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 |
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