MCSN: June 11, 2016

Wild Week

Week 3 Recap

By Rob Tong

Fri, Jul 8, 2016

Strong action in Week 3 Lots of great action in this week's games. Let's get right to it.

8am game

The Liberties won their first game of the season with a rousing 14-9 comeback win over the Caravan.

The game was tied 1-1 going into the third inning when the Liberties rapped out five runs to take a 6-1 lead. But the Caravan scored eight unanswered runs over the next four innings to lead 9-6 heading into the top of the seventh inning. Just three outs to go with a three-run lead. Easy, right?

As the cliche goes, that's why you play the games. The Liberties pounded out eight runs in that unlimited seventh inning, then shut out the Caravan in the bottom of the seventh for the stunning come-from-behind win.

Liberties' pitcher/manager David Cho led the team with six RBI but the team got key RBI contributions from five other team members. Cho also did a good job on the mound, holding the top two Caravan batters to a combined 3-for-8, which limited David Needham's impact. Though Needham went 4-for-4, he only could knock in three runs.

The Liberties are now 1-3 while the Caravan fell to 1-2.

9am game

The Liberties were feeling good and looking to build on that win against the Viceroys, and they did with a 9-2 win, sweeping their doubleheader.

The Liberties smacked out 24 hits, led by Gene Yau's four hits and Michael Schneider's three RBIs. The Viceroys got a hit from all but two of their players but again couldn't string them together, only getting two runs on those 13 hits. Rachel Anderson and Karun Sukirth notched the two Viceroy RBIs.

The Liberties move to 2-3 with the win, while the Viceroys (0-3) are still looking for their first win.

10am game

The Viceroys had an uphill battle seeking their first win against the Power in the second game of their doubleheader. Even without Erik Summers, the Power was on every inning while shutting out the Viceroys until the last inning, beating the Viceroys 16-1.

Power hitter Robert Martinez knocked in five runs, as every Power hitter got at least one hit. Power pitcher Rob Tong scattered ten Viceroy hits. Despite the loss, the Viceroys were as raucous as ever, truly embodying the concept of team spirit.

“Gina Cavato upped the donut quality, bringing Stan's Donuts instead of Dunkin' Donuts!”

- The Donuts' Mandy Verduin on one highlight of the game.

The Power improved to 3-1 while the Viceroys are at 0-4.

11am game

This was the grand finale for the week, with the undefeated Ospreys taking on the mighty Dugout Donuts. And the game lived up to the hype. Even the pre-game sweets lived up to the hype.

"Gina Cavato not only stepped up her game as a first time pitcher, she upped the donut quality bringing Stan's Donuts instead of Dunkin' Donuts!" said the Donuts' Mandy Verduin.

Indeed, pitching and defense ruled for most of the game, with the Ospreys only clawing (ha!) out one run in the top of the first and the Donuts only rolling (ha!) out two runs in their half. The Donuts' continued to roll out one or two runs each inning but they were not of the "small ball" run variety.

"Joey Franks hit a laser of a line drive to left field and we're pretty confident that it is still traveling at 90 mph," Donuts' Mandy Verduin said. "Tim Verduin may have hit the most epic home run yet to be seen, hitting the top of the roof of the building beyond the fence!"

The Donuts slowly built a 6-1 lead heading into the top of the fifth inning. The Ospreys scavaged (ha!) three runs to close the gap to 6-4. But the Donuts responded with a five-spot in their half of the inning to take a commanding 11-4 lead, which stood until the top of the seventh. Just three outs to go and a seven run lead. Super easy, right?

Let's bring that prior cliche back: that's why you play the games. Remarkably, the Donuts gave it all up as the Ospreys scored seven runs in that unlimited frame to tie the game. The Donuts, however, got a sweet ending when they scored a run in the bottom of the seventh for the dramatic win.

The Ospreys suffered their first loss of the season, dropping to 3-1, which is now the same record the Donuts have.

Looking ahead

In Week 4, the Donuts try to keep the Caravan on the skids at 8am. The Caravan will try to keep the Viceroys out of the win column at 9am. At 10am, the Ospreys face the resurgent Liberties. And the 11am game is a matchup of two 3-1 teams between the Power and the Ospreys.

More drama ahead. Who needs cable TV?