3rd and 4th inning offensive bursts carry Storm to victory

Storm started slowly once again. The first two batters of the game recorded outs on the first two pitches. Then Joey decided he needed to work George’s pitch count and took a walk. It raised the pitch count, but didn’t do much else as Rene got out. In the 2^nd inning Storm didn’t do much better. Al singled and Craig drove daddy-in-law home on a two-run homer. Through two innings Storm had only managed two runs.

Thankfully Storm’s defense was solid and didn’t allow any runs in the first two innings.

Then, in the 3^rd, the Storm winds blew and broke open the A’s defensive dam. Kevin led off with a walk followed by a couple of singles. Then Dave, I don’t need a courtesy runner thank you very much, smacked a double. The inning was capped off with a three-run blast by Joey.

In the top of the 4^th, Storm continued to swing the bats well, batting through the entire lineup. Craig managed a very nice plus two single. That was followed by five singles and a Duran triple, before Craig, who had appeared to master his plus 2 swing, knocked a home run out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 4^th, Al came in and promptly blew Mike’s shutout. The A’s put up 2 in the 4^th and another in the 5^th before putting up a 4 spot in the 4^th and making a game of it. Storm’s offense either decided that it had already done enough, or simply ran out of steam from all the running around the bases they did in the 3^rd and 4^th innings, because they barely mustered one run in their final three trips to the plate. Thankfully, they had already put up enough runs to win the game.

Highlights:

Brad announced that it was too hot for pants, and so he wore shorts, but also said that he needed to protect his knees, so he had some kind of knee padding on. This clearly affected his speed because he was unable to get to a foul ball while playing catcher, and was nearly thrown out at 2^nd and 1^st on plays that should not have been close. This situation will be monitored going forward.

Craig should  be looking for a refund on his jersey. The buttons just won’t stay done up during his home run swing.

Kevin retired “Tinky”, much to the chagrin of the Storm power hitters when Storm went up +2. Instead, Kevin brought Tinky’s cousin “Tonky”. It was quickly discovered that “Tonky” is a walking bat. Pitchers are so intimidated by its black and silver sheen that they don’t throw strikes. “Tonky” was walked numerous times, and when it finally made contact, it had a little more pop than “Tinky” and might not be what Storm needs +2. 

HR's: Joey, Craig

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	0	2	7	9	0	1	0	19
A’s	0	0	0	2	1	4	3	10