goons, and June 9, 2010- the team’s second-game ever- Sea Kittens scored 10 in the first and three in the 4th to get past Lombardino’s 13-8.
- The Cats win came despite collecting only 15 hits- Sea Kittens are 20-61 all-time when notching 15 hits or fewer, and 77-28 when recording 16 hits or more. With 15 hits exactly? 7-8. With 16? 8-2.
- The game was the 6th straight in which Sea Kittens scored fewer than 10 runs, matching the longest such stretch in team history (July 13, 2011- September 20, 2011 and July 8, 2015- September 2, 2015).
- The Run Like Mad pitcher held Joe hitless for the second time in 5 matchups- the only two hitless games he’s had since the beginning of the 2015 season.
- Alex joined Doc Kornis (2011) as the only Sea Kittens to hit 3 triples in a Fall season.