Week 9 - Game Recaps (June 26, 2022)

Going into the July 4th break weekend, here are the results from week 9 of play.

Division I
Copper Still stays tied for the top spot with a convincing win over ODB, 25-10. Copper Still holds an impressive run differtial this season of +91.

A key battle between two of the three 1st place teams was a barn burner.  Eye Adventure edges the Elks, 9-8.  This is becoming quite a rivalry to watch for the rest of 2022.

The Saloon continues to stay within striking distance of the top, handing struggling Tri-State their 5th straight loss.  The Saloon's convincing 23-6 win shows they remain a threat to win and win big on any given Sunday.

TRIAD bounces back with a strong performance and convincing win over the Angles, 19-11. The win moves TRIAD into 
6th place and drops the Angels in 8th.

The Bandits surprise the always challenging and always a contender for the top spot in the division with a 19-3 stunner. The win puts the Bandits into a 3-way tie for 2nd in the division.

The Hibernians pick up a quick win over Sparky's Diner, 9-0.
 

[Eagles out off Halligan's - reported by Eagles Lead Field Reporter]  The Eagles and Halligans slugged it out with the Birds prevailing 23-22. Through 3 inns, it was tied 6-6. Steve Ventola was 3-6, 7 RBI, 1 Run, and Billy Mauiello was 4-5, walk, 5 RBI, 4 Runs, and a 2 run HR to lead these scorings. Th Eagles put up 12 runs in the middle 3 inns and went out to a large lead at 18-7. Leading this outburst were Mike Rodrigues 4-6, 2 RBI, 3 runs including a 2 run HR, Davin Rosenblatt was 3-6, 4 Runs, and Andy Stone was 3-6, 3 RBI.    
Pitcher Andy Stone settled down after the first 3 inns (3-2-1 runs), and threw 0's over his middle 3 inns. Coasting until the top 9th, when Heat, Sun, and Exhaustion got to him, those Hall men playing to the last out, scored 11 times to take a 22-21 lead to the home half. The inning was incredible as these guys kept banging out 1 hit after another. However, bottom 9th, tail of the lineup up, it took 3 batters to get a hit, on by error and then the gamer hit (Andy S) scoring 2 runs and the wild win. Whewwww.  
The Eagles scored 23 runs on 22 hits, and 8 walks. While the hitting came to life, the very dependable Defense fell apart with 10 errors.Some note worthies. Veteran Doc Kramer (retired Dental Orthodontic, and NYU professor) was 1-3, 2 walks, 2 runs, at let's say an easy age 65 plus, AND caught all 9 inns, with an estimated 300 pitches. Neil Murphy kept his Sac Fly streak alive with another long RBI. James Valenza scored 5 runs (via 5 different pitch runners!). Brian Uhlinger was 2-4, 2 walks, 2 runs RBI. Skipper Angelo coached 8 inns and played 1B 1 inn, while working on his tan.             While some slugging power came from Steve V, Billy M and Mike R, the entire team contributed. Several heads up running by Billy M, and Mike R helped. And, a key defensive move by SS Mike R was when he went to LC, and caught a long fly ball outsmarting the long ball hitter. Kenny Malm continues to play heads up 3B, catching 4 streaming liners and fielding those come-hard-grounders.  Trying hard, several guys were diving to catch those tweener hits, like RF Davin R, truly a swan in grass.

Division II

The Blazers remain perfect this season nudging out the charging Deadheads in a defensive/pitching duel, 5-2.

The Panthers hang close to the top spot in the division with a very close win over the crafty Dodgers team, 18-16.

The final game in Division II was also a nail-biter as the Knights squeak out a win over the Mavericks, 17-16.

The Blazers and Panthers have created a very wide gap in the standings between themselves and the remaining 4 teams. Can the bottom 4 find the right chemistry to close the gap in the weeks that remain.