Kurse Ends and Storm Splits

Game 1 - In which the Kurse ends, and Brad shows up in time to ground out in the last inning.

Baseball players are very superstitious. They don’t talk to pitchers throwing no-hitters, they don’t step on the foul lines, and they often wear the same underwear or socks if they have a good game. So it’s no surprise that Storm was looking for an explanation for their slower start to the season. At first, the team thought that there was a second game curse. It seemed Storm couldn’t win game two of a doubleheader. Of course, that would probably be more attributed to age, and injury, but why not call it a curse?

Then, once Storm finally won game two of a doubleheader, there needed to be a new explanation for the lower winning percentage. It was then proposed that maybe the curse was roster related. There was a certain correlation between roster and record of the games. However, today’s roster featured the supposedly Kursed player, and Storm managed to win, thus banishing any thoughts of a curse, either roster related or second game related.

Storm started strong, jumping out to a quick six run lead powered by a two run homer by Bob and a three-run shot by Rene. The A’s struck back with two home runs of their own, but Storm still led 6-3 after the first. Storm was blanked in the second. The inning was best represented by MiKe’s at bat. MiKe walked up to the plate and watched not one, not two, but three balls hit the mat. If I could figure out how to make this keyboard write a backwards K in MiKe’s name, I would do it, but alas, I cannot. Storm still managed to carry a lead into the third. Joey hit a two-run home run and Storm put up four more. This time Mike swung the bat. He hit the ball backwards for a foul out to the catcher, but at least he swung the bat!

In the fourth, Storm put up the max six again, capped off by a three run blast from Duran. In the bottom of the fourth, Craig leaped over the wall to steal a home run from John (who had already hit two home runs). Storm scored five more in the 6th and won 21-13.

Notable Boxscores:

Joey - 4 for 4, HR, 4 runs, 4 RBI

Duran - 3 for 3, HR, 4 runs, 4 RBI

Rene - 2 for 2, HR, 5 RBI, 2 runs

Bob - 3 for 4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 runs

Cycle Watch:

Duran was a triple short of the cycle yet again.

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	6	0	4	6	0	5	0	21
A's	3	2	2	0	4	2	0	13

Game 2 - In which Joey’s 181 game hit streak comes to an end, and Storm loses yet ANOTHER game 2 (but they’ve won one so it can’t be a curse. Or a Kurse!) 

After winning game two of the doubleheader against the Falcons on Wednesday, Storm can no longer attribute their lack of success to a curse. The only thing left is age, stamina, and/or injury. 

Storm started well with three runs in the first inning. They scored three more in the third inning, and led 6-5 after three. But they basically stopped scoring after that. Storm managed only one run in the fourth and sixth and was blanked in the fifth. Fortunately, the A’s weren’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard either. They were blanked in the fourth and sixth and only scored two in the fifth, which meant it was 8-8 going into the final frame. 

The A’s scored three in the top of the seventh. Brian led off with a single to get to the top of the order. Unfortunately, the top of the order didn’t do anything as Jeff, Bob, and Craig all popped up harmlessly. Harmlessly to the A’s. Not harmlessly to poor Joey, who stood helplessly on deck with his 181 consecutive game hit streak coming to an end. His reached base streak will continue as he walked twice.

Notable Boxscores:

Joey: 0 for 1 with two walks. Notable because it ends a 181 game hit streak, which started on August 25, 2014. His reached base streak continues. 

Nobody else did anything worth mentioning. Seriously

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
A's	0	1	5	0	2	0	3	11
Storm	3	0	3	1	0	1	0	8

Kevin thinks the game is Friday, and the Kurse is roster related, not game time related!

Game 1 - In which Kevin thinks the game is Friday, leaving Storm with nine players, one of whom recently had a heart attack, and one of whom pulled a hamstring and can barely move

Storm started the game shorthanded. The team already knew it would be playing with ten players because of work schedules and the fact that it seemed to be a popular vacation week, but when Kevin no showed due to the fact that he thought the game was Friday, Storm was down to nine players, one of whom recently recovered from a heart attack, and one of whom suffered a hamstring injury in the first game and has struggled to move since. With the sign-outs and the injuries to the players who were present, many players were forced to play out of position and the prospects of winning one of the games, let alone both, seemed to be low.

However, Storm didn’t let the situation deter them. After a solid first inning defensively, allowing only one run, Bob, Duran, and Craig put up back to back to back doubles and Rene singled to put Storm up 3-1. 

Storm’s solid defense continued in the second as they blanked the Falcons. I said defense, but most of the credit goes to Al as he struck out two batters in one inning. Storm then responded with three more runs, to stretch the lead to 6-1. No lead is safe in slo-pitch, however, and in the third and fourth the Falcons remembered how to hit. They put up three in the third and five in the fourth and Storm only managed four runs total in those two frames. At the end of four the score was 10-9. 

The fifth inning saw Storm pull away. They blanked the Falcons and then put up seven runs in the bottom of the fifth. Brian, Jeff, and Bob hit back to back to back doubles, then Duran and Craig hit back to back home runs. Storm kept rolling in the sixth, blanking the Falcons again and scoring six more runs powered by Craig’s second home run of the game and a slew of singles.

The Falcons put up three in the seventh, but it was too little too late as a depleted Storm held on to a 23-12 victory.

Notable Boxscores:

Craig - 5 for 5, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 4 runs

Duran - 5 for 6, HR, 3 doubles,5 RBI, 5 runs

Rene - 5 for 5, 2 runs, 2 RBI

Al - 4 for 5, 3 runs

Cycle watch: Duran pointed out that he was a triple short of the cycle going into his last at bat, at which point the team pointed out that he checked his heart monitor every time he came off the field, and so there was no way he should attempt to get the triple. One player even quipped that if Duran tried to get a triple in his last at bat, it might truly be his last at bat. Like ever.

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Falcons	1	0	3	5	0	0	3	12
Storm	3	3	0	4	7	6	x	23

Game 2 - In which Storm breaks their second game curse, leading some players to believe the Kurse is roster related, not game time related

Game two's of the doubleheaders have not been kind to Storm, and so Storm decided to pretend that they had just arrived at the park for their first game. Brad could be heard loudly welcoming players to the park and asking how everyone was to encourage the feeling that Storm had not just finished playing a game. However, the limps from most of the players implied that Storm had just played another game, and that there was the chance that they would run out of steam (or courtesy runners) before the game ended.

Storm started decently in the first with two runs. In the bottom of the first, it looked like Rene was going to get all three outs on the first three batters, but a dropped ball allowed the inning to continue, and the Falcons put up three runs to take a 3-2 lead into the second inning. 

Storm exploded in the second, getting the maximum six runs. Brad, Brian, and Jeff started with back to back to back doubles, followed by consecutive singles from Duran, Bob, Craig, Rene, and Lance and six runs were quickly up on the board.

The game then turned into a fierce pitcher’s duel as the teams combined for only one run across the next three innings. Storm created some separation in the sixth inning putting up eleven runs. Jeff, Bob, and Duran got two hits each, but Craig showed everyone up by getting two home runs. After Duran grounded to short, Jeff left off third enough to get the shortstop to throw home. Jeff returned to third and Craig came up with the bases loaded. He launched a grand slam. He hit a two run shot later in the inning. Those eleven runs were enough to propel Storm to 19-5 victory, and their first win in the second game of a doubleheader this season.

After the game, many people started to believe that the team is suffering from a different curse than initially believed. It is not a second game curse. But maybe there is a roster Kurse. There seems to be a Korrelation between the team’s reKord and roster for certain games. Whether this is truly Korrelation or Koincidence, and whether the Korrelation proves Kausation is too much for this writer to unravel. But the faKt is that there is a distinKt difference in the team’s reKord depending on the roster present. Either way, the nine players who played their hearts out (one of whom almost literally) demonstrated that Storm is capable of winning both games of a doubleheader, so there should be no more excuses for the rest of the season.

Notable Boxscores:

Craig - 2 for 2, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 runs. And that’s just the sixth inning!

Jeff - 4 for 5, 4 runs, 2 RBI, 2B

Bob - 4 for 5, 4 runs, HR, 2 RBI

Duran - 4 for 5, 3 runs, 3 RBI

Cycle Watch: Bob was a triple short of the cycle.

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	2	6	0	0	0	11	0	19
Falcons	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	5

Second games still haunt Storm

Game 1 - In which Duran returns in heartstopping fashion

Storm saw the return of two players for the first time since covid, with Duran coming off the IL and Greg coming back from… I don’t actually know why Greg missed the first two nights. Duran had been told it would be months before he could play competitive sports, but apparently softball doesn’t count and he was able to return just a few weeks later. 

His presence was felt immediately. He was apparently jealous of Craig and Bob hitting solo home runs, so in his first at bat he effortlessly knocked a ball over the right field fence. That would be Storm’s only run in the first. In the second, Rene led things off with a walk, which is good because he still can’t run. Leadoff walks always come back to haunt the pitcher, and Storm was able to put up three runs in the inning. The bottom of the third saw Broadway put up the max six, and after three, it was a too close for comfort 9-7.

Duran hit his second solo home run in the fourth. This time it was a line drive, and really, Duran’s solo home runs are Jeff’s fault. He should have been on base. Again, the solo home run was the only run of the inning. 

Storm put up three in the fifth and then had a solid sixth as they put up six led by home runs from Bob and Lance. Storm kept Broadway off the board in the fourth through sixth innings and took a 19-7 lead into the final frame. 

Storm exploded in the seventh stringing together a triple and back to back doubles to start the inning. It should be noted that one of these doubles was Duran running hard and turning what would normally be a single into a double. But he apparently only had enough energy for that run, because he only made it from second to third on Bob’s double. Storm would end up scoring 12 runs on 15 hits in the inning.

Notable box scores:

Duran - 5 for 6, 2 HR's, 5 runs, 3 RBI

Rene - 5 for 5, 4 runs, 4 RBI

Lance - 5 for 6, HR, 5 runs, 3 RBI

Craig - 4 for 5, 2 runs, 2 RBI

Bob 4 for 6, HR, 3 RBI, 3 runs

Joey - 4 for 6, 3 runs, 3 RBI

Cycle Watch: 

Jeff and Joey missed the home run.

Duran and Bob missed the triple.

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	1	3	5	1	3	6	12	31
Broadway	0	1	6	0	0	0	1	8

Game 2 - In which Joey comes to the plate as the tying run in Storm’s last at bat

After playing a strong first game, Storm started the second game well. Storm put up two runs in the first, and six in the second, while holding Broadway to one run in those innings. In the top of the third, Broadway mercied Storm to bring the score to 8-7. In the bottom of the third, Storm added four more runs to take a 12-7 lead. In the top of the fourth, Broadway threatened, with two on and two strong hitters coming up. Jeff walked Gord, who had hit a home run in his previous at bat, and got the pop up needed. It looked like the inning would end as Greg tracked the ball and made it through the swamp to get to the ball. The ball was actually in his glove for a second, before the swamp pulled Greg’s legs out from under him and he came down and the ball came loose. Broadway scored three, but Storm still had a 12-10 lead. 

Unfortunately, Storm stopped hitting. In the bottom of the fourth, Duran got a leadoff single, but the next three batters all got out. In the top of the fifth, Broadway scored six, taking a 16-12 lead. Storm was blanked again in the fifth, but Al and the Storm defense only gave up one run in the top of the sixth meaning Storm faced a manageable five run deficit. 

In the sixth inning they were playing against both Broadway and the clock. The first two batters got out, and things weren’t looking good. Jeff singled to left. Duran and Bob followed with singles of their own, and Craig got a double. Storm had scored two and had two on with Joey coming up representing the tying run. It was as if it had been scripted for a film. A two out rally leading to the face of the Storm franchise for the comeback. Joey took the first pitch for a strike, then knocked the second pitch well foul down the right field line. With two strikes Joey launched the next pitch a mile high, and for a second it looked like the game would be tied, but the ball sailed wide right, I mean foul. Mighty Joey had struck out. 

The game wasn’t over yet! Storm needed three quick outs and then three quick runs. They had eight minutes. Unfortunately, Storm couldn’t get three quick outs, and actually gave back the two runs they had scored in the bottom of the sixth. 

This marked another second game of a doubleheader where Storm simply ran out of steam. This was better, though. Storm led through four. Now they just have to get a few more good innings in.

Notable Boxscores:

Duran- 4 for 4, 3 runs

Jeff - 3 for 4, 3 runs, RBI

Bob - 2 for 3, 4 RBI

Craig -  3 for 4, 2 doubles, 2 RBI

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Broadway	1	0	6	3	6	1	2	19
Storm	2	6	4	0	0	2	x	14