The Blistered Juggler

Greetings sports fans, it’s your favourite intrepid sports reporter Scoops Jockovitch here, reporting on the latest athletic endeavours of your favourite Whitby Men’s slo-pitch team named after a climatological event.

It was a muggy, buggy night as the battle of the 2 “S” teams faced off on the dusty diamond of destiny!

In the 1st Surge came out slugging like my drunken father to score 3.

The newly attired Storm replied like my favourite bartender with a double shot of 3’s to lead 6-3.

The 2nd inning saw many mosquito bites and a goose egg for the fashionable French men (Serge)

The less orange Stormies matched their 1st inning output with another 6 to start ( like my 3rd wife) pulling away, with a 12-3 lead.

 

Just to appease everyone’s short attention span the Cloudy ones went on to a comfortable win, 26-9.

 

But we know we’re all here to review and comment on some of the games highlites and more importantly (like my second wife) to make fun of the foibles, faults and f*ck-ups.

 

Rene (The Lips), after returning from a very successful fishing trip in the magical land of scorching sun called Saskamatoon had an eventful game.

Not only were his scorched, blistered lips offensive but so was he with 5 RBI’s, including 2 HR’s. On the downside, there was one play that the Storms first baseman must have thought that Rene’s blistered visage was so horrific that he turned his back to the scab faced third baseman instead of facing him to receive a throw, allowing the Electric companies batter to end up on 2nd.

 In defence of the Highlander on first, he did think The Lips had caught the line drive and had zoned out before realizing that the ball had popped out of his glove like an oozing pustule.

 

General (the Juggler) Mills also stood out in this game for both his rapid feet and hands.

Feet – A short pop-up behind second base was called for and easily caught by the General even before the Sloth at second had barely moved a step.

However, on a deep ball to right centre the Juggler appeared as the ball dropped into and out of and into and out of and finally into the frantic hands of the General for a very exciting, testicle-tightening out.

 

That’s it, that’s all for me.

 

Tune in next time loyal reader for more adventures of the less orange, climatologically challenged slo-pitch team we love!

 

This has been Scoops Jockovitch, intrepid sport reporter!

Storm    26  -   Surge 9

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Surge	3	0	2	0	2	1	1	9
Storm	6	6	6	0	5	3	x	26

Storm over A's

Storm started slowly, scoring only two in the top of the first inning, but they picked up the pace in the next few innings. Many teams think Storm are evil, and Storm did appear a little satanic as the scoresheet for the next three innings read 6,6,6. Storm then slowed it down over the final few frames with Al ending the game with a bunt attempt that resulted in an automatic out. 

Some highlights from the game:

Bob’s return. He actually saw two pitches in his first at bat, but that was because he swung and missed the first pitch he saw. After that, he was back to being himself, smacking the first pitch every time he came up.

Duran missed a ball and complained it was because he was tired from chasing Mills’s balls. We’ll let you read that statement however you wish.

Speaking of Mills’s balls, there was a ball that got by Mills, who then looked at it, took a few steps, and then seemed to decide not to go after it. This led to an inside the park home run. It might also be one of the balls that Duran was referring to in his statement.

Sam hit a grand slam, which is pretty awesome.

I am Sam, Sam I am

I hit the ball like no one can

Home runs are so very fun 

And if you hit them you don’t run!

Near the end, Storm started mixing it up defensively, with Al taking a turn at third and Mills taking a turn at second. Then Duran made a reappearance at second after quite some time. Brad Infield MacFly grabbed the ball and wanted to pitch, but Storm wasn’t willing to go that far.

Storm    27  -   A's 8

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
A's	2	1	0	2	1	2	0	8
Storm	2	6	6	6	3	0	4	27

 

Crew hold off Storm in rematch

After not playing each other in the entire first half of the season, Storm and the Crew faced off for the second time in three nights and it was similarly thrilling, though vastly different than the first game. 

It was a seesaw affair. Storm jumped out to two runs in the first inning, but the Crew scored three to take an early 3-2 lead. They got a few extra at bats from plays that could have been made, but weren’t. Storm stormed back in the second with a max six led by a blast by Duran. Storm’s defence tightened up and The Crew put up a goose egg and Storm led 8-3 after two.

The third saw Storm struggle to hit and they put up only one. The Crew scored three making it close at 9-6. Storm seemingly pulled away in the top of the fourth. They scored another max 6 as the team batted through the order. However, the large lead didn’t last long as Crew came right back and mercied Storm to make the score 15-12. Storm managed one in the 6th and The Crew scored five runs to tie the game.

The top of the 6th was a missed opportunity. The bases were loaded with nobody out. Jeff hit a sac fly and then Al popped up in the infield. This turned into an inning ending double play as Sam was doubled off again.

I am Sam. Sam I am.

I will not run on a pop fly

I will not stop to wonder why

The next time I will stay right here

And listen to my whole team cheer.

I’ve learned my lesson now I swear

Next time I won’t run anywhere.

The Crew carried that momentum into the bottom half of the inning and scored five more to take a five run lead into the seventh. Storm wouldn’t go down without a fight, however. With one out, Storm strung together a bunch of hits. Mills singled, Kevin and Brian doubled, and Duran hit another home run. Storm was now just one run down with only one out and Joey and Lance coming up with home runs to hit. However, they did not hit home runs. Joey hit a long fly ball to left and Lance ended the game.

On Friday, Storm played excellent defence making all the plays they should have and making some plays that nobody would have expected. On this night, there were many plays Storm could have made that they didn’t. Some questionable decisions on where to throw the ball, some balls just out of reach, and The Crew hit the ball very well. 

At 18-2-1 Storm no longer has a chance for this to be their best season ever. We’ll see how the rest of the second half plays out.

Storm    21  -   The Crew 22

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Crew	3	0	3	6	5	5	x	22
Storm	2	6	1	6	1	1	4	21

Storm handles balls well in win over triple play

In the top of the first inning, Storm put a couple on the board as Jeff hit a two out two run triple. In the bottom of the first, Storm struggled defensively as they had a number of balls go off the tips of their fingers. Defence has been one of the main reasons Storm has done so well this season, so it was tough how Storm couldn't keep their balls in their hands. Triple Play scored six for an early 5-2 lead.

In the top of the 2nd, Duran broke out of his mini slump with a massive three run home run to put Storm back on top 6-5. In the bottom of the 2nd,  Storm did a much better job handling balls, or at least Brian did. He has a lot of experience handling balls and fielded a grounder cleanly, tagging the runner and stepping on first for an unassisted double play. Brian also has a lot of experience doing things unassisted.

Storm couldn’t score any runs in the top of the 3rd, but also kept Triple Play off the board in the bottom of the 3rd. Mills wanted the balls all to himself (does he always want balls all to himself) and recorded the first two outs. Triple Play wouldn't play along and hit the last out to Duran who often fights over balls with Mills. He was able to keep this ball in his glove. Maybe his glove had overheard him saying he was going to sell it, and decided to step up its game.

Storm scored one in the top of the 4th, and the bottom of the 4th saw more solid defence as Mills covered more ground to handle a ball, Jeff extended his shoulder to get a ball in his hands, and Duran camped under a lazy fly and kept the ball in his glove. Triple Play did manage to score two runs, though, and after four it was a 7-7 tie.

The tie didn’t last long, though. Storm exploded in the top of the 5th with an eight run inning. What was impressive about this was that all of the runs were scored with two outs. After Brad led off with a single, Mills and Kevin got out and it looked like it would be another short inning. But Brian led the charge with a single before Duran launched his second three run homer of the game. Joey then launched a solo, and Storm kept the line moving all the way to Brad, who got his second hit of the inning bringing it back to Mills and Kevin. Mills avoided being the first and third out of an inning by walking, and Kevin avoided being the second and third out of an inning, by poking a single. The inning finally ended at Brian, but Storm suddenly led 15-7. Storm scored three in the sixth and then exploded for another eight run inning in the 7th to go on to win 26-12.

Storm won the game because of great ball handling (shout out to Kevin who also handled a number of balls really well, but didn’t make it into any of the specific inning comments) and had some very timely hitting. 

There's a new name written down in glory

Storm's single season records are dominated by two names (Duran and Joey). In fact, they are dominated by two seasons (Joey’s 2015 and Duran’s 2018 seasons). However, there will be a new name added to the single season record holder list. It’s not a particularly glamorous record that has been broken. It didn’t take a lot of power or really skill,  and in fact, it is quite confusing, but Jeff has broken Joey’s single season walks record. And he did it only one game over the halfway mark. It is unclear why teams are walking Jeff at the rate they are. Maybe it’s because he’s wearing his socks high and being confused with Duran, but there have been many games where he has been walked multiple times without seeing a single strike in the at bat. It isn’t a prestigious record, but it is a record nonetheless. 

Storm    26  -   Triple Play 12

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Triple Play	5	0	0	2	3	1	1	12
Storm	2	4	0	1	8	3	8	26