Month: June 2012

Ducks Win: Ducks 7, Cranberry 6

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

James Fago hit a walk off two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to lead South Oakland past Cranberry Wednesday night. South Oakland (8-1, 11-6-2) led 5-2 after the first inning, but Cranberry (1-7, 6-13) scored 1 run in the third, fifth and sixth innings to tie the game at 5 and took a 6-5 lead in the seventh.

In the bottom of the seventh with one out, Casale and Johnston hit back to back singles, then Morgan walked to load the bases for Fago who ended the game with a single to center.

With three division games remaining, the Ducks lead the Cherokee (6-3, 13-6) by 2 games.

The Cherokee have two games left against Cranberry and one against us.

We have two against the Black Sox and one against the Cherokee.

We lead the season series 2-1 over the Cherokee.

I’m pretty sure if we finish tied we lose the tie breaker.

Notes: Bring back Right Down Broadway. The plate ump last night was unspectacular.

The kid who pitched for Cranberry threw well. He also hit a solo home run in the first.

Good teams win close games. Cranberry had a chance to steal one, and I think it was Guthrie and TJ Morgan’s veteran leadership that pulled South Oakland through last night.

It’s going to be a battle for the last playoff spot between the Black Sox (2-6) and Cranberry (1-7).

South Oakland has won four straight and ten of twelve since starting 1-4-2

The Ducks are off until Monday when we play the Black Sox at home.

Quack.

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Game Day 19: Ducks vs. Cranberry

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (7-1, 10-6-2)

vs

Cranberry (1-6, 6-12-1)

9pm

SpringView Field

 

Tonight the Ducks will attempt to sweep Cranberry, and win another important division game.

A victory puts us two games up on the Cherokee with three to play.

We control our own destiny.

 After that 17-1 loss to the bulldogs in the third game of the season, and the 11-10 loss to Carrick the following, it’s incredible we’re in this position.

 We’re undefeated in division games at home this season.

Bad News for Cranberry.

 

Ducks Clinch Playoff Spot, Defeat Black Sox 5-2.

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland (7-1, 10-6-2) defeated the Brookline Black Sox(2-6, 7-10) and long-time nemesis pitcher Pete Chalfin, by a score of 5-2 Saturday night to clinch at least the second seed in the Monongahela Division.

I wasn’t at the game, but apparently Fago hit a triple and Swartwout put one off the wall in right center, which is about a 400 ft shot. Ken Cool, I’m sure, was dominant.

Fago pitched a complete game and hit double digit strikeouts.

We were without four starters for this one.

Apparently, Saturday night was Chalfin’s last game in the league as he is moving somewhere to do something to better his life, so good for him and for the Ducks. He was one of the toughest pitchers I’ve faced, one of the few guys I really don’t like hitting against. Not that that means a lot coming from a guy who’s primary offensive weapons are the flare to right, and leaning in to inside curveballs, but players far better than I will tell you Pete was a tough competitor and made the Black Sox a lot better. He was also an avid reader and commentator on the blog, back when people avidly read and commented. So thanks for that, Pete.

Two of the most memorable and crushing Ducks losses came at the hands of Chalfin and the Black Sox, a 1-0 thriller in 2009 when he dueled it out with Mike Fletcher, and a 5-4 ten-inning affair in the 2009 playoffs the year the Black Sox upset the Owlz, and lost to the Hurricanes in the finals.

Two of the Ducks biggest wins were over Chalfin: Guthrie defeated Chalfin to clinch the Championship for the Ducks in 2010, and this year Fago out-pitched him to earn South Oakland a playoff spot and keep us out in front of the Cherokee in the division race. I’m glad we could send him out with a loss. Take that splitter and don’t come back.

*

Huge win last night for South Oakland. Now the Black Sox are playing for their playoff lives, without their ace, and we’re in the driver’s seat for the division having won nine of eleven.

The Ducks next game is wed night at home against Cranberry.

Quack.

GameDay 18: Ducks at Black Sox

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland Ducks (6-1, 9-6-2)

vs

Brookline Black Sox (2-5, 7-9)

9pm

Moore Park

Typically the Black Sox start slow and pull it together 1/4 of the way through the season. It’s taken longer this year, but they’ll be tough tonight. Especially at home.

Our victory over Brookline earlier this season was our 4th straight regular season win over the Black Sox dating back to last season.

And it was the first time in a long time the Ducks and Sox met with both teams under .500.

The Ducks have won 8 of our last 10, getting it together a bit earlier that Brookline this year, after a similarly rough start.

Since dropping 3 straight to the Cherokee, the Black Sox have won 4 straight.

Kenny Powers must be coachin’ ’em up down there, or over there, whichever.

We can clinch a playoff spot and the second seed in the division with a win tonight, plus we’d gain a half game on the idle Cherokee. A Cranberry loss tomorrow would also clinch us a spot, but hopefully they beat Clinton.

The Ducks-Sox rivalry has been kind of lost in the shuffle with Ken Cool’s brother seceding from the Ducks with two-thrids of our pitching staff, but tonight in Moore Park it’ll be in full swing. I love playing there those fans make it feel like our games matter in a way that adult-league baseball in June normally doesn’t.

We can write ourselves a great story for this season if we keep winning and take the division, a win tonight gets us a lot closer.

Bad News for the Black Sox

Ducks Win. South Oakland 5, Express 1

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball, Ducks win, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

James Fago went 3-for-3 with 3RBI and Randy Patton earned his third consecutive win to lead South Oakland (9-6-2) to a 5 – 1 victory over the Carrick Express (2-13-1) Monday night.

Ken Cool and Gwin opened the game with back to back hits, Swartwout scored Cool on a sac fly and Fago doubled home Gwin to put South Oakland up 2-0.

The Express scored in the fourth to cut the lead in half, then Fago drove in two runs with a single to left in the top of the fifth inning.

The Ducks fifth run came when Tony Casale scored from second on a 6-4 fielder’s choice.

***

Some notes:

We’d be dead in the water without Randy and Jared, both of whom we picked up off waivers and have pitched well for us. Randy hasn’t lost in three starts.

Tony Casale is playing the best baseball i’ve seen from him since he joined the Ducks in ’08, and he and Houseman have been fantastic up the middle.

We’ve won eight of our last ten.

It’s probably going to take a 10-2 division record for us to win the division, unless Cranberry beats Clinton in one of their remaining three matchups.

We play Brookline in Brookline Saturday night then Cranberry next wed, before we finish Black Sox-Cherokee-Black Sox.

South Oakland’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 1.

quack

Ducks Win: South Oakland 12, Carrick 2 (6)

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball, Ducks win

That’s more like it.

With the Ducks (8-6-2, 6-1) leading 3 – 2 in the 4th, Ken Cool kit a bases clearing double to increase the lead to 6 – 2, and South Oakland of the North Side cruised to a 12 – 2 victory behind another strong pitching performance from Randy Patton.

Swartwout and Gwin had 3 hits a piece and every Duck reached base at least once.

Casale played an exceptional game at second, walked and scored 4 times and stole three bases.

On separate occasions, Begley was hit by a pitch and Moore walked and stole second.

The Ducks have won seven of their last nine games, and play Carrick again on Monday June 18th before resuming divisional play against a rejuvenated Black Sox team in Brookline on the 23rd.

quack.

Game Day 16: Ducks vs Express

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (7-6-1)

vs.

Carrick Express (2-9-1)

9pm

SpringView Field

The last time we played Carrick, we lost 11-10 in one of the worst baseball games i’ve been a part of.

Since that loss, we’ve gone 6-2.

There’s no reason we shouldn’t win this game if our pitchers throw strikes. Regradless of the meaningless nature of non-division games, it’s frustrating to be one the 2, for a 2-9 team, and I think overall record is taken into account for tie-breaking purposes should we finish tied with Ken Cool’s brother’s team in the division race.

We’ve lost twice by 15 runs this season so it’s not as if we can take any team lightly, these interdivision games have a way of getting out of hand, and who knows what kind of a mood the umpires will be in.

Maybe, by some miracle we’ll have unis tonight.

Bad News for the Express

Game Day 16: Ducks vs Elliot

2012 South Oakland Ducks Baseball

South Oakland Ducks of the North Side

vs

Elliot

9pm

SpringView Field

 

South Oakland looks to avenge last week’s horrific 15 run loss to Elliot tonight at the Duck Pond.

The game after Elliot beat us by 15 they lost 14-3 to the Bulldogs. No word on if the Bulldogs considered the game a disgrace to baseball.

We’ll have better pitching tonight.

If the thunderstorms hold off.

Bad News for Elliot.