Memorial Day recap Upcoming games June 6th

Gents:

A successful weekend of baseball gets us prepared for a doubleheader next Sunday June 6th as we invade ( get it? June 6th... D Day ) the Dodgers up in Bridgeport
I have requested they tell me the field but I have not gotten a reply yet . I imagine it is either Beardsley Park ( we played them up there last year early in the season) or Seaside Park in Bridgeport.
when I have it confirmed I will send directions. It is a 9 am start with 2 -7 inning games

Recap of weekend :

Friday vs Cannons Lead 9-8 suspended in top of 8th to be resumed next game with Cannons

We fall behind 1-0 in the first on a couple hits down the left field line but come back with 7 runs in the second highlighted by Tim Sticco drilling a 2 run double down the left field line.
we benefited from 3 NC errors that inning but we put the ball in play. They don't quit however, and chip away aided by some of our own glitches. and we are soon tied at 8.
We get a hit in the bottom of the seventh with 2 out and runners on first and third to take a 9-8 lead but after the 7th inning the game is suspended because the lights are scheduled to go out shortly. We will resume the game when we play them in late July.

Mike did a great job coming in the 6th and 7th and shutting them down. Johnny and Brian both threw strikes to the plate demonstrating their cannon like arms in the plays of the night.
Sadly it looks like Raff may go on the DL with his hammy but we shall see how he feels going forward.


Sunday vs Titans Win 2-1

The Titans come into the game with 5 wins and an improved team. Tim starts for us and in the first inning with 1 out and a runner on first he gets a ground ball to third which Bobby U fires to Bill at second who pivots and throws to first for inning ending double play. There will be more of these to come today.
Johnny leads off for us with 4 pitch walk and steal second. he gets to third on wild pitch and scores on Jose's ground ball and we lead 1-0. The score stays that way till the 9th! Tim throws 6 shutout innings giving up just two hits and staying in command the whole way. I relieve Tim and Jose gets 5 outs from of the next 6 hitters including a beautiful play where he took a high bounder on the second base side of the diamond and fired to first to get the runner. We also turn 4 more double plays during this 7 inning span as Bill, nursing a sore arm but able to play, feeds Jose on these double plays and we stall any Trumbull rallies. On the other side, their pitcher is effective shutting us down as well as we have only 4 hits( Brian, Mike,Jose, and me) to show for our efforts and missed opportunities such as the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded with no outs but Trumbull strikes out the side.

In the ninth Mike takes over but they get a walk ,single and walk to load the bases with none out. But on great 2-0 pitch Mike induces their clean up hitter to fly to Johnny in CF who catches it and fires to Shawn the cut off man. The tying run scores but we hold the runner at second. The next pitch Mike gets a ground ball to second and Bill tosses to Jose who fires to Shawn and the 6th double play of the day gets us out of the inning. As the baseball gods would have it, Bill leads off facing a new Trumbull pitcher and drills a single up the middle. Alex is next and shows bunt but the pitcher has one get away and throws it behind Alex advancing Bill to second. The brain trust ponders the next move and figures they will have trouble handling a bunt so Alex has the sign. He places it down beautifully at third and races to first. Their third baseman charges fearing Alex may have this beat and tries to channel A Rod into his body but after his underhand grab he throws under hand but the ball sails away scoring Bill for the win. A couple other items merit acknowledgement. Shawn made several fine grabs at first including one stretch play where he scooped the ball and managed to stay on the bag stretched full out to complete a double play. Alex caught a great game and fired two balls to second just missing one runner and nabbing the second with Jose putting on the tag. Alex effectively said you guys are not going anywhere keeping them at first and enabling the double plays. Our outfield with Brian, Johnny and X caught several fly balls and we gave Trumbull nothing to work with. Jose was fantastic at SS probably getting 10 assists and putouts and Bill filled in admirably for Roneil with several nice plays and the big hit to get the winning run on base with no outs.

All in all, we left the park feeling good about our game and moving on to next week's doubleheader.

I am going to try to get a session where we can take some BP for an hour this week and will check on the field eligibility tomorrow
it is likely i will try for early sat am say 8-15 to 915 or so

or perhaps an hour Wed Thursday or Friday night say 630-730--i will let you know

as far as scouting reports: Next weeks opponent is the Dodgers ( formerly the Marlins) supposedly they have some new players and they have won some games including beating the Cannons but if we play our best we should be successful.
On the other positive note, my arm seems fine now after applying enough ice over the past week to keep penguins happy. I was very relieved to be able to throw yesterday and it seemed like normal and pain free to me vs the previous couple of weeks where i felt like i was throwing 90 pound weights with 20 screwdriver in my shoulder and elbow. As my arm had never bothered me before and as you observed last season I could throw the day after pitching a whole game i was anxious to have it back to normal . Thanks to Jim, Mike, Tim, and Matt for picking up the slack for me and the team.

Next Games Friday 5/28 @home vs Cannons & 5/30 Titans

Gents:

We have two games next weekend as we make up a rain out next Friday night the 28th vs the Cannons

as of now we know :

Danny Out Fri and Sun
Bobby U out Fri
Roneil out Sunday
Jim is out Sunday


Please let me know if you will not be in attendance for either game next weekend

As for this weekend there is quite a bit to be pleased about from this weekends' play

Friday night:
Jim battled through 9 tough innings on Friday with a great effort
Tim made the play of the year on a diving grab over the third baseline
Roneil made a rare appearance in CF and threw out a runner at the plate with a perfect throw
Matt , pinch hitting behind the plate, caught 9 innings and demonstrated great form behind the plate and a powerful arm.
Xavier had a couple hits and ran the bases like a champ
Shawn got his stroke in order and lined a shot to the OF which he repeated on Sunday
Raff got a couple hits and played flawless OF.

Sunday

Tim threw a great 5 innings giving up only 1 hit with no walks -and gave us the chance to win he game
Mike followed with 4 great innings allowing only 1 hit as well and made sure we won the game
Jose ripped the ball all day knocking in the first run with a shot down the line and hitting a comebacker that the cardinals pitcher will have nightmares about.
Jose also had a great day in the field making every play and coming sooo close on a grounder deep in the hole that he backhanded and forced to first just a bit late.
Alex caught Tim and helped Tim's pitch selection and intimidated any runners form attempting to steal
Charlie caught for Mike and threw out the potential cardinal base thief with a great throw to second
Both Mike and Charlie blasted long shots to LF but were caught but great wood
Bill rapped a double and got the big sac fly late in the game that gave us the lead.
Bobby U made several nice plays at third including the last two outs of the game and ripped the ball at the plate.
Danny hit the ball hard every time demonstrating his hitting is rounding into form.
Raff flew down the first baseline in our 3 run inning pressuring the defense into bad throw which gave us an insurance run
Roneil blasted a couple line drive hits and showed his hitting is on track for another great year.
Shawn and X had a busy day at !B and made every play.
Xavier executed a great bunt hit and played well at IB
Shawn drilled a rocket to left field once again showing his batting form is rounding into shape


All in all we are moving in the right direction: we had only one error on Sunday and the runner didn't advance, it makes a great difference in
the game

Next weekend we have a chance to win a couple games and let's keep playing hard

see you Friday night

Next Games: Friday May 21st and Sunday May 23rd

Gents:

We have two games this weekend

Friday night ( may 21st) we host the Mariners in 7:45pm start

sunday we host the Cardinals in a 9 am start

both single 9 inning games
weather forecast is very promising

we will be missing a few guys for both games but we have plenty of depth and we will all get to play.

as far as last weekend, we led the Top Hats after 5 which demonstrates we belong at that level and we will learn to finish those type of games as well go along.

in the event of a rainy Sunday morning I will post an update.

Sunday DH May 16th At Monroe Wolfe Park

Gents: We journey to Monroe on Sunday to play a doubleheader ( 2 -7 inning games) beginning at 9 am at Wolfe Park

The Top Hats are a solid team and will require our best efforts on Sunday but I believe we are up to the task
We had an easy game last week against a weak team and these Top Hats will not be giving us anything. We battled them twice last year in close games and we can expect them to give us their best efforts as well.



Please let us know if you are NOT going to be there.

We get the field at 8:40am for infield so please get there early enough to loosen up

It is a longer trip so leaving a few minutes earlier will be a good idea

Here are directions :


South on Rte 15 (Merritt Parkway)Take Exit 49. See * below.

North on Rte 15 (Merritt Parkway) Take Exit 49N. See * below.

South on I-95 take Exit 38 to Merritt Parkway. Take Merritt Parkway to Exit 49. See * below.

North on I-95 Take Exit 27A to Rtes 8 & 25. Bear left to on Route 25 when highway divides. See * below.

*At the end of the exit you will be on the Route 25 Connector. Stay on the Connector (it’s a four-lane road) until it ends (there is a stop light at end). Turn right at the traffic light on to Route 111. At the 5th traffic light (1.2 miles), turn left onto Purdy Hill Road (Post Office is on the right). At the first stop sign (.7 miles)turn right onto Cutlers Farm Road. Wolfe Park is approximately 1/2 mile down the road on the left. Those cars without a Wolfe Park sticker (Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day) must park in the non-sticker / over flow parking lot (follow the signs) or be subject to fine.


Here are directions via Google maps if ou want to input your starting point

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=41.313298,+-73.235410&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16&iwloc=addr