Monday, December 19, 2011

12/18/11- Moscone


Satch was up in the hills, having some early holiday revelry, sounds like I missed a good one, and also sounds like one of the teams could have used the extra bat....Here with the Recap is our own financial guru and stalwart MBC'er Jonathan (JT) Tiemann:

It was a nearly perfect day.  We had a perfect 18 from start to finish, and the teams initially looked like they were matched pretty well.  The day was cool and overcast, though the sun broke through at times.  The game started with a couple of southpaws working, Brian on the bump for the homers and Sean for the visitors.  Bob, leading the game off, hit a shot to right center, but Jay ran it down for the first out.  That pretty much set the tone for the first part of the game, as Brian shut down the visitors in order, and Sean returned the favor in the bottom of the frame.  The visitors scratched out a run in the second as Sean reached on a solid hit and worked his way around with aggressive baserunning and another hit. 
Sean kept dealing, and Brian worked out of a two-on, no-out jam in the third.  After three, we still stood at 1-0.

The visitors added single runs in the fourth and fifth, and when we went into the field for the bottom of the fifth, the visitors led 3-0 and Sean (with some fine fielding help, especially from Mitch in center and Lattig at second) had yet to allow a baserunner.  But Tony Rojas wore Sean out in an epic at-bat (must've been 25 pitches), finally taking the walk the third time ball four came around.  Some slick baserunning and the home side's first base hit of the game produced their first run.

Then came the sixth.  Duane, who had been complaining about being in a slump, led off by launching a triple over Jay's head, and the visitors' bats came alive.  We batted around, plating five and expanding the lead to 
8-1.
On the other side, Sean kept mowing them down, finishing with 7 IP, 1 ER, a walk, 6 or 7 strikeouts, and only two hits allowed.  Tony pitched a couple of strong innings for the home side, and Dennis mopped up for them in the ninth (I can't resist saying I smoked a line drive into right against him, but my legs were so dead by then that it only went for a single).  Will and Greg (New Greg, that is, who looks likely to be New Greg for maybe 10 or 15 years) each pitched a frame for the visitors, and once they closed it out, the final tally was 11-3.  It was a little chilly and we're close to the shortest day of the year, so we left it there.

Highlights:

·         * Lattig was a machine at second base, fielding all the grounders, easy and hard, and making two great catches - one on a foul popup behind first and one going back into shallow right.

·        *  Mitch was Mitch in center, but he added a little flair with a fine sliding catch on a sinking line drive in the ninth

·        *  Sean was nearly unhittable, recording the aforementioned two-hit, seven-inning gem.

·       *   I miraculously escaped channeling Juan Uribe and spoiling the into-the-fifth perfecto with an error

·        *  Nick and Duane both sparkled at first, as usual

·         * Duane is officially out of his slump, with a triple and a double

·         * Yes, Bob had his HPB.

·        *  Dennis had a bunt single in the 9th, pushing the ball to Bob, who was playing third.  The only way the play could possibly have developed more slowly would've been if I had been involved.  

*    * Speaking of which, I won't mention my idiotic baserunning mistake.  Nice peg, Johnny.
       
       * After he finished pitching, Brian went out to center and promptly made a great running over-the-shoulder catch on a ball Sean hit.  I don't think it actually went 450 feet, but it seemed like it.  A very loud out.

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