Sea Kittens (7-0) square off with Base Invaders (6-1) in a Madison Sport & Social Club semi-final tonight at Bowman Park. First pitch is at 6:30 PM on Field #2. Bat & Bougee (5-2) will duel top-seeded Thirsty Thursday Enthusiasts (6-0) on Field 1, and the winners will square off in a 7:30 PM championship tilt. It promises to be a beautiful night for softball and a fitting finale to the Spring Season, which started in late April and remarkably only experienced one week of postponements.
The second-seeded Cats dealt Base Invaders its only loss of the season- a 15-6 Sea Kitten win in early May, but observers note that the gap between the two teams is far narrower than that score might indicate. In four games against common opponents, Sea Kittens have a +34 run differential while Base Invaders’ is +31, an indication of the teams’ similarities. Base Invaders are the defending Thursday League Champions (playing under the Swingers moniker), and last fall fell 15-11 to Sea Kittens’ cousin club, Bottomfeeders, in a tight-fought game.
Sea Kittens, meanwhile, have won 10 of its past 11 games, the lone blemish a 28-16 thrashing at the hands of Excalibur in the 2021 Fall Tuesday night finals. What could be a major factor for the Cats is the absence of third baseman Stephen “Slash” Grutzik, who leads the team with 20 hits and has posted a gaudy 0.800/0.818/1.280 slash line. Also absent tonight will be Sunshine Curtis, Red Shoes Hewitt, and left-fielder Man-Aaron Jossart, forcing manager Joe Hennessy to deploy different defensive configurations than in earlier weeks.
We gotta play with who we have- and everybody on the Kits can hit. Should be some fun softball tonight! -manager Joe Hennessy, to no one in particular
Getting his call-up a week earlier than planned will be outfielder Aaron Lomax, a long-time Bottomfeeder who’s doubling up with Sea Kittens this summer. Lomax has a sweet new hittin’ stick that he’s eager to unleash somewhere other than in his living room. On the mound will be David Zen Master Rowe, making his sixth career playoff start.
While the final defensive permutation hasn’t been decided, the Cats’ projected batting order:
| # | Player |
| 1 | Zen Master |
| 2 | Puma |
| 3 | Schultzy |
| 4 | DynamOele |
| 5 | Mama Cat |
| 6 | The Pup |
| 7 | Hennessy |
| 8 | Z-Force |
| 9 | A-Lo |
| 10 | Roadrunner |