Storm Silence Falcon's Bats Late, Resulting In Tie

Storm got off to a flying start as Duran hit a triple to right field and was allowed to score on an overthrow at third base, followed up by a two run shot to left field by Lance. Unfortunately, in the bottom of the 1st the Storm defense had a few issues and allowed the Falcons to score 6 runs, and most if not all were unearned. The defense filled up the cracks and played well for the rest of the game, allowing the Falcon's only two runs in the 3rd and throwing up donuts in the other five innings. Storm had a chance in the top of the 6th with the bases loaded and one out, but back to back infield pop flies ended the inning with the Storm only able to score the tying run. Storm went down in order in the 7th and had to settle for a tie against the Falcons.

HR: Lance (10 )

Up Next: Storm tries to sweep the season series against the Rebels

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	3	0	2	2	0	1	0	8
Falcons	6	0	2	0	0	0	0	8

Xtreme Disappointment

Storm had an off-night against Xtreme. There were a few physical errors and a costly mental error that allowed Xtreme to get up early, and the Storm bats were not performing at their best. After falling behind 16-3 Storm made a valiant attempt to come back, and played well in the 2nd half of the game. They were able to bring the score to 20-15, but unfortunately, time ran out with Joey about to step up to the plate.

Moments that Mattered:

Top 2^nd – After Larry hit a ball that got past Brian, Brad made a great play to field it, but Jeff was too busy spectating and forgot to cover 1^st base. Had he remembered how slow Larry is, he probably could have still beaten Larry to the base, but didn’t. This would have recorded the final out of the inning, and kept Xtreme scoreless and kept the game at 5-3. Instead, they went on to score three and take an 8-3 lead.

Top 4^th – Xtreme really teed off and scored 8 runs in the inning.

Bottom of 4^th – Storm puts up five runs to keep themselves (somewhat) in the game.

Bottom 6^th – After jumping and tipping a ball that may or may not have gone over the fence anyway for Lance, Derek Ackford made an incredible leaping catch to stop a ball that definitely would have gone over for a three-run home run for Brad. Still, Storm scores six (would have been 8[one of the runs Brad would have driven home on his home run scored anyway]) and comes within striking distance

Bottom 7^th – With two outs and Joey coming to the plate, time runs out.

HR – Joey 2 (24), Lance (9)

Who’s Hot (Last 4 Games)

Inconsistent Early innings:

 Storm is 2-2 in its last four games. There is a rather large discrepancy in early inning output between the wins and losses. In the two wins, Storm scored 12 and 15 runs in the first three innings, averaging 4.5 runs per inning. In the two losses, Storm scored 0 and 3 runs respectively averaging 0.5 runs per inning. Clearly Storm needs to come out of the gate a little stronger if they want to get back to their winning ways.

Next Up:

 Storm tries to avoid losing 3 out of 4 when facing the Falcons. The Falcons are currently 2ns in the President’s Division and 3^rd overall with an 18-10-2 record. It is the final meeting of the season between the two teams, and will also act as the rubber match as the season series is tied at 1-1-1.

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Xtreme	5	3	0	8	1	3	0	20
Storm	3	0	0	5	0	6	1	15

Storm Sneaks by A’s

Storm started strong against the A’s jumping out to a 10-2 lead after the first two innings; however, the A’s scored 14 runs across two innings, and at the end of the 4th it was a two-run game again. Storm took a three run lead into the top of the 6th and, after making the decision to walk Tony who had already hit two monster home runs in the game, Manos hit a grand slam to put the A’s up by one. In the bottom half of the inning, Kevin, Kenny, Brad and James got consecutive hits to put Storm up by one. The entire inning was played under controversy surrounding time limit rules, and often much spirited discussion, the umpire called the game mid-pitch. Storm held on for a 21-20 victory.

Moments that Mattered:
Storm jumps out to a 6 run first
A’s score 14 runs in the 3rd and 4th.
Manos hits a game leading grand slam in the 6th for the A’s.
Storm gets four consecutive hits to win the game in the bottom of the 6th.

HR: Bob 2 (8), Joey (22)

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
A’s	0	2	6	8	0	4	x	20
Storm	6	4	5	3	1	2	x	21

Bradley Curse Continues

Storm struggled early at the plate, as they were unable to score in the first three innings against Bradley. Bradley didn’t exactly break out as they scored only 6 runs across those three frames, allowing Storm to stay in the game. After a six-run fourth, Storm was back in the game. A four-run fifth brought Storm to within two of the lead. Storm then trailed by four as they headed to the bottom of the seventh.  After Brian got out, Bob and Duran singled, and Joey tripled to bring Storm to within two. Lance then launched a ball over the fence for what should have been a game tying two-run home run, except Storm was already plus-two and so it was a very painful out. Greg then ended the game on a pop-up as Storm fell just short.

In the past two seasons, Storm have only lost 9 games and four of them have come at the hands of Bradley. Bradley certainly seems to have Storm’s number.

Highlights:

Joey attempted to single-handedly kick start the Storm offense with 2 home runs, a triple and an incredible 8 RBI.

HR: Joey 2 (21), Lance (8)

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Bradley	2	4	0	4	2	3	1	16
Storm	0	0	0	6	4	2	2	14

Storm Subdues Surge

Storm played another excellent game on both sides of the ball. The defense was strong with some good pick-ups on grounders, some nice catches on line drives and the outfielders covering lots of ground and letting virtually nothing drop with a couple of nice grabs by Mike in particular.
Storm jumped out to a quick lead in the first. After the first two batters got out Joey walked, then Storm strung together four consecutive hits culminating with Al’s 3 run homerun to cap off a five run inning. Storm then blanked Surge for four straight innings and took a 15-1 lead into the 6th inning.
Surge tried to surge back, scoring five runs in the sixth and adding another three more in the top of the 7th, but it was too little too late.

Home Runs: Al (6), Dave (4), Joey (19)

Highlights:
Al recorded 6 RBI off of a 3 run home run and a 3 run double.

Streaks:
Joey scored a run in his 30th consecutive game.

Humour Highlight:
Joey: “It wouldn’t have been a home run; it would have been a triple and an error.”
Bob: “We don’t count errors, or your average would suck!”

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Surge	1	0	0	0	0	5	3	9
Storm	5	1	6	2	1	1	x	16