Storm hold on against Triple Play

 Storm was still reeling from the blown lead in the first game of the doubleheader and came out flat in the second game. Storm scored only one run in the top of the first. Triple Play scored six runs on six batters. That’s right. Six runs on six batters. Storm did not record an out in the first inning. Things got moderately better in the second as Storm scored 2 and shut out Triple play to close the gap to 6-3. Two more in the top of the third would bring them to within one, but Triple Play scored three to extend the lead again. Then Storm exploded. The bottom half of the order produced five consecutive hits and they all scored en route to a six run mercy inning. Al came in and shut the door on Triple Play allowing only one run in the next two innings. Triple Play would tie it in the sixth and it was going to come down to the last at bats. Storm scored four. Triple Play put the pressure on. They scored three and had the tying run on second, but he was stranded and Storm held on to salvage a one run victory. It was a satisfying end to two hard fought games. 

Storm    17   -   Triple Play 16

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	2	1	2	6	1	1	4	17
Triple Play	6	0	3	0	0	3	3	16

Storm Settles for Tie

 Nobody was singing in the rain, but there was some softball in the rain on Sunday night. With rain falling throughout the game, Storm played Broadway for a tightly contested low scoring game. 

Storm started strong, scoring three in the first. In the third, Duran started the inning in what would become a startling trend for the game. He took a couple of massive swings… and missed. He strucK out for the first time in the game (yes, you read that right… first time). Sam snidely Kommented that he thought Duran now led the team in striKeouts. He would regret that later. AKtually, the very next inning. After Duran’s leadoff K, Storm extended the lead with four more runs. 

Then the offence fell off a cliff. Sam PilKey led off the fourth with a striKeout. That was two innings in a row. It got worse, though. Mills, also Known as Special K, ended the inning with a striKeout. That’s right, the inning began and ended with striKeouts. And it’s slopitch, not MLB. 

Storm added two more in the fifth. In the sixth, Mr. PilKey was up to his old tricKs, striKing out for the seKond time in the game. He felt like he was eating his words about Duran being the striKeout leader. Duran decided to help him out by striKing out for a seKond time. That’s five striKeouts in one game for those Keeping tracK. And for those wondering, Duran and Sam are tied for the team striKeout lead. 

The five striKeouts would be a funnier story if the game had a happy ending. Unfortunately, this ending was more tragedy than comedy. With Storm up two in the bottom of the last inning, it looked like they could hold on. However, after a hard grounder took a high hop and KnocKed over two Storm players (oKay, that has nothing to do with striKeouts, but I Kan’t stop Kapitalizing these Ks!). Jeff took one off the chest and fell over and Joey tried to cover but slipped on the grass and went down. Storm tried hard to manage the score by walking players to create a force, but Broadway scored the tying run. A ground ball to third ended the game, and Storm would have to settle for a tie. 

Storm    10   -   Broadway  10

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Storm	3	0	4	0	2	0	1	10
Broadway	0	1	1	2	4	0	2	10

Notable Boxscores:

Duran - 2 striKeouts

Sam PilKey - 2 striKeouts

Mills aKa Special K - striKeout

Storm sneaks back in super short game

Pace of play rules really seemed to have an effect on the Storm-Isotopes game on Friday night. Whether it was the pitch clock, or the limited number of times the pitcher can step off, the game moved at a remarkable speed, clocking in at 51 minutes. Or maybe it was just because Storm forgot how to hit for the first six innings. That could also be the reason the game was so fast.

There were some definite question marks at the beginning of the game. Mills showed up in red, and then played like he was on the take for most of the game. After a couple of runs scored via infield hits and a double off the wall,  Storm looked like they would minimize the damage, but with two outs a ball was hit to short centre. Many Storm players started walking towards the dugout, especially as they heard Mills call, “I got it, I got it, I got it.” When you say I got it that many times, you must have it, right? Well, Mills did. It went into his glove. And then dropped to the ground. Highly suspicious. 

If that wasn’t suspicious enough, Mills was leading off the game. He hit a foul ball that Brian attempted to catch while playing catcher for the other team, but missed. Since  Mills’s first attempt to get out didn’t work, he tried it again by fouling strike three back to the catcher. Brian caught it this time (not that it mattered), and Mills started the game with a strikeout. Joey tried to get Storm back in it with a triple and Duran cashed him in with a sac fly, but Storm trailed 3-1 after the first. 

The second was essentially a repeat of the first, as Storm only scored one while the Isotopes scored three. At the end of two, Storm hadn’t even made it through the order yet. Storm shut the door on the Isotopes, opening the door for a comeback, but…. Storm couldn’t score in the third. This was where Mills tried yet again to throw the game. After the Isotopes missed a cutoff Mills hesitated. Yes, that’s right, he hesitated. The guy who normally does not stop at all, hesitated on an overthrow, then decided to go and got thrown out at third base ending the inning. It was time for Mills to take off that red shirt.

The Isotopes put up a positive two in the top of the fourth to drop Storm to negative six (8-2) and Storm was going to need to find some energy to neutralize the score. They finally managed to put up more than one run in an inning. Joey started with a double. Lance and Al also doubled. Ken and Jeff singled and Storm scored three and still trailed by three. 

The fifth was the inning of the chicken as both teams laid eggs on the scoreboard. The Isotopes added another run to extend their lead in the top of the sixth and then Storm finally remembered how to hit. Duran, trying to protect a 47 game hit and run scored streak, led off the inning with a triple. Lance drove him home. With two outs and Storm still trailing by one, Jeff hit a high pop fly that fell in between three Isotope defenders. He hustled to second, and when they overthrew second Jeff hurried to third. Sam singled, and then Storm made a fantastic decision to send in a courtesy runner for the youngest player on the team. Greg came up with a huge double to the fence and Duran, acting as Sam I Am, scurried around to score. The inning ended when Brian hit a foul ball that Joey, as catcher, sprung into action for and made an extreme effort catching the ball with his bare hand to end the inning.

At this moment, we must pause and reflect on the mid-season tournament. One of the reasons Triple Play did not want to give Storm a catcher, was that they claimed that Storm does not provide catchers to opposing teams. The opposite is true. Storm players relish the opportunity to get their teammates out. In this case, Joey made a play in a one run game to end an inning and a rally. 

This meant that Storm had to neutralize the Isotopes to remain with a positive score. Al decided he was going to take care of it mostly by himself, ranging far out of his three foot radius to field a fly ball and then catching a line drive right back at him. 

Storm    10   -   Isotopes  9

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Isotopes	3	3	0	2	0	1	0	9
Storm	1	1	0	3	0	5	x	10

Notable Boxscores:

Joey - 2 for 3, double, triple, 2 runs

Lance - 2 for 3, 2 doubles, 2 runs, RBI

Al - 2 for 3, double, 2 runs, 2 RBI

Ken - 2 for 3, 2 RBI

Jeff - 2 for 2, 2 RBI, double, run

Storm Crushes Crushers

Storm started strong against the Bone Crushers. For the first couple of innings, Storm looked like it was playing T-Ball as they batted through the order scoring the max 6 in each inning. In the third, Storm slowed down a little as they only scored four runs. Then fatigue started to set in on both sides of the ball. After a deluge of runs in the first three innings, Storm only managed three more runs across the final three frames. The fatigue from the past few days could be seen even more on defence. Players were not moving at normal speed. This was most evident in the final frame when a ball went up apparently into a Bermuda triangle, as neither the 2nd baseman, right centre fielder, or the right fielder even really moved. It didn’t  matter, but it illustrated how tired and sore Storm was.

It was nice to see Chad, Garry, and Mike again. They had formed an integral part of the Stormcrushers tournament run. Glad they didn’t hit as well against us as they did for us. The Bone Crushers didn’t seem too dismayed by the outcome of the game. Mike Coulas proudly declared, “we’ve already made the playoffs. We’re firmly in.” Which is true. They will live to crush another day. 

Storm    21   -   Coulas  6

Boxscore
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Coulas	1	0	0	2	1	1	1	6
Storm	6	6	6	1	2	0	x	21