Fueled by a burning desire to end the Sea Kittens’ streak against them, Hot Pitches pushed the Cats to the limit last Thursday night at Bowman Park, but Los Gatitos (3-1) held on for a claw-biting 9-7 win and continued share of first place in Madison Sport & Social Club Thursday night play.
Hot Pitches struck first in the game, breaking through for a run in the top of the first inning, but Sea Kittens answered fast with three runs in the bottom of the inning. David “Zen Master” Rowe and Stephen “Slash” Grutzik opened the game with singles, and with one out the Puma- Alex Latzka tied the game with a hit. Dan DynamOele and Joe Hennessy added RBI singles to give the Cats a 3-1 lead.
Unfazed, Hot Pitches’ offense answered with a pair of hits to start the second inning, but the Sea Kitten defense bit down and held the HP runners at first and third without allowing a run. The HP defense turned in a similar stiff effort in the bottom of the inning, allowing three straight hits to open the inning but cutting down a Kitten at home plate and holing SK to a lone run via a Mama Cat Erin O’Brien sacrifice fly.
Once again Hot Pitches answered by scoring two runs in the top of the third inning to cut the Kitten lead to 4-3, but again Sea Kittens also had a counter-punch. Oele doubled to open the inning and went to third on a single by Jami Roadrunner Hauer. Hennessy brought him home with a fielder’s choice. Still, the Cats could not generate a big inning, but Josh Rusty Weber did deliver a two-out single to bring home Hennessy and give his squad a 6-3 edge.
The fourth inning got sketchy for Sea Kittens, as Hennessy figuratively lost his grip on the ball on the mound. In actuality, the ball started sticking to his sweaty little monkey paws and corrective actions eluded him. With one out in the inning, Hennessy had walked the bases loaded and called to the outfield bullpen. The Zen Master came forth. The first batter he faced laced a line drive to the very spot he’d been standing in right-center field, now occupied by Hennessy. Hennessy snagged the ball and fired a (low) strike to Oele at second base, catching a Hot Pitches runner straying for a rally-killing and inning-ending double play.
“I don’t know- might’ve been the first outfield assist of my life.” Hennessy thought after the game.
Stirred by the stop, the Kitten offense clicked in the bottom of the fourth. Grutzik and O’Brien started the rally with one-out singles and Latzka- batting cleanup for only the 8th time in his Kitten career- slugged a big two-run triple. Oele doubled him home but was thrown out trying to stretch his to a three-bagger, and the Cats’ damage was limited to three runs and a 9-3 advantage.
Mama Cat brings home Zen Master with a second-inning sacrifice fly in the Cats’ 9-7 win over Hot Pitches.
Historically, 6-run leads are very safe for Sea Kittens, but as the team and its faithful learned last week, they’re not *always* safe. Hot Pitches started chipping away, scoring a run in the fifth and loading the bases with one out in the sixth. The HP offense delivered a two-run single in that rally to draw within three runs, but again the Sea Kitten defense closed the doors and limited the damage.
As has been the story of the Cats’ last three games, late-inning runs continued to be hard to come by and Sea Kittens clung to that 6-3 lead entering the seventh. The first HP batter lashed a quadruple down the right field line to bring his club within two runs, and his teammates continued the pressure, putting runners on second and third with two out. Rowe dug in against whom he hoped would be the game’s final batter, who hit a soft looper up the third base line. Grutzik charged in while Rowe charged over and it was the pitcher, dead-set on victory, who slid under Grutzik to snag the ball and preserve the Kitten win.
Congrats to Marcy Messina for legging out her first Sea Kitten hit.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Pitches | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Sea Kittens | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | x | 9 |
Hot Pitches
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zen Master Rowe | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.67 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Stephen “Slash” Grutzik | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mama Cat O’Brien | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex The Puma Latzka | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan DynamOele | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jami “Roadrunner” Hauer | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hennessy | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.33 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Red Shoes Hewitt | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh “Rusty” Weber | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marcy Messina | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 35 | 9 | 20 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 0 |
Salmon Snacks
- Marcy for her first career hit!
- Dave for his strong relief pitching effort
- Joe & Dan for the rally-killing 9-6 double play in the 4th.
- Dan, Dave, and Stephen for their 3-hiot games
- Alex, to help heal his ailing back quickly!
Next Up
Next up is the 250th game in Sea Kittens history! The Cats will square off against Hot Toddy’s Bad Chads at 8:30 PM August 8, 2024 on Bowman Field 1. It’s a late start, but hopefully some of the Kitten faithful will be there for the milestone. Sea Kittens are 139-108-2 through their first 249 games.
Game Notes
- Sea Kittens moved to 9-0 all-time against Hot Pitches, which ties the team record for most wins against a single opponent. The Cats were 9-2 in their long-time rivalry with South Side Badgers in MSCR play.
- The only two teams Sea Kittens have played five or more times without a loss are Hot Pitches (9-0) and Caribou Bou Crew (5-0)
- Erin’s sacrifice fly was the Sea Kittens’ first of 2024- the team hit nine in 2023.
- The sac fly was the second of Erin’s career- her last came June 13, 2012.
- Of the 90 times Sea Kittens have had 20 or more hits in a game, this was only the 4th time the team scored fewer than 10 runs in one of those games.
- Sea Kittens have gone 11 straight games without a home run of any kind (over the fence or quadruple), matching the longest such streak in team history. The last time the Cats went 11 games without homering was May 9- August 22, 2012.
- As noted, this was only the 8th time Alex has batted cleanup. In his last 6 appearances in the #4 spot, he’s 18-23 with 22 RBI and 15 runs scored, and has hit two doubles, three triples, and four home runs.