Storm over Direct

This one was an offensive showing as both teams hit double digits after the first 3 innings.  The ball was jumping out of the park, with the longest home run of the year hit by Al as well as a dead center shot by Brad.

The real offensive star was Mike with his two no doubter home runs.  He was also striking people out and playing solid defence on the mound.

Kenny, Lance and Bob all added four hits in the game to help Storm pull away from Direct.

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Direct	3	8	2	1	2	1	0	17
Storm	5	4	3	5	4	3	x	24

Storm defeats Direct

The game started slowly as both teams were shut out in the first inning. However, with two outs in the 2nd, Kenny commented that Jeff was throwing a perfect game, after which the floodgates absolutely opened. The baseball gods should not be messed with. Direct went on to score 6 runs with two outs.

Storm responded in the bottom of the 2nd with 7 runs to take the lead, but Direct’s bats really heated up in the top of the 3rd with 8 more runs. Storm tried to even it out, but was stopped at 6 runs.

A pitching change cooled down the Direct bats a little, and Direct only managed one run in the next three innings. Storm used this time to tie up the game in the bottom of the 4th. Direct managed to blank Storm in the 5th, but Storm exploded for 10 in the bottom of the sixth. They were able to hold on to the victory in the top of the 7th.

There were some great defensive highlights, including two leaping catches by Bob, and Chris throwing out a runner at 2nd base.

Offensively James and Chris are heating up as each put up 4 hits. James also pounded out a home run. Al also hit a home run and drove in four while pitching 4 solid innings.

Storm showed a lot of fortitude and stayed with the game even after falling behind a couple of times.

Next up: Devils.

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Direct	0	6	8	1	0	0	2	17
Storm	0	7	6	2	0	10	x	25

Homerfest won by Storm

Storm started strong batting through the order in the first inning scoring 9 runs. Direct stayed pretty close, and managed to crank out 7 home runs to the Storms 5 Hr's that counted. However the Storm stayed ahead in the scorebook and was able to hold on 23-17.

Highlights: 2 home runs by Joey, and home runs by Brian, James and Brad.

Not So Highlight: Boom Boom Jeffrion struck again for yet another home run out.

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	9	1	0	5	4	2	2	23
Direct	4	1	4	4	1	3	0	17

Storm elevates over Direct

As the evening descended into the night, the temperature descended below zero. Storm jumped out to a 6 run lead in the top of the first, but gave back five of those runs in the bottom of the first. Direct took the lead in the 2nd, and then in third Storm jumped back to a one run lead. In the fourth and fifth, Direct mysteriously thought every batter was Joey (it actually was Joey at least once), and started dropping every ball that was hit. That allowed Storm to jump way up and never look back.

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Direct	5	3	3	0	6	x	x	17
Storm	6	0	6	7	8	x	x	27

Storm Elevates Over Direct

An orange moon rose over the field bringing good omens for Storm as they took on Direct Elevator. Storm got off to a good start as they scored 5 runs in the 1st and added 4 more in the 2^nd. Direct was only able to get 1 run across the plate in those two innings. The game really tightened up in the 3^rd and 4^th as only 1 run was scored between the two teams. Storm opened it up again in the 5^th as Storm was able to score 8 runs on 11 hits including a 3 run blast by James. Storm wasn’t able to add any more in the 6^th or 7^th, but they already had more than enough as they cruised to a 17-5 victory. Solid defense and good pitching helped to make this one another fast-paced game.

Perhaps it is appropriate that Storm picked up their 35^th win against Direct Elevator. This victory guarantees that Storm will have the highest winning percentage in the known history of WMSPL, the previous high being Pro Golf (now Direct Elevator) in 2002 with a 32-2-2 record (.917). Storm can now finish with a winning percentage of no lower than .921. 35 wins is also a league high in total victories.

Notable Boxscores:

Joey: 4/4, 2 runs, 2 RBI

Jeff: 4/4, 2 runs, 1 RBI

Brad: 3/4, 2 runs, 2 RBI

Brian: 3/4, 1 run, 2 RBI

Al: 3/4, 2 runs, 2RBI

Storm roars back to make it 24 in a row

Direct came out with bats blazing in this one scoring 5 runs in the first frame with Tyler's 3 run bomb as the big blow.

Joey answered back for Storm with a towering flyball that just squeaked over to narrow Direct's lead 5-2.

Storm hit well in the second frame to take the lead 7-6 after two innings.

Direct came back in a big way to score 10 runs over the next two innings taking a large 16-7 lead.

Storm would roar back in the bottom of the 4th to score 11 runs in the inning with a line drive homerun to left field by Joey to make it 18-16.

7 more would cross the plate for Storm capped off by a 3 run shot from Brad.

Final score 25-21 in a great game played by both squads

Game notes:
Joey: 4/5, 2 HR, 4 runs, 4 RBI
Bob: 3/4, 2 runs, 3 RBI
AL: 3/5, 2 runs, 2 rbi
Brian 3/5, 3 runs, 2 rbi
Lance 3/5, 3 runs, 2 rbi
Brad 5/5, HR, 3 runs, 3 RBI
Greg: 3/5, 2 runs, 2 rbi
Dave: 3/5, 2 runs, 3 RBI

Keeping it going

It seems to be a trend this year as Direct jumped out early in this one scoring four in the first inning.

Storm answered back with two in the first and two more in the second thanks to a James two run shot tying it up.  

In the third inning Storm would break it open with 8 runs, highlighted by a Lance 3 run bomb to left center.  

Bob added a mammoth solo shot in the 5th for good measure. 

Pitching and D were key in this one as Mike and Al held Direct scoreless for five straight innings.  

Final score 14-5

Notable boxscores:

Jeff: 1/2, 2 runs

Duran 2/3, 2 runs, 1 RBI

Joey 2/3, 1 run, 3 RBI

Bob 2/3, 2 runs, 2 RBI, 1 HR

Greg 1/2, 2 runs, 1 RBI

Lance 1/3, HR, 3 RBI

Brad 2/3

James 3/3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 Run

First loss of the year :(

It was a back and forth game and it just wasn't our night to come out on top. The defence was just a little off and the bats were finding all the other teams gloves. Duran hit two solo homeruns while the other team made theirs count with 3 run bombs. Highlights for the Storm include Joeys triple play, and Bob and Brian going 4/4. The team solemnly boarded the bus after the game to head for their road trip to face Xtreme.

Ouch!

Storms four game winning streak comes crashing to a halt. The offense came out swinging in the first inning, with a 3 run homerun by Joey giving Storm 6 runs out of the gate.  Al would hit two bombs and kevin with one in the contest to add to the teams run total.

It went all downhill from there as Direct came back in the 5th inning to score a brutal 13 runs in the frame to put the game out of reach.  Costly errors and good hit placement did the Storm in.

Final Score: Direct 29 - Storm 17

Storm Lose close one

Final Score: Direct 10 - Storm 8

The streak starts again!

 Okay it's only one game but the Storm is back to their winning ways.  The team shook off some rust in the first inning giving up four runs but slowly climbed their way back.  Bob and Joey hit homeruns, including an absolutely bomb by the latter and Lance hit a bases clearing double to put the Storm on top.  The defense tightened back up and it was smooth sailing after that.

Final Score: Storm 14 - Direct Elevator 8

Flashing the leather

The hottest game of the year stifled the bats of both teams.  Excellent defense and timely hitting gave Storm the edge in the first game of the double header.  The storm looking to the next game to make it an even 10 wins in a row. Also Jeff was taken out by a Sniper Donkey.

Final Score: Storm 5 - Direct 1

Bat's show up against Direct Elevator

The rains came again last night but fortunately the game was able to be played. The Storm's bats showed up in force for this game as they had 32 hits including 5 Hr's and 4 doubles and a triple.

Final Score: Storm 21 - Direct Elevator 7

Storm / Direct Elevator win Consolation Final in WMSPL Tournament

On a cool and most of the time cold windy weekend in May, The Storm / Direct Elevator paired up to win the consolation Final of the 2013 WMSPL Tournament. With cold wind gusts of up to 50km/hr blowing in all weekend from left center it took most of our bats out of play. But thanks to a lot of opposite field hitting, The Storm/Direct team were able to win 2 of four games and the second victory propelled them into the consolation final against the Devils/Rebel team. Who were too depleted after losing a few players to a wedding and other obligations to field a team for the final, therefore the Storm / Direct Elevator took the game in forfeit. Tournament Batting Statistics are up on Statleaders.com

Game Scores

Game 1: Storm / Direct Elevator 13 vs. Devils/Rebel 7

Game 2: Xtreme Contracting 19 vs. Storm / Direct Elevator 12

Game 3: Storm / Direct Elevator 17 vs. Falcons 21

Game 4 (Semi final): Storm / Direct Elevator 16 vs. Bradley Motors 4

Game 5 (Consolation Final) Storm / Direct Elevator 7 vs. Devils/Rebel 0

Off to the Semi's

With the way the re-seeding went we played Direct Elevator again, fortunately for us we also had the same result, thanks in large part to a 7 run first inning offensive outburst. In the third inning Duran hit a grand-slam HR that gave the Storm a commanding lead. However in the 5th inning Direct answered back with 4 runs, but the Storm were able to keep Direct off the score board for the remainder of the game.

Final Score: Storm 12 - Direct Elevator 5

2 Down, 3 to go....

The Storm had a 4 run lead after 1 inning and never looked back, this game was kept close throughout but the Storm always seemed to have an answer for Directs offence.

Final score: Storm 11 and Direct Elevator 8

Doubling down

Great hitting, great pitching, and descent fielding lead the Storm to their 27th victory of the year. The Storm hit 7 doubles and 2 Home runs to power past Direct Elevator to hold onto top spot overall.

You take it, no you take it.

It was a typical game against Direct Elevator again last night. One team would take the lead the other team would come right back and take it away. It seems when these two teams play it will come down to the last out and that is exactly what happened last night. The Storm had a 3 run lead entering the bottom of the 7th. But Direct Elevator was able to push 3 runs across the plate before the Storm was able to record the final out. This one ends in a 19 to 19 draw.

How Many?

The base running clinic put on by Greg and The Rookies led to 4 runners getting thrown out at 3rd base (2 of them the first out of an inning).  Honorable mention goes to Brad's attempt at making it 5, but getting thrown out at first instead.  

We ran ourselves out of too many innings, letting Direct hang around just long enough to come back and win the game in the bottom of the 7th. 

Final score:  Direct 10, Storm 9.  

Where did all the good bats go....?

All the Storm could muster up was 10 hits, fortunately for the Storm one of those was a 2 run homer from Joey. Make the final 12 to 2.