Storm with Strong Finish over Coulas

 Good day sports fans Scoops Jockovitch here, award-winning sports journalist! 

It has been a while constant reader and I do apologize for my lengthy, lengthy, lengthy, (oh how I wish it was more than just my absence that was lengthy)

 

We won't get into the reasons as I've been told to keep this recap on the short side (yes, yes that's what she said on my third honeymoon night).

 

 The boys in orange we're taking on those crackers of Coulas and similar to the reason for my 4th divorce it was a back and forth affair!

 

 The “young” Storm rookie pitcher seem to find the strike zone after the previous game of having no idea how to hit the broadside of a barn or a plank of wood.

 

It was a triumvirate of pitchers (POW, The Premier and Baby Kangaroo) for the Storm that kept the Spine from gaining too much momentum. However, a few defensive lapses on the Storms part that kept the game close. The Storm poured it on in the 6th and 7th and the GregRoll sealed the deal (needing to impress his hairiest fan) with a Mills-less catch!

 

The boys in orange walked away with a solid victory over the Vertebrae.

 

Some low lights include Premier Leveque's arm and the Generals glove.

 

However, the highlight of the night belongs to the young ginger rookie with a five RBI night!

At least I think he's ginger it could just be my astigmatism! 

 

Until next time my friends this has been Scoops Jockovoitch-award-winning sports journalist! 

Final Score: Storm 37 - Coulas 19

Storm win big over Surge

 Final Score: Storm 26 - Surge 9

Broadway over Storm in close one

Final Score: Broadway 12 - Storm 10

Storm Over Isotopes

 Final Score: Storm 10 - Isotopes 9

Storm win vs. Inglorious Batters

Final Score: Storm 18 - Inglorious Batters 12

Comeback fall short against Expos

The game between Storm and the Expos started with a bang. Both metaphorically and literally. Derek launched a home run to left while Jeff was getting acclimatized to having grass under his feet. After questioning why he was in the outfield because of his lack of depth perception, he turned and made a valiant attempt to catch the home run ball by going…through the fence? He didn’t realise where he was and crashed into the fence bruising his face and taking a chunk out of his two front teeth. Now he’s like the boy from the song. “All he wants for Christmas are his two front teeth.” The next batter also hit a home run and it looked like it was going to be one of those days. Storm managed to get out of it giving up five runs instead of six. Duran launched a solo home run in the bottom of the inning, but that’s all Storm could muster and they trailed 6-1. 

The second inning treated Storm much better as they were able to hold the Expos to two runs and their bats came alive. Storm scored six capped off by Rene’s two-run (would have been three but for the mercy rule) home run. 7-7 after two. 

Both teams seemed to lose their offensive chops as Storm was blanked in the third, fourth, and fifth innings and managed just one run in the sixth. The Expos didn’t do much better, scoring four in the third and then being blanked in the fourth and fifth and scoring one in the sixth. The Expos drop in offense could be attributed to the pitching change, as Brad continued his dominance. It also helped that a ball that was clearly over the fence featured Mills leap on the fence, reach over, and catch the ball. Apparently that was a message to Jeff about how you use the fence. You climb on it, you don’t crash into it. 

The Expos finally figured out Brad in the seventh, and scored three expanding their lead to 15-8. Storm was down seven, but they’d been here before against the Expos and come back. Bob started the seventh inning rally with a double.Three singles and a walk kept the line running until Mills hit a sac fly. Joey also hit a sac fly and there were two outs. Rene walked and Bob singled, and the bases were loaded with the tying run on second and the go ahead run on first. A solid single would tie the game and complete the comeback. Unfortunately, Jeff’s bad day continued. He lined out to centre field to end the game. 

Storm made a valiant attempt at a comeback. The problem is that they only scored eight runs in the first six innings. Storm has had a strange season offensively. They are the team with the highest run total, but in many of their losses, Storm has struggled to score runs. In a year when they’ve given up more runs than normal, that has caused some problems. Storm still has time to figure it out, and when they are at their best they are still a formidable team. It just seems that there are fewer days where Storm has all elements of the game going at the same time. 

Final Score: Expos 15 - Storm 13

Storm outlasts the Crew

 Joey removed himself from the pitching rotation and Brad “Two Step” McDougall started game 2 of the doubleheader. After retiring the first batter, The Crew recorded three straight hits and plated two runs to take the lead. Mills started Storm’s half of the inning with a triple, and Duran hit a sac fly to get Storm on the board. Three more singles and a fielder’s choice plated two more runs and Storm took the lead 3-2.

In the second inning, “Two Step” had some control issues, walking the bases loaded, but Storm managed to escape unscathed in the inning. Brian did his best Mills impression in the bottom half of the inning hitting a triple and Mills did his best Duran impression hitting his second triple of the game. Storm added five to take an 8-2 lead. 

“Two-Step” sailed through the third with a double play ending the inning, giving the Crew their second straight goose egg. Unfortunately, Storm dropped a goose egg of their own and the score remained 8-2.

The Crew managed to score one on old “Two-Step” in the fourth. Joey drove in two and then Rene launched a two run homer as Storm added four padding their lead at 12-2. Two-Step’s current contract status forbids him from pitching open innings, so it was time to bring in Batting Practice for one of the strangest innings pitched we’ve seen. He struck out the first two batters to start the inning, then gave up a home run. Walked the next batter, and gave up a home run. It looked like it was going to be an all or nothing inning before The Crew managed a couple of hits and the inning ended on a grounder. BP had given up more runs in an inning than Two-Step had in the game, making management wonder if they should reconsider Two-Step’s current contract status. Storm was only able to manage one more run, making the game uncomfortably close at 13-7. 

The Crew was blanked in the sixth, and Duran launched a solo home run extending the lead to 14-7, but Captain Underpants always said he needed eight, and with a pitcher nicknamed Batting Practice, the game still felt uncomfortably close against the top team in the league. And the Crew made it get even more uncomfortably close. After the first batter got out, they hit a single and a double. Scotty, who hits home runs against Jeff playing for pretty much every team in the league, popped out to the fence, and with two out it looked like Storm had the game wrapped up. However, The Crew had other plans. Four straight hits meant The Crew had brought the game to within three runs. That was as close as it would get, however, as Storm closed the door and won the game.

The big story might not be the win, but the advent of Two-Step MacDougall as a legitimate pitching option. Many pitchers have returned from Tommy John surgery to be better pitchers. Could Brad’s neck surgery have miraculously turned him into a pitcher? He spent much of his rehab period in the backyard learning the art of slo-pitch from an online pitching guru. Was this online guru a Mr. Miyagi to Brad’s slo-pitch kid? Time will tell, but if he can pitch consistently, the future looks a little bit stronger for Storm. 

Final Score: Storm 14 - The Crew 11

Isotopes down Storm again

Storm started well. Sort of. They scored six in the first inning, but that six runs featured two solo home runs, which would be impactful later on. Joey struggled with his command across the first two innings, and Storm ended up being mercied in the second making the score 10-6. Joey settled down a little in the third, but the Isotopes had doubled their output across the first three innings making the score 12-6.

Brad had made his debut in the previous game when the Storm was up by a bunch. This time he came in with the Storm down and pitched a 1,2,3 inning to keep Storm in the game. Storm was rallying in the top of the 5th when one of the strangest calls you’ll hear on a diamond happened. On an attempted doubleplay, the first baseman dropped the ball, but the runner was mysteriously called out. When it was pointed out to the umpire that the ball was on the ground, he said it was on the transfer. Who was the first baseman going to be throwing the ball to? Why would there be another throw when that would be the third out? And also, the first baseman flat out just dropped the ball. With a runner on third, this could be a pivotal play.

Storm’s bats went silent again in the sixth, but after Jeff held the Isotopes to one run across the final two innings, Storm was within striking distance. Brian started the rally with a walk and five consecutive singles turned into five runs bringing Storm to within two runs. Unfortunately, the rally stalled there. Remember those two solo home runs in the first? If only Storm had hit multi-run home runs. If only Storm had home runs to hit when they were rallying. If only the umpire had seen the ball was never in the first baseman’s glove. But none of those things happened and Storm fell just short.

Final Score: Isotopes 18 - Storm 16

Storm double up Hanet

 Dark storm clouds hovered in the air and lightning lit up the night sky as Hanet and Storm took the field Wednesday night. The lightning was bright and Brad was wondering how much metal was in his body. The thunder wasn’t only in the night sky, though, as Storm’s bats lit up the first inning. After Mills led off with a single Duran launched a two run home run, and then Bob launched a two run home run a couple of batters later. Storm was out of long balls five batters into the game. The next five batters singled and Storm took a quick 6-0 lead. 

Joey struggled with his command a little in the first inning, walking three, but he escaped relatively unscathed after a strange two out infield fly call that confused everyone on the field causing Tony and Brian to give up on the ball. Hanet’s batter also didn’t run and Storm was able to get the out at first. This was the first of a few questionable calls from the umpire. 

Mills hit a triple and manufactured a run as Storm added two to their total in the top of the second. Mills was actually called out twice on the play as he ended up in a rundown between third and home trying to help Duran get a single. Mills was chased down the line and then called out when he crossed the commitment line for reasons that cannot be explained. He was then called out a second time when the ball was thrown home. The catcher dropped the ball, and the umpire changed his call to safe. It’s not often a player gets called out twice and still ends up safe.  Hanet matched Storm’s second inning output, and the game was still relatively tight at 8-3. Storm’s diminishing returns continued in the 3rd as they scored only once. Hanet smelled blood and was able to put up four runs in the top of the third as Storm’s outfield struggled to catch a couple of balls. 9-7 after three. It was starting to look like another nail biter that would come down to the last inning.

Strm started to play some small in the fourth as two sacrifice flies helped Storm score three and pull ahead 12-7. Rene shut down Hanet in the bottom of the 4th and Storm took a 12-7 lead into the 5th. 

The thunder and lightning in the sky started moving farther away, but Storm was just starting to find the thunder in their bats. A series of singles helped Storm score six and break the game open 18-7. In the bottom of the fifth, Lars finally dug his batting box hole deep enough to feel comfortable. Apparently number 8 on the Storm kept filling it in. After finally finding his footing, Lars launched a three run home run bringing the score to 18-10.

In the top of the sixth the Storm clouds that had been threatening opened up and Storm rained down 12 runs on Hanet. Lars’s home run had given Storm one to play with, and after Duran, Joey, and Rene passed up the opportunity, Bob launched his second of the game. 

With the score 30-10, Storm decided to try a new pitcher in the bottom of the sixth. Brad apparently used his time on the IL recovering from a neck injury learning how to pitch from some online slo-pitch guru. His warm-ups didn’t look great, but he started dropping strikes when it mattered. He may have needed to do a little “two step” to get the ball there, but he was able to throw strikes. Unfortunately for Brad, Storm made a couple of other defensive switches. Mills moved in to play third base. Lance made a valiant effort to get to a ball in right centre, but it was just out of reach hitting off the top of his glove. The real problem came with runners on second and third. There was a ground ball to Mills who fielded it cleanly. He then looked at second and third as he jogged towards first base daring the runner who initially didn’t run to go. After getting halfway to first, he threw the ball low, pounding it into the ground by first base. Brian couldn’t scoop it, and what should have been an easy out was not. Mills actually probably could have run the ball to first and beaten the runner. He had run almost all the way to catcher after catching a ball in shallow right field with a runner on third earlier.  Hanet then started targeting Mills at third and were able to score enough runs to cut the lead in half. On a ground ball that Joey fielded going to his left he decided to be a little like Mills and ran partway to third before realising that it would be a whole lot easier to just throw the ball to second. Storm eventually managed to get out of it. Brad’s first inning was a whole lot better than it looks on paper. There might be a new pitcher in Storm’s future. 

Storm put together a pretty solid game and avoided the late inning stress of the previous games by putting together a solid offensive effort and a (mostly) solid defensive game.

Final Score: Storm 30 - Hanet 15