Despite thunderheads lurking on the horizon, a Wednesday evening finally arrived dry enough for Harmony Sea Kittens (4-3) to continue its summer campaign with a split doubleheader against Infield Flies (2-4) and Soft’s Balls (5-2). The first game broke Harmony’s way, as the squad showed no ill effects of a 4-week layoff in a 12-7 win over longtime friendly rivals Infield Flies (3-2). The win set the stage for a showdown with Soft’s Balls, with the winner gaining a berth in the (unofficial) LaCrosse league title match against We Got the Runs (7-0), but Sea Kittens could not corral the Balls and fell 17-9.
Defenders of the Can O’ Corn, (most of) the 2017 summer league Sea Kittens. With the future of the Infield Flies in jeopardy, the trophy may be retired after this match. (L-R Jess Schultz, Karlin Younger, Erin O’Brien, David Rowe, Joe Hennessy, Seymour Sea Kitten Cichosz, Dan Oele, Laura Hewitt, Heidi Nelson, Brad Harkins, Alex Latzka, Man-Aaron Jossart; not pictured- Katherine Curtis, Josh Dilley, Leda Nath)Sea Kittens 12, Infield Flies 7
Infield Flies
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7
Harmony Sea Kittens
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12
The Can O’Corn Trophy in the balance, Los Gatitos wasted no time in pouncing on the Flies. The first six Sea Kittens hit safely in the home half of the first, plating four runs in the process. After pitcher David “Zen Master” Rowe and the Kitten defense stranded the Flies’ bases loaded in the top of the second, Man-Aaron Jossart bashed his second home run of the season to give Harmony a 7-1 advantage.
Sea Kittens hit cruise control for the next two innings, but the Flies’ bats came abuzz in the top of the fifth. With the future of Infield Flies is in doubt as stalwarts Josh Weber, Alyssa and Nick Brewer, and Clare Murray are all moving away, the team showed the persistence it never fails to reserve for the Cats. Hit after hit floated just out of reach of the leaping, diving, scrambling Kittens, and before three outs were recorded the Kittens’ lead was slashed to 8-7.
The raucous crowd was not dismayed by the suddenly thin margin, and when Joe Hennessy cracked a hard liner through the right-center field gap and wheeled around the bases for a game-breaking 3-run inside-the-park home run with two out in the bottom of the fifth, it send them into frenzied pandemonium and demanding perhaps the first and last curtain call in the history of the franchise.
Game Notes
If it was indeed the last match in the storied rivalry, the teams finish with an even split of their 12 contests- 6 wins apiece. Perhaps a fitting end to the funnest games Sea Kittens ever play.
Every Kit recorded a hit for the second consecutive game- the first time since the 2016 summer finale and fall opener. It was the first time in Sea Kitten history a team accomplished the feat within the course of a single season!
When Heidi drew 3 bases on balls June 21, not only was it a record for walks in a game, it also moved her into a tie with Kristen Johnson for most career summer league bases on balls (17). Will she see three junky pitches August 16? Walking in Memphis, indeed… and into #1 in the record books! On the other hand, why play lawyer ball when you’ve got 3 hits in your last 3 at-bats? Green light, Badger!
Soft’s Balls 19, Sea Kittens 7
Harmony Sea Kittens
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Soft’s Balls
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19
Given an hour to revel and rest between games, Sea Kittens bounced back for the nightcap against Soft’s Ball, looking to return to the summer league title game for the first time since 2012. Jess Schultz and Rowe opened the game with hits, and Dan Dynam-Oele opened the scoring with a one-out RBI single. Hennessy followed with a 2-out RBI knock to right field, and after Heidi Nelson loaded the bases with another hit to right, Alex Latzka drew a 2-base walk to give Sea Kittens their second 4-0 first-inning advantage of the evening.
Hennessy took the mound for the nightcap, looking to find a way to shut down an offense that twice rallied from large deficits to defeat Sea Kittens in 2016. A stellar defensive play backed him in the first, as a laser from Latzka in left field to Erin Mama cat O’Brien at first completed an inning-ending double play to end the inning.
Defense couldn’t save Hennessy in the second, however, as the Balls went deep into the bushes twice in the inning, taking a 5-4 advantage. The scrappy Cats fought back, with the Hennessy-Nelson-Latzka trio banging consecutive hits to retake a 6-5 advantage in the name of the Cats, but it was a brief hurrah, as Balls methodically pounded the Kittens, collecting 4 runs in each of the next three innings while holding the Kits in check.
Down 11 runs after five innings, there was little rally por Los Gatitos aside from a prideful 4-hit string with two outs in the seventh to make the score respectable.
Game Notes
Turning two double plays in a game is a rarity (a first? Someone should track such things!) in Sea Kitten history- but Alex-Erin & Dave-Erin accounted for 4 of the 18 outs the Cats induced in the game
Sea Kittens will wrap up 2017 summer league play August 16 vs Affordable Quality AC, whom the Kittens beat in a 15-12 thriller June 7, a night the team smacked 7 doubles
Erin is one run shy of tying the record for runs scored by a SK woman in a summer season. Gretchen stepped on the mat 12 times in 2012; Erin has 11 runs scored in 2017, tying her own personal best (2012) and Heidi’s 2015 mark.
Jess (8 runs) could become just the 4th SK woman to score 10 in a summer season.
Salmon Snacks
Dave for a sound 4-strikeout, 0-walk performance in game 1
Jess & Karlin for nothcing RBI singles in the first inning of game 1
Joe for collecting 4 RBI, including a 3-run HR in game 1
Dan & Aaron for perfect 3-3 days at the plate in game 1
Man-Aaron for a dazzling over-te-shoulder grab at SS in game 1
Heidi for a perfect 3-3 in game 2, all lefty. What you do not know is that she is not left-handed…
Alex & Erin for their double play in game 2
Dave & Erin for a sweet 6-3 double play in game 2
Jess for a couple of sweet plays in RF in game 2, including an assist at 2B
