No Business Like Show Business: Broadway Puts on a 20-Run Masterclass

Rene brought the lightning, launching the team’s only home run and driving in three runs alongside Joey. Five different players collected multi-hit games, helping the team cross the plate 11 times. In most recreational leagues, double-digit runs guarantee a post-game cooler celebration.

Unfortunately, the Storm’s pitching and defense encountered a catastrophic system failure. Broadway turned the game into a home run derby, hanging a staggering 20 runs on the scoreboard. Scoring six runs in both the first and fourth innings, Broadway treated the Storm's defense like a minor speed bump on their way to victory. The Storm fought valiantly till the final frame, but you simply cannot win a track meet when your opponent is running downhill with a nine-run head start.

Key Statistical Highlights for the Storm:

• Top Run Producers: Rene and Joey led the team in RBIs, driving in 3 runs each.
• Power Hitting: Rene hit the team's only home run (HR), finishing with an impressive 1.833 OPS.
• Base Hit Leaders: Duran, Joey, Brad, Shawn, and Alex each collected 2 hits during the game.

Line Score

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	1	0	4	3	0	0	3	11
Broadway	6	0	2	6	1	5	X	20

The New season is underway with a bang

If you’re a fan of pitchers' duels, this game was your worst nightmare. If you’re a fan of chaos, it was a masterpiece. Storm managed to edge out Broadway with a football-esque score of 17-16 in a game that apparently only lasted seven innings because everyone ran out of breath (or balls).

The "How Did That Happen?" Highlights:

• The Inning of Doom: Broadway was cruising along until the 5th inning, where they hung a 6 on the scoreboard. Storm’s response? A casual 8-run explosion in the 6th to snatch the lead back. It wasn't so much a "rally" as it was a total defensive collapse.
• Duran, the Run-Producing Machine: Duran clearly had a dinner reservation he was trying to get to. He racked up 4 RBIs and 2 Runs on just 1 hit. We’re not sure if he’s a tactical genius or if Broadway just kept walking him until he crossed home plate.
• The "Wait, We Have a Bench?" Strategy: Broadway used 14 different players, including poor Alex, who came in at the #14 spot, He showed up, caused a little bit of trouble with an FC, and went home.

 The Heavy Hitters

• Bob (The Slugging Legend): With a 1.000 Average and a 2.000 Slugging Percentage, Bob was the most efficient player on the field. He turned his 2 at-bats into a single, a triple, and 3 runs scored.
• Duran (The RBI King): While he didn't have a perfect average, he made his hits count with a Home Run and a game-high 4 RBIs. He basically carried the team's scoring load.
• Joey & Stephen (The Double Trouble): Both finished with a perfect 1.000 Average and identical 1.500 Slugging stats (each had a single and a double). They were the engine of the offense.
• Tony (The Professional): 3 at-bats, 3 singles. He didn't do anything flashy, but he was the most consistent presence in the box.

Storm wins Encore Performance

Storm got the encore performance they wanted against Broadway, and they didn’t miss a beat. The defense was choreographed perfectly with a number of excellent catches in the outfield and the infield was solid. The lineup was full of bangers as the team produced a number of hits. 

Duran and Rene each doubled and Storm scored one in the opening act of the game. Broadway was able to double Storm’s output and took a 2-1 lead after one inning. Storm and Broadway each sang a chorus of Os in the second and the game remained 2-1. 

Both teams found their voices in the third and the hits started to turn into runs. Duran launched a home run and Tony nearly took out a child on the playground he launched his home run so far. Storm briefly took a 6-2 lead. But Broadway wasn’t about to throw in the towel. Ryan started with a single and Brad took a walk, which led to a 3 run homer by Tyler. A few hits later and Broadway had regained the lead 7-6. 

Kevin knocked a big double in the fourth that helped propel Storm to a five run inning capped by Duran’s second home run of the night. Storm took the lead 11-7 and kept Broadway off the scoresheet. Storm added two more in the fifth, but this time Broadway responded immediately with a single from Shawn and a triple from Gord scoring two and cutting the lead to 13-9. 

The chorus of Os was back in the sixth and Storm headed into the seventh with a four run lead. Storm managed to score one insurance run, but the inning was cut short as Jeff tried to turn a single into a double. Storm led by five going into the bottom of the seventh. More solid defense helped Storm hold on to the lead and Mills caught the last ball of the game as Storm became champions once again.

Some interesting notes about the tournament. Storm played excellent defense. With the exception of one inning in one game, Storm managed to keep mistakes from compounding like the interest on a 30 year mortgage. Instead, mistakes were kept to a minimum, and Storm picked each other up and made outs in big moments. Storm never gave up more than 11 runs in any of the six games in the playoffs. 

While the bats struggled on Saturday, scoring only 28 runs in three games. It was a different story on Sunday as Storm scored 65 runs in three games giving the team some breathing room.

The effort across the weekend was a complete team effort, with each player making a nice defensive play at some point, and everyone coming up with a key hit in one of the games. It was a nice way to win and everyone on the team should feel like they contributed to the victory.

Final Score: Storm 14 - Broadway 9

Hiccup in the plan

It was a tale as old as time as Storm faced off against Broadway. Storm has historically had trouble against Broadway and Broadway actually said they wanted to play Storm and make them take the hard route through the playoffs. Now that they had Storm in their sights, they were not going to miss their shot. 

It was an extremely tight defensive battle. A pitcher's duel that lasted just over an hour. Broadway scored only one in the first and Joey launched a two run shot in the bottom of the first. It felt like a good start, but while Broadway would continue to chip away over the next few innings, Storm's bats were like Brigadoon. They had disappeared, and Storm wouldn't even get through their entire lineup until the 4th inning putting up four consecutive goose eggs and after 6 innings, they trailed 10-3. 

But they dreamed a dream and believed they could still come back. Storm blanked Broadway in the top of the 7th. The problem was they needed 8 runs to win (as a tie would give Broadway the pool). Unfortunately, there was no encore performance for Storm's hitters. They were unable to make a comeback and are now forced to play at 3 to keep in contention.

Final Score: Broadway 10 - Storm 4

Broadway over Storm in close one

Final Score: Broadway 12 - Storm 10

Broadway gets the win

Storm and Broadway completed the trilogy on Sunday night. The game started slowly with Broadway forgetting their balls, but it was actually Storm that played the game without any balls. 

They seemed to think the max 6 was for the game not max 6 for an inning. Broadway played nearly impeccably through the first five. In the sixth, a couple of misplays made it look like Storm might mount a comeback, but any hopes of a comeback were quickly squashed and Broadway held on to a 15-8 win in a thoroughly unsatisfactory finale for Storm fans.

Final Score: Broadway 15 - Storm 8
 

Storm take Two from Broadway

The second game of the double feature was a lot less suspenseful than the first game. Storm jumped out to a 12-0 lead after three innings. This was done without hitting any home runs (which would become a story later in the game). 

Much like the first game, Storm’s bats quieted down in the later portion of the game, but this time the lead was so big there was little suspense. Mills got so bored in the outfield that he came in for an inning at shortstop. He made two plays, though one was a fly ball and both were fielded on the outfield grass, so was he really playing shortstop or shallow outfield? 

The game got interesting as time was winding down and Broadway took the field even though they trailed by fourteen runs at the time. Storm scored four runs in the inning, including a massive home run from Duran that was on a pitch above his head. After Storm scored, Broadway decided they didn’t want their final at bats leaving Storm wondering what the final score was and whether Duran’s home run counted? Either way, Storm swept the doubleheader and seems to be back on track.

Final Score: Storm 22 - Broadway 4 

Storm walks off Broadway

The opening act of the Storm-Broadway showdown was a high energy high scoring affair. Broadway opened the night with a six run mercy inning, including two home runs. Rene was fighting his command and his shirtsleeves as he paced around the mound throughout the inning. Storm was not dismayed, though, and matched Broadway stroke for stroke with a six run mercy inning,  including back to back home runs by Bob and Tony. 

The second saw a slight reduction in runs. Broadway scored four runs, but it could have been a lower scoring inning if Storm had been able to turn a double play. This time Storm managed to win the inning with five runs off mostly singles. 

Broadway was shut out in the third, but scored four in the fourth and Storm managed three in each inning to keep the fairly high scoring game going. It was 17-14 after four.

Then Act 2 began. While Act 1 was decidedly high scoring, Act 2 completely shifted tone. Storm’s bats stopped swinging and Storm was shut out in each of the fifth and sixth. Jeff managed to shit out Broadway in the fifth, but they scored two in the sixth meaning the game went into the seventh with Storm up one. Broadway managed to get that one run across tying the game.

The question became would Storm score, or would it end up a kissing cousin affair? Bob led off with a double making the comeback seem possible. Tony was then given a free pass to create a force play at every base. The climactic moment came when Sam ripped a single into left field and Bob scored from second on the final play.

Final Score: Storm 18 - Broadway 17

Storm finish strong (and on time) against Broadway

Storm and Broadway traded blows and it looked like it might be last bat wins games as two heavy hitting teams faced off. It looked like Storm might cruise to another victory as Storm two runs on two pitches with a single and a home run by Duran (now that his family was gone and the black bat was safely back in his bat bag!). They kept hitting and scored six as Al hit a triple to end the inning with a max6. Storm then blanked Broadway and was on their way to an easy win.

NOT! Storm scored one run in the second, and then Broadway’s bats started singing as they scored a max 6 capped off by a home run. With the script flipped in the second act it was suddenly a suspenseful game that would come down to the final moments. 

Storm again responded well. Lance launched a solo home run to start the third and Mills hit a three run inside the park homer to end the third as Storm maxed out its potential. Broadway would not be dismayed either and responded with four of their own to keep the score close at 13-10. 

Storm would score four in the fourth powered by a two run blast by Joey. Broadway would get three and it looked like Storm was pulling away 17-13. But the fifth saw Storm go down after only four batters, including Mills popping up to the catcher, and Broadway saw their opening and they didn’t miss their shot. They scored four to tie the game 17-17. 

Storm now had to contend with Broadway and time as they headed into their last at bats. With the game tied after five and under 10 minutes left, Storm had to score enough to take the lead and leave enough time to get Broadway out if they wanted the win. Joey led off with an out, but Duran got the ball rolling with a triple. Lance walked, and Rene came up with a vengeance. Earlier in the game he had tracked a fly ball and foul territory perfectly, but the movement caused the ball to evade his glove and hit another part of his body so hard he went down and rolled around. If that wasn’t enough, on his way to bat Brian hit him in the back with a ball he was trying to return to the umpire. With a lot of pent up rage Rene took it out on the ball (was that the same ball that had so mercilessly assaulted his balls|?) and launched it way over the fence for a three run shot. Would three runs be enough? Should Storm declare the outs now and move on, or did they need more than three? As the talking heads discussed what to do, Storm got three more hits scoring a run. They were about to pull the plug on the inning when Al popped out. This led them to decide Mills would be the last batter no matter what happened. Mills then hit the ball to the fence and ran for his life. The problem was, nobody had told Greg Mills’s at bat was being treated like last batter in t-ball, and Mills nearly caught him at third base. Mills stayed on Greg’s heels all the way home, and Mills had his second three run inside the park home run of the game. Storm declared the final out and the game moved to the bottom of the inning. 

Storm likely had enough runs, but did they have enough time? Broadway had scored in every inning since the first, and a quick finish seemed unlikely. If anyone was up to the task, though, it was Captain Underpants. He kept pelting the strike zone, and Storm got some solid defence and was able to record three outs in five batters, but more importantly they recorded the three outs in under five minutes. Storm held on to win an exciting game that came right down to the final minute.

Storm    24  -   Broadway 17

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Broadway	0	6	4	3	4	0	x	17
Storm	6	1	6	4	0	7	x	24