After rain washed out the first two games of Sea Kittens’ 2026 MSSC Thursday Night Summer League season, the team finally took the field June 25 at Bowman Park for another showdown with Small Lebowskis, whom you might recall as Rick’s Baby Blues, or Hot Toddy’s Bad Chads, or Foul Territory, or… But by whatever name, a matchup between these teams usually means “close game.” This one was no exception, and for the third time in the past seven weeks the Cats rallied to break the hearts of Miranda Brandts’s snake-bit club.
With a quiet atmosphere settling over the diamond that Sea Kitten substitute Eric Montemayor (Jay Walker & the Fire Ants) described “like playing softball at a wake,” both teams’ offenses proceeded solemnly through the game’s first three innings- a pair of walks and groundouts for the Cats in the second inning provided the only run-scoring “action” in the game’s early stages.
The Lebowskis shook things up in the top of the fourth, breaking through for a pair and taking a 2-1 advantage while the Cats’ bats remained quiet. Entering the bottom of the fifth inning Sea Kittens still trailed 2-1 and had mustered only three hits and that pair of walks, but Montemayor and fellow substitute Rachel Arguijo (Hit Hit Hooray) opened the Sea Kittens’ fifth turn with a pair of singles and turned things over to the top of the lineup. One out later, David “The Ringer” Engeldinger laced a line-drive single off the left-field fence to tie the game, and Megan “Slam” Salm, Stephen “Slash” Grutzik and Emily “The Thern-inator” Thern singled to load the bases and push the Cat advantage to 4-2. But the Lebowskis’ pitcher induced a pop-up from Joe Hennessy- so often reliable for the Cats with bases loaded- and gave his squad a chance to extinguish the rally. Aaron “Aa-Lo” Lomax- on loan from Bottomfeeders SC for the night- stepped in with two out and banged a clutch two-out, two-run single to extend the Kitten lead to 6-2.
Slash Grutzik smokes his first of two late-inning, go-ahead singles in Sea Kittens 8-7 win
With a chance to seal the deal as the game’s time limit drew nearer, the Cats… did not. What had been a relatively clean sheet defensively suddenly got soiled, and with timely hitting the LLs struck back for five runs of their own to take a 7-6 lead to the bottom of the 6th and final inning.
This was no new situation for either team- during Spring League the Cats twice trailed LL by 3 runs entering the final inning, and twice clawed victory from the jaws of defeat. Needing last-inning magic one more time, Arguijo grounded a hard one-out single through the 5-6 hole to give the Cats one more life. Man-Aaron Jossart singled and Engeldinger followed with a ringing double to even the game and set up Sea Kittens with runners on second and third, but once again the Lebowski’s chucker induced a crucial second out. Grutzik dug in, taking two very cautious pitches from the Lebowski hurler. The third pitch got close enough for Slash to turn on, and he ripped an audibly whizzing ball just inside the third-base line. Jossart’s life flashed before his eyes as the ball sizzled past, but he recovered in time to jog home with the winning run.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Lebowskis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| Sea Kittens | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
Small Lebowskis
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man-Aaron Jossart | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| David “The Ringer” Engeldinger | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Megan “Slam” Salm | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stephen “Slash” Grutzik | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Emalie “The Thern-inator” Thern | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hennessy | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| Aaron “Aa-Lo” Lomax | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Shoes Hewitt | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eric Montemayor | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rachel Arguijo | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 32 | 8 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 1 |
Salmon Snacks
- Rachel, Eric, and AA-Lo for subbing!
- Rachel for the slick double-play turn and starting the game-winning rally
- Aa-Lo with two two-out RBI
- Stephen with two hits and 3 RBI- and the walkoff winner!
- Joe for a solid game on the bump, despite two walks
- David for his 3-hit game – including a double and 2 RBI
- Alex “Puma” Latzka and Tommy Tom Tom Seahorse Shabidu, Jr. get snacks this week, too.
- And Mama Cat Erin O’Brien gets several extras…
Sea Kittens Great Fillet of the Game
You didn’t have to see (or hear) it to believe it- Stephen gets this week’s Great Fillet by acclimation for his walk-off winner!
Next Up
Sea Kittens tangle with five-time defending champs Da Hittas in a 6:30 PM tussle July 2 on Bowman Field 1. While Da Hittas hold a 10-4-1 advantage over the Cats all-time, five of Da Hittas wins have been by three runs or fewer. The Cats hope to set off some fireworks in this early-season challenge!
Roster notes and transactions
The Cats will be without The Ringer and All-Day Kendra for this matchup, but are tapping Small Lebowski captain Miranda Brandt to step in, for both players.
Game Notes
- The walk-off win was the Cats’ third in their last seven games- the team had seven in its previous 282 contests.
- Twenty-seven times Sea Kittens have scored 1 run or fewer in the first four innings of a game- they have now managed to win five of those games… two of them against Small Lebowskis/ Rick’s Baby Blues in the last six games.
- On the other hand, Sea Kittens are 38-4 when holding opponents to two runs or fewer across the first five innings, and have won 27 consecutive such games. Last time the Cats lost a game while holding an opponent to two runs or fewer through five innings was August 27, 2014.
- Six of the Sea Kittens’ past seven games have been decided by two runs or fewer, including the last four.
- Stephen’s walk-off hit was the first in his career with Sea Kittens!
- Special shout-out to Man-Aaron, whose May 28 walkoff* (*the game oddly continued for two more batters) was the second of his career- he also walked off Way Off Base June 19, 2013.