Storm handles short handed Hanet

After playing a number of games with nine players instead of 10, Storm found themselves on the other end of the equation as Hanet was was short Hanet-ed, with only eight to start the game (a ninth would show up mid inning). 

Storm thought the league was following t-ball rules the first two innings as they batted exactly through the batting order in each of the innings. Storm scored the max in both innings with only one home run smacked by the Palindrome. Storm took advantage of some inconsistent pitching as they walked a number of times as well as hitting a number of singles. 

Storm slowed down slightly in the third, only scoring four, before going back to mercying Hanet in the fourth. They also scored six in the fifth, but Hanet also recorded three outs as it was an open inning. Hanet’s defence had something to prove in the sixth and they blanked Storm for the first time during the game. 

Hanet was unable to generate much offence. They scored five in the third and three in the sixth, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep pace with Storm.\

Hanet will surely put in a much stronger showing in the playoffs when they have their young core back from their various coaching engagements. They seem content to sit near the bottom of the standings and then cause chaos in the playoff rankings as they unseat much higher ranked teams and generally throw the playoff structure out of whack.

With two games left, Storm has clinched the second seed and still has hope of finishing first depending on the results of the final games of the season.

Check out the Podcast of the game as reported by;

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	6	6	4	6	6	0	x	28
Hanet	0	1	5	1	0	3	x	10

 

Storm gain ground on A's

 Storm and the A's met up for the fourth time on Sunday night for the early game. The previous matches between these two teams had all been tightly contested affairs, with two of them being decided by one run, one of which was actually a reverted score due to time. 

One Storm vs. A's game was eventful for more than just the score. It was the last time Craig "Quasimodo" Procknow played before becoming Quasimodo after dislocating his shoulder diving for a ball and missing six weeks of the season. This was even more unfortunate because the batter who hit the ball had already struck out, but because the umpire couldn't count to three the batter was given an extra pitch and did some damage in the score sheet, but also to one of Storm's strongest defenders.

With a lot of history and a lot on the line, these two WMSPL titans clashed in a game that could decide first place in the WMSPL.

Storm brought the thunder in the top of the 1st as they strung together a series of singles and walks before the Palindrome knocked a two run shot. Storm would score the max six, and they only out recorded in the inning was a productive sac fly. Great start.

In the bottom of the first, Storm almost held the A's to one run, but tank engine laid back on a ground ball and waited for the extra hop. He fielded it cleanly, but the throw brought Brian off the base giving the A's an extra life. They cashed in by scoring three more to bring the total to 6-4.

Storm would respond with four more of their own in the top of the 2nd. This was accomplished through another sequence of singles as Storm was effectively scoring while keeping off the home run board. The bottom half of the inning started with the A's scoring two, but a fantastic relay to home recorded the first out at the plate and changed the entire complexion of the inning. The A's wouldn't score again that inning. 

Storm and the A's would trade 3 in the 3rd and Storm would score the only run in the 4th as what started as a high scoring game turned into a pitcher's duel. Storm's run in the 4th also probably shouldn't have happened as the A's chose to throw home instead of to first with two outs and the missed play is what allowed the run. 

Storm would pull away scoring five in the 5th. The team showed a lot of patience as the inning started with three consecutive walks. Lancer Beam capped off the inning with a three run blast. 

This would be more than enough for Storm to hold on to the victory. They added four more in the top of the seventh to put the nail in the coffin. The A's tried their best to rally scoring three, but Storm held on to win 23-13, the most decisive victory in a game between Storm and the A's.

The end of this game put Storm and The A's even in the standings. Storm have a tougher final two against Isotopes and the Crew, while the A's have games against Surge and Hanet and a rain out against the Buellers to make up. The A's still hold their destiny in their hands as they will finish half a game ahead of Storm if they win out. Storm needs to win out and have help from one of the A's aforementioned opponents.

This makes for an exciting end to the season.

Check out the Podcast of the game as reported by;

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	6	4	3	1	5	0	4	23
A's	4	2	3	0	0	1	3	13

Storm drops some balls but holds on to victory

 On a beautiful Tuesday night, Storm faced off against the Expos. Both teams had some rough defence and good offence, which made for a back and forth affair that was closer than Storm would have liked it to be. The Expos managed to hang in the game partially because they hit well, and partially because they are the anti-Hanet. Whenever anyone made a mistake, their team taught them what they should have done, and encouraged them. This positive attitude made Storm feel slightly bad about coming back to beat them. Slightly, but not completely.

The game didn’t start well. Batting Practice Thomas didn’t hit the mat in the warmup. He had apparently hoped that Captain Underpants would be a last minute sign back in. He did, eventually find the plate and Storm made some plays behind him and Storm got out of the inning only having given up 1 run. Storm was able to one up the Expos, literally, by scoring two in the bottom of the first!

The second was not kind to Batting Practice Thomas. The Expos scored six runs, mercying Storm. Rick O’Shea  once again lived down to his name a with an error. However, he was not the only one. Bongo that frothy panted Monkey showed up and caused his usual mayhem. Some outfield juggling followed by a throw from the Saskatchewan Howitzer that had the option of chicken or fish as it’s in flight meal had the Storm bleeding runs.

Storm was only half the offence the Expos were and scored three. The bottom of the order started things off with three consecutive singles and Big Daddy D hit a fourth consecutive single and Lancer Beam capped off the inning. 

Storm’s defence and pitching calmed down and they blanked the Expos in the third. They then had their biggest inning of the game so far. Again, the bottom half of the order got the ball rolling. Bride of Frankenstein, Tank Engine, and Ciggy Stardust hit consecutive singles. PP, who was hitless, decided that he was better off waiting for a walk. Lancer Beam drove in two and Rick O’Shea moved to vrigin sacrifice because he drove in a run. 

Storm’s solid defence and pitching continued in the fourth as the Expos were held to one run. Bride of Frankenstein and Tank Engine again started with singles, Big Daddy D and PP hit triples, Lancer Beam doubled in a run, and Rick O’Shea’s virgin sacrifice kept working as he finished off the inning with another single. Storm scored the max six and took what looked like a commanding 16-8 lead. At least, it looked commanding. Until the top of the 5th…

Oh whoa is the 5th. In the 5th the  wheels fell off, as not a lot of folks seemed able to move. The Stormy outfielders are so confident in each other's abilities ( as they should be) they didn’t feel the need to back each other up. Case in point. The 1967’s had 2 men on. The Bride made a valiant attempt at a short liner, which got under his glove and sans backup the ball rolled all the way to the fence giving the 67’s an 3 run in the park HR! However, on the other hand other Les Stormies were moving too fast (or at least their throws were). In the same unfortunate inning with a runner on third, a hot shot came back to Batting Practice who then rushed home plate only to fire a missile at Barbies Beau who was catching and returning after a lengthy injury break. The  ERYX 145 wire guided missile bounced of the heel of BB’s glove and between his feet allowing the run to score. Bingo the monkey had grown so weary playing his organ that packed it up and starting flinging his own faeces ( as this was more entertaining than watching the Storm play defence) Score 16-14 Storm

After being thoroughly embarrassed in the top of the 5th, Storm kept the embarrassment coming in the bottom of the 5th as they scored a giant goose egg. Momentum had clearly shifted and the Expos had it all. But softball is an interesting game and the momentum seemed to shift again under the feet of the Expos as they were unable to score in the sixth. In the bottom of the 6th, Ken, who was returning from the injured list for a list of injuries so long we could never list them here or run the risk of running out of ink (isn’t that quaint), led off with a single. Big Daddy D apparently asked him if he wanted a courtesy runner. He said he was fine. He didn’t know what was about to transpire. Big Daddy D’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw the right centre fielder playing shallow and he hit the ball over his head. Kevin, coaching third, knew that Ken was aching and so he put up the stop sign at third. What Kevin hadn’t realized, was that Big Daddy D was a home run short of the cycle, and he was not stopping. Thankfully Ken felt the ground shaking, and ran through Kevin’s stop sign. The only question now was whether or not Big Daddy D would pass Ken. Thankfully he didn’t. Big Daddy D scored on an inside the park home run for his second cycle of the season. Storm would score five.

The Expos put up a valiant fight, but Storm’s thundering bats compensated for at times questionable defence, and Storm held on to win 21 - 14.

Check out the Podcast of the game as reported by;

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Broadway	1	6	0	1	6	0	0	14
Storm	2	3	5	6	0	5	x	21

Storm rains hits on Broadway

 Broadway started the game much like they started the last game against Storm- with a lot of hits. Storm, however, remembered how to play defence and held Broadway to only four runs in the first. This is a great improvement over the 12-0 lead they had spotted Broadway in the previous matchup. Storm also remembered how to hit and scored four of their own in the bottom of the first. The highlight of the inning was Lancer Beam’s triple. He was either miffed he had been run for the previous game and was trying to prove he had wheels, or he simply had a lot of extra energy saved up from not having to run in the bottom of the seventh in the previous game. Either way, it scored a couple and was fun to watch. 

Storm kept rolling in the second. A lot of hits rained down on Broadway (unlike the actual rain that had been predicted) and Palindrome hit a triple (which would become important later in the game). Storm added five more.

The hits would keep coming for Storm and they would score multiple runs every inning. Storm got particularly offensive in the sixth when they would score 11 runs, as many runs as they had in the first game of the doubleheader. This inning featured a Han Solo from Big Daddy D as Chewbacca sounds could be heard emanating from the dugout. The Palindrome mashed a three run home run, which was important because it scored three runs, and because it completed his cycle. That’s the second cycle of the year for Storm and first for the Palindrome.

Storm would cruise to a 32-12 victory. This was a much better game for Storm than the previous game against Broadway. They held Broadway to the same number of runs in the whole game that they gave them in the first two innings of the previous matchup and they hit well enough to win any game. 

Check out the Podcast of the game as reported by;

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Broadway	4	0	3	0	0	4	1	12
Storm	4	5	6	4	11	2	x	32

Storm's offence brews up late victory

 Storm and Brew Crew played an extremely tight back and forth game filled with some great defensive plays and some timely hitting.

Storm shut down the Brew Crew in the first after a couple of ground balls to third led to a short inning. Storm started strong. Storm strung together a bunch of singles and scored six. Good job, because they basically forgot how to hit for the next five innings. Storm only scored one over the next three frames while the Crew brewed up eight runs. 

Both teams played excellent defence. The hot corner lived up to its name as both teams hit a number of hard ground balls to third that would be recorded as outs. The outfielders for both teams covered a lot of ground and very few balls fell in. The Crew outscored Storm from the 2nd through 6th innings 9-3. The game was tied going into the seventh. The Crew managed a run and took the lead. 

A storm was brewing in the bottom of the seventh, however. With thunder rumbling and lightning flashing, Storm came up down one run for the final inning. The first two batters got out, putting a lot of pressure on Big Daddy D. He singled to get the ball rolling. Baby Kangaroo somehow managed to get a short fly ball to hop out of the shortstop’s glove and Big Daddy D made it all the way around to 3rd. Some quick and insightful coaching caused Storm to pinch run Special K for Baby Kangaroo (who has gone hopless). This was a big deal as the next ball was a one hopper to short. He checked Big Daddy D at 3rd (not sure why with two outs) then quickly turned to second to discover that Special K had been eating his Wheaties and was already at second. By the time he looked to first, Lancer Beam had lasered into first. It would be ruled a fielder's choice. The fielder chose to do nothing. Al then drilled single and Big Daddy D and Special K scored for a dramatic win.

Before the game Al had asked some members of the team if it was better to get a lead and the give up a bunch of runs putting pressure on holding the lead, or falling behind and putting the pressure on trying to come back. Apparently Storm really wanted an answer to this question as they did both in this game. They took a six run lead, gave it up, and then had to come back. But all’s well that ends well and Storm took home a much needed victory in a tight game.

Check out the Podcast of the game as reported by;

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
The Crew	0	3	2	3	0	1	1	10
Storm	6	0	1	0	1	1	2	11